Wailea Beach; Wailea, Maui

[Note - I've reviewed this beach before and having visited again today, I feel my previous review was too kind. Read it here.]

Wailea Beach is something of an odd creature; a picture perfect tropical beach at first glance but hides something of a sinister underbelly. Okay, maybe not ‘sinister,’ but Wailea Beach isn’t everything the hotels that flank it – The Grand Wailea, the condos at Wailea Point and The Four Seasons  – would like you to believe it is.

Wailea Beach before 9am.

At first, Wailea Beach appears to be a beautiful quarter-mile stretch of smooth sand. This is true. However, if you think this is a great place to relax, then you must be a tourist: Wailea Beach is the most tourist-trafficked beach on Maui’s south side, which is okay if that’s your thing. Wailea Beach is a perfectly good spot to be crowded alongside other tourists and play in the typically soft waves that lap the shore here. It’s also a good place for novice snorkelers who are afraid of the water to practice, novice divers making their first dive, and novice stand-up paddleboarders eager to run over the former two groups of novices.

What ruins Wailea Beach besides the tourists, at least for me, is the ocean off of beach; it’s polluted, clear at shore but murky beyond 100 feet, has terrible coral growth and hardly any fish when compared to almost every other beach on Maui. Much of this has to do with the number of tourists spraying sunscreen on and then running right into the ocean, to say nothing of the run off from the development right on shore. With the ocean being no good here, is there really any reason to go to Wailea Beach?

The people watching can be good; it’s a little bit like watching zoo animals

Don't fall into the gorilla's cage!

who think they’ve been freed run amok. You can even people watch from afar as there is a nice grassy hill between the beach and its public beach parking access hardly anyone uses. Other than that, I don’t feel as though Wailea Beach has many redeeming qualities. You may have to travel further afield if you want to hit a better beach, though I will warn you that Polo Beach – a little further to the south along the Wailea beach path – is actually a worse beach than this one. Oh well, it’s the price you’ve paid too much for convenience. 

PS - Have you heard about the shark attacks here? No? Yeah, the hotels and tourist industry try to keep that kind of stuff under wraps...

Parking: Public Parking is the very next right after passing the Grand Wailea's parking area. There is limited spaces up front closer to the beach but there is overflow parking which will take you an extra -gasp!- minute or two to walk from. 

Boss Frog’s Frogman II Molokini Snorkel Tour

We certainly got up early for this one since all the reviews I’ve read about snorkel tours out of Maalaea indicated that the parking lot at the harbor fills up fast. We arrived 20 minutes before boarding, though, and parking was easy to find on the far side of the harbor, which meant a three minute walk to the slip. No big deal.

After checking in we found a nice place inside the cabin to sit, though it’s just as nice outside and upfront by the catamaran’s trampoline. The crew had placed some morning eats out which I have to admit were tastier than I expected. I think I eventually ate about half of all the little pieces of cinnamon cake they had. Fortunately, I had time to digest my “breakfast” as the ride out to Molokini took a bit over 45 minutes, time during which the captain was entertaining enough in recanting the ship’s strict rules and pointing out landmarks.

When we got to the crater, we were once again reminded to stay between the boat and the crater wall and not to stray too far to either side where other boats may come in. This resulted in 50 people trying not to kick each other as we got up close and personal with a school of black fish. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be much going on below the surface other than the black fish, and while the visibility is a good distance inside the crater, I didn’t find the coral all that remarkable. The water at Molokini is also noticeably colder than it is near shore, so be aware of that. That being the case, I would advise bringing your own wetsuit or rent one from the crew.

So between the crowd of snorkelers and the lack of marine activity inside the crater, I wasn’t all that impressed. I was more impressed by lunch, which featured cold cuts and drinks that weren’t half bad. We probably stayed at Molokini for 45 minutes, then shoved off for Turtle Town.

What you need to know about Turtle Town is that the location of Turtle Town varies by tour boat; it’s basically wherever the captain says it is which in this case was off Wailea Point. And we caught conditions on the right day as the water was warm and calm at Wailea Point with several turtles to be found. But the reality is, on a good day it would be easy to snorkel to the site where the boat stops halfway between Wailea Beach and Polo Beach. This stop was as good as any other, I suppose, but you needn’t book a snorkel tour to experience it.

After leaving Wailea Point came the best part of the trip, whale watching on the return the Maalaea Harbor. The whales were quite active today and we got a good view of several whales while remaining a respectful distance away. (The same cannot be said for many kayakers and paddleboarders.) Another word of advice: the surf conditions during the return towards Maalaea is often choppy, as winds change by the time you’re four-five hours into your trip. If you’re at all prone to sea sickness or don’t know if you are, please take Dramamine before getting on the boat! You’ll be doing everyone and yourself a favor.

All things considered, this snorkel tour was better as a whale watching tour and if it weren’t for the crew who were all professional, courteous, and entertaining, I may have minded. I wasn’t impressed by Molokini what with the amount of snorkeling I’ve done in my life and turtle town was okay, though I’ve seen more turtles elsewhere. At about $70 per person, I feel we only got our money’s worth because of the whales. If it weren’t whale season, I would have said don’t bother going to Molokini.

Honolua Coffee Company, Wailea

Coffee, how do I love thee? Far too much. That’s why I only drink it once a week and when I do, it’s almost always Honolua Coffee Company’s coffee. There’s no two ways about it; Honolua Coffee Company at the Shops at Wailea has the best coffee in South Maui and probably the island of Maui. (The only other business in Maui that comes close to good coffee is Anthony’s Coffee Company in Paia, where Paia will be the subject of another blog here shortly.)

Now, if you’ve done any research on coffee in Maui and read bad reviews about Honolua Coffee Company on TripAdvisor or Yelp, I believe those bad reviews are generated either by competitors, people too familiar with Starbucks sugary and burnt coffee, or people who are just plain impatient. Or all of the above. The fact is that this company gets it right consistently. Sure, sometimes when there is a long line they get backed up and your drink takes some time, but ‘dis ain’t da mainland, brah; ‘Island Time’ is no joke and this small operation doesn’t have 2-3 baristas going full throttle because YOU have no patience. Sorry, pet peeve of mine there. Both their hot drinks and cold drinks are always done to perfection, never burnt, and not overly sugary or chocolaty like you get in most coffee shops. And, the majority of the time the service is cheery, though there is one cashier some mornings who looks like she could care less to be there. Still, she does her job and the job here is coffee, so I always forgive her.

A few other things: I also love the pastries here, especially the cinnamon bun. Usually you don’t get what you pay for food wise in Hawaii, but this is one large chunk of bread. Seriously, where do they get this thing? Eating it always makes me feel guilty to the point I wind up trying to run it off later in the day. Also, the employees DO NOT like it if you are on your cell phone when trying to order and I don’t blame them. They want to get your order straight and you being on your phone doesn’t help. In fact, it’s rude on your part. And no, your defense is not “that’s just the world we live in now.” Besides, this place is the only place to get coffee in Wailea unless you want Starbucks from your hotel’s “café” so deal with it. I'm going to Honolua Coffee Company.

Sorry for sounding like I was on a high horse here. It’s the coffee talking :)