We were torn. We needed a rest, some sun, a vacation spot that would satisfy two stressed-out adults, a robust college student and a very energetic toddler. We wanted to avoid the madness of the Big Island, but Kauai, quiet, lush Kauai — well, was it heresy to say we’d gotten bored after about four days there? So, where to spend a precious week of vacation? Maui it was.
But where on Maui? We made a list of our family’s requirements: Shopping. Views (bikinis, the sunset — we had our varying notions of what constitutes a great view). A VCR to play “Barney” tapes. And escapist pleasure: the surf soothing the soul, trade winds massaging the brow.
And so we settled on the Kapalua Villas, the northwestern-most development on Maui. It’s a 15-minute drive to bustling Ka’anapali, yet still an oasis of uncluttered beaches, quiet comfort and some of the best golf in all of Hawaii. Kapalua offers a family the ultimate luxury: choice.
You can watch the sun set over Molokai from the patio of a cliff-top villa, or you can watch golf balls zip by your fairway-view living room. You can sip the good life at the five-diamond Ritz-Carlton or shell pistachios at sunset at the bar of the Kapalua Bay Hotel. You will always feel the wind at Kapalua, not massaging your brow, but buffeting you around.
Whatever you choose, it’s not inexpensive. At the heart of Kapalua’s 1,650 acres — it’s still a working pineapple plantation — are 251 condominiums that fall into three categories: Fairway View, Oceanview and Oceanfront villas. One-bedroom units run from $185 to $245 per night, and two-bedroom units cost $250 to $400 per night. Those are the official rates you’ll get through the complex’s offices. Individual condo owners sometimes offer time-shares at reduced rates.
Another way to trim costs is to consider nearby Kahana or Napili, particularly the Napili Bay Beach Club. You can enjoy the beaches, shops and restaurants of Kapalua without the overhead.
Our two-bedroom condo was bigger than many homes. It had two bedrooms, a well-equipped kitchen, a washer/dryer, two bathrooms with tiled sunken showers, three TVs and one glorious, unobstructed view of the ocean.
If you rent a condo at Kapalua, you’re also entitled to use the amenities at the Kapalua Bay Hotel and at the Ritz-Carlton. But the real star isn’t a pricey restaurant; it’s the public Kapalua Beach.
A number of guidebooks call it the best beach on Maui. One exuberant review even calls it one of the world’s 10 best beaches. A 3/4-mile-long crescent, it made our whole family happy. We snorkeled. We sunbathed. And the toddler spent what seemed like hours playing in one of those foot showers we had previously thought existed for rinsing off sand.
The resort offers a dozen restaurants, ranging from the casual hilltop Plantation House, where the food and the views are equally impressive, to the dressier wood-paneled Bay Club at the Kapalua Bay Hotel.
While we had several dinners at Kapalua, one if its charms is its proximity to throbbing Ka’anapali, where we found the Hula Grill entertaining enough for both the college sophomore and his toddler sister. Also worth remembering: takeout from Roy’s Kahana Bar and Grill.
Even casual golfers will have a hard time resisting three of the best courses in Hawaii. The Bay Course — a par-72 designed by Arnold Palmer — snakes through the heart of the resort and along the lava fingers that stretch into the Pacific. The Village Course is nestled into the backside of the resort, skirting the ocean. It, too, is a par-72 Palmer design.
But the gem is the newer Plantation Course, a 7,263-yard, par-73 championship course that serves as a PGA tour stop in November.
If golf isn’t your game, you can join organized hikes from the Ritz-Carlton. You can play tennis (there are 20 courts at Kapalua) or lounge by one of 10 pools.
Croquet (and four pools) are available at the Ritz-Carlton, and you can try water sports from snorkeling to jet skis without leaving Kapalua.
A discouraging word: The Ritz-Carlton’s workout facility fee — $25 per day — is the most outrageous we’ve ever been quoted. Long walks on the beach never looked so good.
This time, we didn’t get bored in Hawaii. We did some shopping, but not too much. We lay idly on the beach, but not too much. We watched “Barney,” but not too much. Even a 2-year-old could appreciate paradise — or at least the foot showers.
