Maui, The Valley Isle

Winter 2022. This marks our second trip to Hawaii as a family. First was to Oahu, Kawai in 2019 (Recap pending).

Gear for the Trip

80% of the photos are taken with the Sony A7III. It is the workhorse. When traveling, the Sony 24-70 f2.8 GMII lives almost exclusively on the body. I had the Tamoron 28-75 f2.8, which was lighter and an amazing lens, but cracked the filter thread when my domestic partner accidentally dropped it from the baby stroller. I still love her.

10% are taken with the handy Ricoh GRII (I chose this over the III in 2020 for its attached flash and longer battery life). It’s ridiculously light and small that I’d use it for photos between transit, where I value small form factor over picture details.

The remaining photos are taken with Sony A6600 paired with Laowa 9mm f2.8 (for the ultra wide dramatic effect), GoPro Hero 3 (for underwater activities), and my phone (when no other cameras are near me).

Sony A7III

Sony A6600

Ricoh GRII

Iphone 13 Pro

Sony 24-70mm f2.8 GM II

Canon 85mm f1.8 with Sigma MC-11 adaptor

Laowa 9mm f2.8

GoPro Hero 3

Peak Design Everyday bag 20L

Peak Design Travel Tripod Aluminum

64GB Extreme Pro SD card

128GB Lexar Pro SD card

Kick off

Having kids means you intentionally insert buffers when planning. Albeit our 9am flight, we wake up around 5:30am to prep the kids. Arrives at OAK around 7am and flies off to OGG, Kahului Airport, via SouthWest.

Oak daily parking lot. Taken with Ricoh GRII

Day 1

Touch down Maui.
Weather is amazing—around low 80s during the day and 60s in the evening. T-shirts and shorts all day.

Our first stop is the supermarket. Getting some snacks and drinks because where we’ll be going next, those won’t come easy.

Quick Lunch

Camp Olowalu

800 Olowalu Village Rd, Lahaina, HI 96761. Website.

About 30 minutes southwest of the airport, Camp Olowalu offers cabins, camping lots, and glamping tents; they call it the tentalows.

Without any gear and with two kiddos, we opt for the tentalows, a cozy two-bed tent with an outdoor shower, a small front porch, and a picnic table. No attached bathroom. The bathroom’s about 30 seconds walk and is shared with one or two other tents.

It’s a private lot, so it’s tranquil with little foot traffic. There’s a small shop where they sell coffee and basic camping goods like lighters and bandaids, but for anything more substantial like meals or jugs of water, you’d have to leave the camp for them.

Most places close enough to the camp (2-4 minutes drive) close around 5pm.

Day 2

The Hawaii time zone’s two hours behind, so we’re up around 5:30AM HST.

Another cool thing about this camp is we’re always 30 seconds walk away from their private beach. Although we’re facing the west, there’s still plenty of sunrises to appreciate.

Sunrise with Zoltan. Sony A7III with Sony 24-70 f2.8 GMII

Sunrise with Zoltan. Sony A7III with Sony 24-70 f2.8 GMII 1/2 sec.

General Store across the street from the camp

Lahaina

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Paia fish market

This place gets packed quickly.

We get here just a few minutes before their 11am opening. No line. However, soon after we get seated, there seem to have 20 minute wait.

Fresh fish, good lighting.

Whale Watch

There are few different options for whale watching vessels. Generally, the smaller the boat, the closer you can get to the whale. Due to age limit, kids under 5 (if I recall correctly) would need to ride on the largest ship there, which is ferry size, with a capacity of 150 passengers.

$70ish per person. We sail out with a relatively large ship with a 100 yard distance to whale limit. Once we’re within the 100 yard range, the Engine has to shut down, but the whale can get as close as it wishes.

I thought this activity is a bit too touristy, but man, when that whale appear onto the horizon, you get an adrenaline rush.

Honolua Bay

Recommended to us by one of the staffers on the whale watching ship for snorkeling. It’s a private lot, but open to public. We walk across a gorgeous forest path to an opening of rocky beach and open sea. Unfortunately, we learn that there was a storm just a week before we arrived, so the bay is too murky for any type of snorkeling.

Warning: lots of mosquitoes (6+ bites for me on each limb). And don’t wander off the path.

Back to camp.

Day 3

Another 5:30am morning.

Kihei Caffe

Today we head further south to Grand Wailea hotel. In between, we find this popular cafe for lunch. One of popular drinks, we’ve heard, is the POG–pineapple, orange, and guava juice.

It’s delicious.

Grand Wailea Waldorf Astoria

We spend two days in the hotel. We never leave because it’s too expensive. Besides the stunning venue, there are 5 water slides connecting 6 micro pools, got a swing set, and a lazy river. Plus a west facing beach front for the sunset.

Day 5

Road to Hana

One of the most popular activities in Maui is venturing through the Road to Hana. It’s a meander path spanning 60+ miles, 600+ curves, and 50+ bridges to the city of Hana.

On the map, I thought we’re initial D’ing this. But I’m no Takumi Fujisara, so I’m driving 30 miles at best. This takes us 3 hours to get to the first spot.

Bring motion sickness med, just in case.