The island of Maui has been a special vacation spot for us for many years. The last time we visited, our daughter was eighteen months and she loved it. We decided to spend the holiday winter break by returning with our kids, now ages five and two. Here are our tips for traveling to Ka'anapali on the island of Maui with small children :
A full rainbow over the ocean from our hotel balcony.
Select Lodging to Suit Your Family & Budget
I'm not going to sugar-coat it...Hawaii is expensive. However, you can save time and money depending on your lodging situation.
Find a resort or hotel with kid-friendly pools, beach access and kid-friendly restaurants. We love having the ability to swim in the pool and walk to the beach and play in the sand without getting in a car. In addition, if your kids need to take naps or someone needs a break from the sun, you can easily walk to your room.
To save money, find lodging with a kitchen. Maui has a Costco right by the airport, and we stopped by the grocery store to get a few items. For additional savings, pack your kid's favorite snacks in your suitcase or carry-on. Having a kitchen and packing snacks allowed us to make the majority of our meals at our hotel.
For this trip, we stayed at the Ka'anapali Beach Club. Check RedWeek for deals!
What we like about it :
The hospitality is fantastic. Everyone who works there is friendly, accommodating, and they work really hard to provide everything you need. Kitchen items they can bring you : crock pot, hot plate with pan and pot. Items included already are : rice maker, blender, toaster.
The kitchen is perfect for making easy dishes (scrambled eggs, sandwiches, hot dogs) and they have BBQs outside for additional cooking.
They provide pack n' plays for you, upon request. Tip : pack your own crib sheet.
We love being able to walk to the boardwalk for exercise or change of scenery, but also able to skip the crowds back at the hotel.
There is a pod of food trucks, coffee shop(s), bakery, and grocery store that you can walk to in less than 15 minutes with kids (10 minutes without).
The downside :
The pool isn't super friendly to kids under the age of 5 (or those that can swim without an adult assisting). They do have a small "children" pool area, but it's still 3' deep. Our five year old can swim without assistance, and could touch the bottom of the pool, so she was okay. Our two year old would play on the steps, but it would be nice to have a pool he could have touched the bottom or sat and played with toys.
If you are in Ka'anapali, the The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas, Ka'anapali has the best kid friendly pools. We would walk by it during our morning walks, and our kids desperately wanted to try it out. It is out of our price range, but check RedWeek for deals.
Kapalua Bay Beach
Day Trips / Activities
When it comes to day trips and activities, we have two small children that are just happy to play in the sand or swim in the pool all day - every day. We didn't want to spend too much time in the car or spending a ton of money on activities. Luckily, this area is so beautiful no matter where you go. If you have more adventurous children, or older children that will enjoy trying out more activities, here are some ideas :
Snorkling :
We like Kapalua Bay Beach for snorkeling. You don't have to go out very far to see fish and turtles!
Tips for snorkeling with kids :
Check rental rates both at your hotel and surrounding rental companies. Our hotel rental was cheaper than the surrounding rental companies. It was also convenient to avoid an additional stop to and from the beach.
Rent a boogie-board for your child to float on. For our five-year-old it was nice to have her float and just stick her head in the water when I would signal to her a fish or turtle were below us.
Be ready for them to be done after five minutes. This didn't happen for us, our daughter didn't want to stop, but neighboring groups were experiencing this.
Tip on Kapalua Bay : parking is ultra-competitive! The public parking is very limited in space, so either get there early or be ready to drop off your group and find street parking. There is a parking lot if you continue on your right, we finally found a spot in this lot after a pickle ball tournament wrapped up.
Boogie-Boarding :
Fleming Beach is great for this! Again, parking can be competitive here - but there are more spaces available than at Kapalua.
Have your child start small. Stick to the front waves until they can get the hang of it.
Maui has plenty of other activities to enjoy, again - we were just happy spending the majority of our time at the pool or playing in the sand (big money saver).
If the weather is rainy, check out the Ocean Center (closer to the airport). This is also the dock that a few excursions take off from. Check out Viator's Top Snorkeling Excursions.
Best Restaurants / Food
Monkeypod we heard about the Mai Tai and it didn't disappoint. They have a fantastic happy hour and our kids loved the food. We went back on our last night because we loved it so much, and the second time was even better. Love when that happens.
Papi's Ohana if you are looking to support a local company that produces the authentic aloha-spirit, this is the place. Everything we tried was incredible, and the owner and staff are genuinely the best. The line can get really long and they do sell out, so try to get there earlier in the day!
Pizza Paradiso this was a hit for our family, we ordered take-out and were able to spread out the leftovers over a few meals.
Monkeypod Happy Hour is unbeatable.
Skip :
Duke's Beach House outside of Honua Kai. We have been here a few times, and each time it gets more expensive for the value. We don't mind spending money on food if we feel it was worth it - the food was average. We also felt because we had small children they purposely sat us far away from all other guests. This is for breakfast, maybe dinner is different?
Luau, or not to Luau.
Over our travels to Maui, we have been to three different Luau experiences. One was tragically lost in the devastating Lāhainā fires.
Old Lāhainā Lūʻau this is what we originally booked, and understandably they were not reopened due to the devastating Lāhainā fires. We have been to this luau a few times, and it is a wonderful experience. The food was delicious, the drinks were good, and there were activities for children to interact with. The VIP seating felt worth the price and the dances were beautiful. They did a fantastic job bringing forward history and keeping you entertained from the moment you entered through to your departure.
Royal Lahaina Luau I hate to say it, but I would skip this one. We love going to a luau, the kids love the experience, and the performances were beautiful. The overall experience was average. The welcome was clunky and disorganized - they had staff standing there to tell you where to go, but just handed you armfuls of leis to put on yourself. The space is fairly small and the only benefit for VIP was getting food first, which almost happened immediately upon our entrance. The drinks were very sweet and artificial tasting. Again, I really hate to be negative, but it was very expensive and I didn't think it was worth the price. The performances were the best part and appreciate that aspect!
We almost splurged for this luau at the Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua, but decided not to and booked the Royal Lahaina instead. If anyone has attended this one, let us know in the comments how it was!
Top Five Overall Tips When Visiting Ka'anapali on the Island of Maui with Children (and in General):
Save money by only eating out for one meal per day. You can achieve this by packing your own snacks, visiting Costco upon arrival, and staying somewhere with a kitchen.
Go with minimal expectations and follow your child's lead. I found this trip to be so relaxing and enjoyable because I let each of my children discover things at their own speed. If they wanted to play in the sand for a while, I wouldn't try to suggest the ocean or doing something different.
Save room in your bag by purchasing sand toys and blow-up floats at the ABC Store. If your child has a floatation device they like and you trust, pack it. When we were going home and done with our sand toys and blow-up floats, we asked the family next to us if they would like them (instead of throwing them away).
Jet-lag is real! We live on the west coast, so our kids woke up at 4:30am the first day ready to play. They adjusted quickly due to playing all day, but we did try to wake up around 5am so we wouldn't have to adjust back upon our return. Decide what will work best for your family, but be prepared the first morning for an early rise!
This is a general tip : Hawaii is such a beautiful and special place. Be respectful of the locals, especially on Maui. With the tragic fires in Lāhainā, it is so important to avoid that area and have grace and patience. We did see a few tourists parking on sidewalks or properties around popular areas (like Kapalua Bay) and locals left a sign you either inconvenienced or disrespected their property (smashed things or trash bins on top of your car). We provided additional gratuities when possible to support the hospitality staff we met.
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