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Sands of Kahana Hale Honu
Recent news
November 2024
John Alpine,
First whale sighting from our Lanai! While its early in the season, still caught a glimpse of a lone whale (the first comers are usually males traveling alone) right offshore. He (presuming a he) did the famous fin flapping but no massive breaching. Besides whales, I checked out the local reef snorkeling and was blown away by the number of turtles in the water. Normally I might see one or two but this time I was literally surrounded by at least a dozen. There is quite a bit of plant life on the shallow reef and they were busy eating it up.
The big news here at the Sands is the remodeling and reopening of the on premise Beach House Restaurant. A few months ago both Dolly's and the Beach House (both owned by the same entity) were sold to the owners of Cool Cats Cafe and Captain Jack's restaurants in Lahaina. Both were destroyed in the fire with Cool Cats recently reopening in Kihei. Lucky for us, these owners, widely know for excellent service and a broad popular menus, decided to buy up Dolly's and the Beach House. Dolly's is still open and running but the Beach House is going though a thorough and complete remodeling. Looking forward to the new Captain Jacks opening sometime this year.
Traditionally Oct/Nov - before Thanksgiving is low season and this year is no exception. Very little crowds, easy reservations at every restaurant, tons of parking everywhere. In general, visitor count in West Maui is way down after the fire, so if you long for a less crowded, more laid back Maui, now is definitely the time. This was rather a longer stay for us, also hosted some guests, so first time for me going to Ocean Vodka upcountry, highly recommend - make reservations for a sunset dinner, it has incredible views. Added Olowalu to my places I have snorkeled at. Very shallow water with a very diverse reef and super easy access into the water (no shore break, lots of sand). Quite a bit of progress being made in rebuilding Lahaina. Mostly residential areas. The restaurants that survived the fire, Honu, Mala, Star Noodle, Aloha Mixed Plate are back up and in business, but front street is going to take a while as Maui considers different plans for what the rebuild should look like.
Did our usual housekeeping. Replaced a older TV with a new Samsung Smart TV. Cleaned everything, proactively replaced interior pipes (don't want a guest to wake up to a flood), refilled all the consumables. Bought a fun collapsible wagon/cart for guests to bring down all the beach goodies and cooler.
February 2024
John Alpine,
While the Island is still in recovery mode from the Lahaina fire, the activity level has certainly come back to life. While not quite at the pre fire level, West Maui is definitely busier. You may have heard in the news that the Governor and Major are working with owners of short term rental properties - which include us, on temporarily converting the units to a long term rental for displaced victims of the fire. This is a voluntary program and is exceptionally generous to owners. However for us, given that our unit is in a resort shared with timeshare owners, this made us a poor fit for helping out and thus we are opted out of the program. What this means for anyone considering reserving Hale Honu, that you will not find yourself facing an unexpected cancelation. Something that is happening to many others.
On a different note, this is an absolutely record year for the whale migration. We can look out from our front window and see at least a one major breach (where a whale jumps out of the water making a spectacular splash) if 10 minutes or so.
Whales are not the only wildlife we have witnessed. For two days over this week a rare Hawaiian Monk seal has come ashore to take a nap on the beach, and the sea turtles are everywhere. Again you only need to look down from the Lanai to see all the action.
As usual, we have spent part of our stay here today cleaning, replacing filters, fixing what ever was not working. Thankfully all major appliances are new, the AC is new and everything is functioning well, so not much to do this trip.
October 2023
John Alpine,
Having barely escaped the devastating wind drive Marshall fire in Colorado in 2022 (by just a few miles), we now barely escaped an even more tragic fire in Lahaina. Kahana is about 8 miles north of Lahaina upwind, so the fire stopped south. Nevertheless all power, water, electricity and communications were cut off. Our amazing guests at the time managed to figure out what was happening and left just days after. Of course, we refunded all unused nights (and the no power, no water days) as well as refunded all deposits for those that canceled in the aftermath.
It is now three months after the fire and Lahaina is slowly being cleared. Most of those that lost their homes are staying in temporary housing provided by FEMA and the Red Cross using hotel rooms, largely in Kaanapali.
Though not restricted by the Governors requests for non essential travel to the area as owners, we nevertheless held off visiting the unit until the beginning of October and stayed the month. As Kahana serves as a distribution and help center for dislocated residents, we helped out where we could, also donating to the Maui animal shelter that suddenly found itself with a huge number of lost or abandon animals.
We also spent time doing what we could for the local economy, making sure we were not disrupting any recovery efforts, replacing all the carpeting, the sun filtering film on windows and fixing/replacing the usual assorted items and issues. One item top of our list was replacing the A/C air filters and water filters. Though there really was no smoke or broken water pipes in Kahana you never know where ash might drift.
If you're thinking of traveling to Maui, do so. The economy was severely impacted and many businesses are facing economic ruin. You will only be helping. North west Maui where we are, has been especially hard it. You will be welcomed and anything you spend will go a long way to helping the recovery. Airfares and car rental fees are a deal right now so you will have more $s to spend on Island where it counts.
Photos on the left: A nearly empty Kaanapali beach, the refurbished koa pond a the Sands, an aerial photo of Maui by pilot John flying at 2,000 ft.
October 2022
John Alpine,
Back for a whole month. We try to time our long visits with "low season" if there is such a thing today for Maui. It is also that time of year were we take stock of the unit and replace everything that needs to be replaced: starting with the washer and dryer. It is so important for our guests to have working everything, and this means replacing appliances as soon as they show signs of trouble. Our trusty Maytag washer gave out so we bought a completely new pair extra large capacity. We also replaced ALL the pots and pans as they were getting scratched up, with high end Calphalon set. The kitchen knife set, a new toaster, all new plates and dinnerware. We upgraded the internet router and upgraded our service to 500 m/s, as we have all grown so dependent on fast internet. Every visit I also replace all our water and air conditioning filters. Maui water is excellent but we want to take that extra step for our guests with a 3 stage filter and reverse osmosis system so that no one needs to buy bottled water when here. Even the ice maker filter as what good is filtered water if you add unfiltered ice!
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