Maui's Beachfront Beauties

You all may remember that recently I went on vacation to the beautiful Hawaiian island of Maui for the Engineer's 40th birthday. Ever since I came back, I've had people from all over ask me questions about Maui, especially how I decided where to stay.

First of all, Maui is beautiful, and it is definitely a family-friendly place. You can take your kids here and they will never get bored, there is just too much to do! Especially if you do like I did, and stay at a place on the beach. If we ever go back (and we just might, because the kids kept saying how "awesome" everything was), I just can't see not staying somewhere on the water. The astmosphere is so relaxed when you are staying right on the beach. The kids can snorkel, hunt for shells, bury Mom and Dad in the sand, dig huge holes (my boys love to do this, and on at least one occasion startled a crab!) and of course make huge sandcastles. During the whale-watching season from December to April, you can sometimes even see the humpback whales spout out in the ocean, right from the beach! We were so delighted by this that we spent most evenings on a bench right outside our rental, overlooking the beach, pointing out the occasional fin, flipper or plume of salty water.


Then, once the kids are all tuckered out, you and your husband can watch the sunset over the water. I don't think there is anywhere more romantic than the Hawaiian islands. I live in Florida, and I remember the first time I went thinking, "how different could it be?" Well, for one thing, we don't see humpback whales in Florida! But even when the whale season is over, there's plenty more. We don't have waterfalls, or the same tropical fish they do, or a mountain range rising up over the water from another nearby island, like Lanai or Molokai. And the luaus are incredible! I ate so much I was stuffed!

What's great about the place we stayed while we were in Maui, as well as the other properties available through the online resources like Maui beachfront vacation homes , is that they have really embraced the concept of "ecotourism." They understand that families like yours and mine go to Maui to enjoy the natural beauty, and we don't want to spoil it for future generations, like our children's children. They realize that their business depends on working with nature in environmentally friendly business practices. This makes sound sense: people want to come to Maui for its unspoiled beauty. By helping to keep the island unspoiled, they are actually also doing what's best for business.

So, anyway, when I went to Maui, rather than staying at just any old hotel, I rented a beachfront property for the week. It felt like home; it had a kitchenette and a dining room table where all four of us could sit down to eat breakfast in the morning. We could step outside and enjoy the beauty of the beach. And we knew that, if we decided to come back again some day, this beautiful island would still be there for us to enjoy, virtually unchanged.