Ma'alaea Harbor Activity Center on Maui

Scott and Casper in front of the 'office'

Do you want to know about the best activities and tours on Maui? Then make sure you go to the best place to learn about and book activities and tours on Maui, the Ma'alaea Harbor Activity Center.

The location couldn't be better. It's where nearly everyone ends up passing by while on Maui, whether you stay on the West side or in South Maui. Located just behind the Ma'alaea Village shopping center, where the aquarium Maui Ocean Center is, sitting right on the edge of the harbor, you will see a cute little shack. It may not look like much but you can book everything you'd like to do on Maui here, not just fishing or ocean activities. Easy and free parking right next to the booth too!

The manager Scott is eager to help you to get you what you want. Since he has solid relationships with and is well respected by the tour operators on Maui, he can even get you last minute reservations and is excellent about getting discounts that no one else can.

Scott takes pride in his work, is very knowledgeable about Hawaii and places the utmost priority on customer service. He is even available to help you out when the office is closed, just call him on his cell phone (808-242-6982). He really wants you to have a great time!

Scott helped us get a sunset cruise/whale watch on a large catamaran and also a morning trip on a small Zodiac boat while we were on Maui. Both boats were awesome but I thought the Zodiac boat was really exciting! I highly recommend it and can't wait to go again sometime!

When you are on Maui, stop by the booth and say hello. Scott and Casper will be waiting to meet you!

View of the activity booth

View of the boats docked just in front of the booth

Daisy's Maui 'sister', Casper the Dalmation

Casper at work, wearing a lei.

While in Maui, we got to visit with our favorite Dalmatian, Casper. She is so funny! She smiles big and wide when she is happy to see you and when you try to leave, she will sit on you to try and pin you down so you can't go. Wish that Daisy could have come to Maui to play with Casper. They would have alot of fun together. Someday....

Casper is a working girl. She goes to work every day with her daddy Scott who operates the Maalaea Harbor Activity Center's booth at Maalaea Harbor on Maui. Click here to see another picture of Casper at work. Among some of her duties, Casper lets people on vacation, who are missing their dogs back home, give her hugs.

Casper welcoming Ken when we first arrived, you can see the corners of her mouth turned up a bit as she is still smiling alittle. She really smiles big, showing all her teeth when you first come to her home and say hello.

Just before we were leaving to go to dinner, Casper tries her best to pin down Ken so he won't be able to leave.

Maui Krispy Kreme doughnuts!

Mom, our lovely Maui 'chauffeur', very obligingly waiting outside for us while we purchase some evil doughnuts.

After we enjoyed Kauai for a few days, we hopped on a plane to Maui. When we arrived, one of the stops on our list of things 'to-do' was Krispy Kreme doughnuts. They are located right near the airport, making it impossible very hard to drive by without stopping. There is even a handy drive-thru window!

There is a Krispy Kreme location in Tokyo now (we hear that more locations are planned) but we have not gone there because every day it's open, there is a horrific line to wait in! Usually the wait is around 2 hours! When you get there, you will see a sign that will tell you how long the wait is from the point you enter the cue. Much like waiting in line at Disneyland to ride on a popular attraction. We don't think a doughnut is worth such efforts but many many people in Tokyo do.

So, when we landed on Maui, we took the opportunity to see what all the fuss is about. Ken had never had a Krispy Kreme doughnut before. I have a few years ago when I was in California, when everyone was first starting to rave about the place. Personally, I didn't see what all raving was about. I don't eat doughnuts very often (used to when I was a kid) but I have had quite a few of them (all kinds) in my day and if I were on a mission for a doughnut, I think I still like Winchell's best.

Here's some pics of our arriving into Maui and the Krispy Kreme store there. Incidentally, it is now the only Krispy Kreme store in all the Hawaiian Islands.

View from the airplane window of Kaaholawe Island as we approach Maui. Poor Kaaholawe, it was bombed for 30 years by the US military but even before that, introduced goats etc. over grazed and caused massive erosion. There are hopes by the Hawaiian people (as well as many non-Hawaiian people such as myself) for it's complete restoration someday.

Little Molokini Island, which sits between Kaaholawe and Maui.

View of the Kealia Pond Wildlife Refuge and North Kihei (and the rest of South Maui) in the background. The Kealia Pond is a National Wildlife Refuge and is one of the few natural wetlands remaining in all of Hawaii.

Too many choices!

We're not sure, but we don't think the Krispy Kreme in Tokyo has all these options and merchandise.

Don't forget there is a drive thru if you are too lazy to haul your behind out of the car!

What we selected: Lemon Filled (Lemon Kist), Maple Glazed, Apple Fritter, Glazed Chocolate Old Fashioned, Original Glazed and Glazed Kreme Filled. I'm getting nauseated just looking at this picture!

Views of Golf in Hawaii

Entrance to the Princeville Golf Club, on Kauai.

While in Hawaii the past 2 weeks, we were able to golf quite a bit. Fortunate to have excellent weather all but the first 2 days of our time there, we golfed on Kauai, Maui and on Oahu.

On Kauai we golfed 18 holes at the Wailua Municipal Golf Course on Kuhio highway. Click here to visit the website and see some photos of the course. We also tried to golf at Princeville on the second day we were on Kauai, however, when we got there we found it was raining heavily off and on and the course was already saturated from the prior week's worth of heavy rain, so we cancelled our game. Maybe next time!

On Maui we golfed our favorite Ka'anapali Golf Resort, which has just had some major renovations. Their logo is new, as well as updates to the clubhouse and renovations of the courses. The formerly named North and South courses are now called the Royal Ka'anapali and Ka'anapali Kai respectively. And not surprisingly, the fees have increased. We had a short lesson with the head golf pro, Sutee Nitakorn, before our game and he gave us some great pointers! We had a fun time on the Kai course.

We also golfed 18 holes at the Waiehu Municipal Course near Wailuku in Maui. This is where I learned to golf many years ago. The course was in great condition, however, the fees here have also increased, in my opinion, dramatically for a municipal course, whose facilities leave much to be desired. Their "real" phone number is hard to pin down and the staff seems tired yet still managing to be friendly for the most part, probably since the place is slammed with golfers all the time. There are no reservations for tee times, you just need to go there and wait to get on the course (which may not be possible on some days, especially weekends). This course can get pretty windy, especially later in the afternoon, so go as early as you can.

On Oahu, we enjoyed 9 holes of twilight golf at Pearl Country Club in Pearl City and 18 holes at one of our favorite municipal courses, the Pali Golf Course.

The Pearl CC, one of my favorite places for twilight golf, this time had pretty long grass in the rough and if your ball landed there, it was a goner 90% of the time. The course was packed and we were instructed prior to going out, not to use time to find balls that were OB and to just drop and move on. We started at 4:10pm (twilight starts from 3:30 here) and were not able to complete the entire 9 holes before the 6pm closing time due to a group of 4 ahead of us annoyingly painstakingly trying to find each and every one of their many lost balls (despite the aforementioned instruction to keep the game moving). We were also annoyed by quite a few hungry mosquitoes here!

The Pali Golf Course was very enjoyable. This course can sometimes get rained out being that it sits right at the base of the Koolau mountain range, which is often sort of a magnet for rain clouds. We have been driven off this course by buckets of rain before. This time, however, it was an amazingly beautiful and sunny day and we had a good dry game. We saw the usual chickens and wild birds that live on the course as well as wild pigs that have become accustom to being fed by the golfers. They were so funny trotting around the course begging for food. I've seen alot of animals and birds on the golf courses in Hawaii (turkeys on Molokai, goats on the Big Island, Nene on Kauai to name a few) but these pigs were hysterical. Check out the video at the end of this post.

Booking tee times is not easy for this course (or for any of the city/county golf courses on Oahu), you will need to call a phone number with an automated service to get a tee time. If you don't have a Hawaii golf card, you can only book 3 days in advance. However, it is possible to get tee times for the Pali Course near to the time you'd like to play (especially during weekdays), unlike the Ala Wai Course, which unless you are a local and have a Hawaii golf card (that allows you to book 7 days in advance), you can bet the farm you will never get a tee time no matter how flexible your time is or which day of the week it is.

Here are some pictures we took of our recent golfing at the courses described above.

Wailua Municipal Golf Course, on Kauai

Wailua Municipal Golf Course, on Kauai

Ka'anapali Golf Course on Maui, the island of Lana'i is seen in the background.

The Lahaina Sugar Cane Train passing by while on the Ka'anapali Kai Course.

At the end of the 9th hole, this is the way to the snack bar and restrooms (access on foot, carts are no longer allowed to cross the road).

Ka'anapali Kai course with the West Maui Mountains in the background.

The Pearl Country Club in Pearl City Oahu.

The Pearl Country Club in Pearl City Oahu

View of the Pali Golf Course on Oahu from the lookout off of the Pali Highway (see the clubhouse in the lower right corner of the photo?). Though it was a hazy day due to no tradewinds, you can see in the background Kaneohe town, Kaneohe Bay and Chinaman's hat.

The Koolau Mountain range at the Pali Golf Course.

The Pali Golf Course facing Kaneohe Bay.

Wild pigs coming down out of the forest near the clubhouse before the 10th hole. They proceeded to trot down the cart path to beg from the golfers in their carts who were lined up waiting to get on the 1st tee. Seems they have become accustom to people giving them a handout.

A hen nesting in the papertowels in the garbage can of the women's restroom at the Pali Golf Course. I had quite a shock as I was attempting to toss a papertowel into the can!

The pigs on the Pali Golf Course will come when you call them! Check out this hilarious video! This pig makes a sharp left and starts running towards me when I yell out "Hey Piggie"!

Some pictures from Kauai

Ken taking a walk down the long beach in front of the Plantation Hale property

Here are some pictures we took on the island of Kauai. Such a beautiful and peaceful place!

A rainbow over the Hanapepe river, behind Hanapepe town. It's a bit muddy due to heavy rains and flooding during the first week of February 2008.

The Hanalei Taro fields from a roadside lookout. Click here for more info.

An interesting gift store called Earth Beads in Kapaa town. Besides gifts they sell some beads and beaded jewelry. See the pretty Bird of Paradise umbrella in the window?

Another pic of the beach nearby our condo and the protected 'pool' made by the small reef off shore.

A little different view of the beach nearby our condo and the protected 'pool' made by the small reef off shore.

A rainbow we saw along the highway on our way to Aunty Lilikoi's in Waimea.

View of the Wailua River from the Wailua River Bridge on Kuhio Highway. This river is where the famous Fern Grotto is located.

A good place to stay in Kauai

The Best Western Plantation Hale, as viewed from the entrance to the property off the Kuhio highway

During our recent escape from the cold weather in Tokyo, we found a good place to stay on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Last year, while on Kauai, we stayed at a condo in the Poipu area, but this time we wanted to stay more towards the other side of the island, so it would be easier for us to golf in Princeville.

We decided on the Best Western Plantation Hale in Kapaa. It was very reasonably priced, we got a car for a reduced rate with them too. Our room was actually a large one bedroom apartment with full kitchen. We enjoyed the jacuzzi everyday (there are 2 jacuzzis and 3 swimming pools) and a short and pleasant walk thru a field with wildflowers and birds to a beautiful long sandy beach. The ocean can be very rough here (on this day anyway, it was down right scary) and I imagine it's dangerous for swimming but the beach had a protected natural 'pool' area (an underwater reef formed a natural pool near the shore). It was great for taking a little dip.

There are also areas located near each of the pools for BBQ and picnic tables for the guests to enjoy. They have free internet connection in the rooms, though it's not wireless and you will need your own LAN cable.

From the Plantation Hale , it's a short walk to shops and a couple of restaurants at the Coconut Marketplace (literally across the driveway from the office of the property). We enjoyed a good breakfast at Eggbert's. Click here to view the shopping center's website.

For those of you who don't care for big expensive hotels, this is a great place to stay. We felt at home.

If you ever decide to try the Plantation Hale, ask for a room in a building with a balcony/terrace (called a 'lanai' in Hawaiian) that is not facing the highway. Although there is alot of foliage between the property and the highway, the units facing the highway do not have views of the pretty and well manicured grounds and you will get some highway noise that could be annoying to some (however we are talking about a highway on Kauai...not some big city). Also, there are lots of chickens roaming around (as there are everywhere on Kauai) so if you don't like the sounds they make, you'd be better off at a large hotel resort. My husband and I personally enjoyed the chickens and other many birds we saw (and heard) at this property.

Here are some pictures I took.

View of the entrance to the office

View of the road where the property sits

View from the property of the field and pathway leading to the beach

View of the property while standing the beach, looking back across the field

The beach accessed through the field

My husband is taking a dip (sitting) in the natural pool formed by a small reef

An underwater picture of a live sea snail I found near the shore in the protected 'pool' area of the beach

Some chickens and other birds enjoying the garden in the afternoon

One of the jacuzzi hot tubs we enjoyed, looks inviting doesn't it?

View of one of the BBQ areas on the property

Daisy plays in the Tokyo snow

Well, we woke up this morning to snow! Daisy has never seen it before and boy oh boy does she like it! I let her out in the garden and at first, she walked around in the snow carefully placing her feet and lifting up a foot or two while standing and smelling it. Then she started pawing at it and eating it. She got surprised when clumps of snow would suddenly fall down from the tree. Later, when large snowflakes started coming down, she got so excited, running around trying to catch the falling snow in her mouth. Unfortunately the battery in my camera went dead and I didn't get that on video but below is some of the first video I took before the battery died.

It's a snowy but peaceful and beautiful day in Tokyo today.

Enjoy the short video....