Trip Report 11-18 / 11-25

Wow, we had a wonderful time. We were originally booked at the Mauna Kea, but ended up at the Mauni Lani after the earthquake caused damage to the Mauna Kea Room. LOVED Mauna Lani!!! Cannot say enough about this beautiful property with their many natural ponds holding everything from sharks to turtles to eels and everything I can only see in aquariams back home. The miles of paths alone, taking you all around these ponds, is a reason I would come back to this resort.

Saturday

Arrived at Mauna Lani around 5:30pm. By the time we unpacked and walked around a little to orient ourselves, it was dark; so we ate dinner at the Honu Bar and called it a night.

Sunday - toured resort and beach day

Our hotel package included a buffet breakfast every day, including tip, so we ate there every morning. We rented bikes at the resort and biked all around. There are miles of trails in the Mani Lani resort. I still am not sure we saw everything, but there was a great historical map in the room and we followed it to hit all the highlights. It started to heat up, so we checked the bikes with the valet and hit the beach. I had very strong 2 Mai Tai%26#39;s while on the beach and really regretted them by late afternoon (ha, ha. No more Mai Tai%26#39;s for me :)). Since those didn%26#39;t sit well with me, I stuck to my normal Bacardi and diets after that afternoon. We ate at the KAMUELA PROVISIONAL COMPANY in the Hilton resort for dinner. It was delicious. Too bad I still wasn%26#39;t feeling well enough to eat a full meal. I had soup and tasted my SO%26#39;s dinner and dessert.

Monday -beach day

After breakfast, biked around some more, taking pictures of all the ponds, petroglyphs and found a secret pool back there. Hung out at the beach, which has really nice cabana%26#39;s attached to the chairs. I listened to an entire book on tape, while watching all the kids playing in the water and vegging out. So much fun watching kids trying to stay balanced on boogie boards (especially since they aren%26#39;t my responsibility ;) (ha). Ate dinner at the Mauna Kea Pavilion restaurant. Excellent, as always. Afterward, we went to see if the Manta Rays were out. One was swimming around, in a very lazy manner, which mimicked my feelings at that moment.

Tuesday- car touring along west coast

After breakfast, we got in the car and headed south, along the coast. We drove by Ali%26#39;i drive (disappointing touristy area) and stopped at the Captain Cooks beach area. We decided we wanted to continue touring in the car and would come back to kayak over to the snorkeling another day. Unfortunately, that never happened. The week ended up slipping by us. We drove to the place of refuge and looked around. Ended up driving all the way back up and past the hotel to eat a very late lunch at Cafe Pesto. We did not like their food very well at all. The tomato sauce on my SO%26#39;s dish was quite sweet. I ordered the margharita piza and found it mediocre. We ended up eating so late, we weren%26#39;t hungry for dinner. Drove around some more and went to bed early.

Wednesday-Horback riding in Waipio Valley

We headed to Waipio Na Alapa Horseback Riding for a tour of the valley. The guide showed up 30 minutes late and was unfortunately a complete jerk. There was a VERY steep hill, alongside a drop off that he took us down(into the valley), in a 4 wheel drive van. He made us take our seat belts off and then kept driving the van WAY over to the edge, so we were hanging over. He pointed out a car that had fallen over and was laughing at all of us, as we were bracing ourselves and hanging on for dear life. He was one of those people that does mean things and then laughs, like he is joking; while the only person finding anything funny is him. I would NOT recommend this tour. The horseback riding was ok, although there were some issues with that, as well; since it was the same guy in charge of our group while on the horses. He did the same thing on the way up that hill, as well as taking his foot off the brake so the van slipped back down the hill. The tension was extremely thick in the van. I was glad when the tour was over. The valley was gorgeous, though; and we saw several taro farms. Looking at my pictures, you would have no idea what a nightmare that guide was. After the tour, we drove down to Hilo and stopped at the Mauna Loa farm. Then, we worked ourselves back up the coast stopping to see Akaka and Pe%26#39;epe%26#39;e falls. The drive on 19 from Hilo up is just gorgeous. I cannot say enough about the view you get on this drive. We ate at Merrimans on the way back. A+!!!! Highly recommend this restaurant.

Thursday-Thanksgiving at the resort

After breakfast, we got snorkeling gear from the hotel (complimentary) and snorkeled in the waters right there. I was surprised by how much we saw. There were several reefs and it turned out to be a great way to spend the morning. Our reservation for the thanksgiving buffet was for 2:30pm. Not the best time, but we had waited too long to reserve. I really liked the buffet. They did a great job. We spent a little over 2 hours there, taking our time between courses. It was very nice. We watched some games in our room and spent our evening in the Honu bar having a few drinks, playing pool, scrabble and having a lite sushi snack.

Friday-ATV tour %26amp; sunset cruise

Headed to Hawi for our ATV tour with ATV outfitters. Had a blast. The views were awesome. I would love to take this tour during whale season. We drove to Merrimans for lunch (yes, we really liked their food). Excellent and much more reasonably priced. Headed back to hotel for a sunset cruise, which was divine. I get motion sick, so I was laying down and just taking in the experience; but wouldn%26#39;t have wanted it any other way. I layed down at the front of the boat and had an incredible view of the water and sunset. Great end to our trip. We had dinner at Donatoni%26#39;s, in the Hilton resort. It was good.

Saturday-Leaving

We slept in, ate a late breakfast, packed and hung out at the beach bar until it was time to leave.

Great trip and relaxing vacation. We have never spent as much time on our hotel grounds as we did on this trip. I wasn%26#39;t planning on doing it this trip, either, but it seemed like there was so much to do there it just worked out that way.

Wondering when I can go back........:)

Trip Report 11-18 / 11-25

I just read your trip report to my hubby, and got to---

';Wednesday-Horback riding in Waipio Valley';

His eyebrows almost shot off his head when I read that to him---and I%26#39;m not going to list all the questions he asked!

What a great way to spend Thanksgiving!

Trip Report 11-18 / 11-25

Thanks so much for taking the time to post such a detailed report!

That%26#39;s awful about the horseback riding tour. I hope you post a report on them under ';attractions'; so that others considering that trip will be sure to see it.

I%26#39;m glad to hear that you felt the snorkeling at Mauna Lani was good. Sometimes they make it sound like there are no good snorkel spots north of Kona, but being tourists, we are probably not as picky as locals would be. (I know for me living in San Diego, I would never go to Mission Beach, because I know of so many better ones, but for people from the Midwest or something, Mission Beach is probably just fine!)

Less than 3 weeks and I%26#39;ll be on the BI, too!!

Jbillin- HA!!! What a typo, huh? You can let your husband know it was completely inadvertant...

Yes, we are from the midwest. And, as I mentioned in my original post, I get motion sick pretty quickly; so snorkeling has never been an activity I have been able to do for very long. I recently came across a product called ';seabands';. They are bands you were around your wrists, that use pressure points to keep you from getting nauseous. They have been a great help to me in situations like snorkeling, since dramamin works, but makes me tired(and this product doesn%26#39;t). I still get a little nauseous, but not too bad at all. So, this was the longest time we have every snorkeled and it was perfectly ok for us. Maybe if I was used to snorkeling in ';great'; areas, this area would be dissapointing. But, I enjoyed inspecting the nooks and crannies in the reefs and watching the really interesting fish species that were swimming around. Next time we go, I would like to check out the Captain Cook area. Some of those areas get to be so congested with people, though. This was nice and private.

I will post a more detailed report about the horseback riding tour, under their actual name. The next day, there were 2 earthquakes back to back at the very time we were on this tour the day prior. I kept thinking, ';what if he had been on the very edge of that drop off when those earthquakes occurred';. That could easily have turned into a horrific disaster; all so that guide could get a laugh at ';the tourists'; expense. I think it is important for people to know this guide is doing those things, but the valley was really beautiful. We saw tourists driving through the streams down there, with the ';Revealed'; book opened. We thought those people were CRAZY!! The water was halfway up their tires. The guides were saying they charge $700 to tow stuck tourists out. Just seemed like a silly thing to do, IMO.

Judging by your description of the guide it sounds like Keoni from Na%26#39;alapa. He likes to kid around a lot. We toured with him as well and actually thought he was a great guide. He even gave us a ride out of the valley the following day.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with them. This is actually the first negative thing I%26#39;ve heard about that company.

Pelekai- Yes, it was Keoni. I have no problems with kidding around, but don%26#39;t appreciate being put into a dangerous situation so the guide can get a laugh. There is no excuse for what he was doing. When on tours like this, you are at the mercy of these guides and they need to understand that driving to the edge of a dangerous dropoff is not appropriate. I think Keoni is just young, but it still doesn%26#39;t make it right.

We made the best of it, though. I enjoyed the valley and tried to stay calm and take deep breaths during the van rides.

I definitely agree it%26#39;s immature and wrong to make visitors uncomfortable like that.

Truthfully though, I doubt you were in any real danger. I got the feeling he was a genuinely caring person who wouldn%26#39;t ever put folks in harms way. Plus they drive up and down that road two to four times a day. What%26#39;s %26#39;scary%26#39; to you and me is routine to them. There are plenty or roads on Kauai that would scare the heck outta some folks, but I%26#39;m used to them so they don%26#39;t bother me.

But I agree the scare tactics are uncalled for and I%26#39;m sorry you all had to experience that. He can take some jokes to far. I could tell he had irritated some folks on our tour with them as well. But as I said, I doubt he%26#39;d ever have put you guys in any real danger.

I%26#39;m finding this so amusing! I know this guide personally! and just like this last person said, you were not in any danger. Yes he likes to play around and he thinks he%26#39;s being funny...but that%26#39;s what%26#39;s funny about him. If it was indeed him, he would NEVER put anone in any type of danger...and c%26#39;mon now, driving all the way towards the edge so that you%26#39;re hanging off the cliff? I know it looks that way, but I%26#39;m not sure if it%26#39;s even possible. Do you think HE%26#39;d want to go off a cliff? He has drivin up and down that road countless times and knows it like the back of his hand. I used to get freaked out about the seatbelt thing too (he laughs at me all the time because I want to keep it on)...but it%26#39;s just a habit for people who have grown up here...he was trying to make it safer for you, believe it or not. He truely does not ';laugh at the tourists'; he just jokes around with you guys because he thinks he%26#39;s being funny, and maybe trying to loosen you up a bit...You ARE on vacation right? I%26#39;ve told him before that not everyone will get his jokes...not everyone is as laid back as he is.

Well, I just wanted to say that you were not in any type of danger and that you should feel very safe to go into the Valley with someone who grew up there and knows everything about it. I%26#39;d rather deal with his silly humor, than to be guided by someone who semi knows what he%26#39;s doing!