where have you been

[Stradling]

5 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Iceland too, for the black and blue combo.

I've been there, New Zealand, hands down.  

[Tank]

Had as good a day as you could expect on vacation. Wife went down to the pool to get lounge chairs in the shade while I walked to the local village shops and bought breakfast and lunch to bring back. Put our lunches in our room fridge and then took our breakfast down to eat at poolside. Swam in the pool until about 1:00, including a very brief dip in the ocean where one of us had to relieve themselves, then came back up to our room for a "nap" and lunch. Had dinner at a really nice place on a lagoon overlooking the ocean at sunset within the resort. Just a completely relaxing, enjoyable day.

my daughter and brother arrive tomorrow and we'll head the the Maui Beach Club for the next six days before returning home. Going snorkeling/snuba on Monday. Will check out several of your recommendations for lunch/dinner. Going to stop by Kapalua Golf Course but only to go into the pro shop and grab a souvenir or two. 

This is the kind of place I'd love to return to each year. Found out our garden view room is five bills per night, so that'll pretty much end any debate (we're probably the poorest people in the resort this week) about returning here. Hopefully there are other, more affordable places to stay on this island so we can come back. So beautiful here.

[Jobu]

5 hours ago, Tank said:

 

This is the kind of place I'd love to return to each year. Found out our garden view room is five bills per night, so that'll pretty much end any debate (we're probably the poorest people in the resort this week) about returning here. Hopefully there are other, more affordable places to stay on this island so we can come back. So beautiful here.

There are definitely more affordable places. Tons of condos for rent at more traditional "hotel" prices in Kihei.

I thought the same thing (going every year) while I was there, but a few years later I don't really feel the same. Lots of other places on the list in front of a return visit.

 

If you're doing Lahaina there's a "local" joint called 808 Grindz Cafe that's really great for breakfast. Recommended by the insanely hot "co-pilot" on our whale watching boat. Mostly eggs and rice and meat in various combinations but so good.

 

 

I can't emphasize enough how hot she was.

[NJHalo]

11 hours ago, calscuf said:

I love my women black and blue.

Who are you, Captain Kirk?

 

[NJHalo]

1 hour ago, Jobu said:

There are definitely more affordable places. Tons of condos for rent at more traditional "hotel" prices in Kihei.

 

Totally agree. We splurged for our honeymoon, but when we wanted to go back, we rented a timeshare for the week. There are a bunch of nice ones with plenty of availability. People can't afford the airfare every year, so they put them up for rent at great prices. I think we used RedWeek to find our place, but there are lots of others.

[JAHV76]

15 minutes ago, NJHalo said:

Who are you, Captain Kirk?

 

That guy laid more pipe than Adee Dol

[Angel Dog and Beer]

@Tank, if you'll be up Kapalua way, try snorkeling at Honolua bay. Nice easy, shallow entry, and gets really exciting as you go further out.

Ah yes, the Kapalua course is insane. Last time I played there we rushed past the 17th hole just to tee off and play the 18th, as it was getting dark. I smashed my drive, and that fairway is big, downhill and downwind. I'll always remember that. 

Also, I remember having and awesome breakfast at "The Gazebo" in Napili. Get there early, as there's usually a line even before they open. Right on the water, open air, the morning sun hits Molokai and its just beautiful. Great place to enjoy your Kona coffee and macadamia nut pancakes with Tahitian vanilla maple syrup. 

[Tank]

17 hours ago, Angel Dog and Beer said:

@Tank, if you'll be up Kapalua way, try snorkeling at Honolua bay. Nice easy, shallow entry, and gets really exciting as you go further out.

Ah yes, the Kapalua course is insane. Last time I played there we rushed past the 17th hole just to tee off and play the 18th, as it was getting dark. I smashed my drive, and that fairway is big, downhill and downwind. I'll always remember that. 

Also, I remember having and awesome breakfast at "The Gazebo" in Napili. Get there early, as there's usually a line even before they open. Right on the water, open air, the morning sun hits Molokai and its just beautiful. Great place to enjoy your Kona coffee and macadamia nut pancakes with Tahitian vanilla maple syrup. 

We're going snorkeling at Molokini. It was recommended by a couple of friends so that's where we're going for this trip. We'll see how well it goes.

btw, I'm only taking recommendations here if they were given to you by an insanely hot boat captain. Anything less than that is just unacceptable.

[ten ocho recon scout]

On 8/3/2017 at 8:36 PM, calscuf said:

I leave my women black and blue.

Caveman

[ten ocho recon scout]

On 8/4/2017 at 1:19 AM, Tank said:

Had as good a day as you could expect on vacation. Wife went down to the pool to get lounge chairs in the shade while I walked to the local village shops and bought breakfast and lunch to bring back. Put our lunches in our room fridge and then took our breakfast down to eat at poolside. Swam in the pool until about 1:00, including a very brief dip in the ocean where one of us had to relieve themselves, then came back up to our room for a "nap" and lunch. Had dinner at a really nice place on a lagoon overlooking the ocean at sunset within the resort. Just a completely relaxing, enjoyable day.

my daughter and brother arrive tomorrow and we'll head the the Maui Beach Club for the next six days before returning home. Going snorkeling/snuba on Monday. Will check out several of your recommendations for lunch/dinner. Going to stop by Kapalua Golf Course but only to go into the pro shop and grab a souvenir or two. 

This is the kind of place I'd love to return to each year. Found out our garden view room is five bills per night, so that'll pretty much end any debate (we're probably the poorest people in the resort this week) about returning here. Hopefully there are other, more affordable places to stay on this island so we can come back. So beautiful here.

Hope "lunch" was good, you old dog.

Next time you head out, check out airbnb. You obviously arent getting the relax/pool/room service thing, but its way in the hell cheaper. For 500 a day at the place youre at, you could literally hop on a plane every day to see another island, do whatever you wanted to do there, and still come out on top.

[Tank]

11 hours ago, calscuf said:

Tank, last thing about Maui, if you want the classic, awesome seafood experience, go to Mama's Fish House in Paia.

Thanks. Have heard several people mention this place. As someone who doesn't eat fish, however, I don't think we'll be eating there. Going to try and hit up The Gazebo at some point. Ate lunch today at The Whalers Village food court. It was cheap, the food was good, and the hot shave ice chick had sugar free syrups. I'm guessing we'll eat there again.

[Redondo]

5 hours ago, Tank said:

Thanks. Have heard several people mention this place. As someone who doesn't eat fish, however, I don't think we'll be eating there. Going to try and hit up The Gazebo at some point. Ate lunch today at The Whalers Village food court. It was cheap, the food was good, and the hot shave ice chick had sugar free syrups. I'm guessing we'll eat there again.

I stayed at the Whalers Village Condos before. Really enjoyed having the food court next door. Between that and Safeway we were able to save a lot of money on food to use for entertainment. I believe I told you in another post that sometimes the local kids will practice hula and other Hawaiian dances there. Is the ice cream shop still there? They have excellent Kona coffee ice creaam.

Glad to hear you are having such a good time. I have been keeping track of all your posts while over there. I love going over there and always enjoy myself.

[notherhalo]

Flew out to New Orleans for the weekend, going to spend a few days along the eastern side of Florida and then go through the Carolinas. 

Any beef or chicken BBQ recommendations there?

[Tank]

11 hours ago, Redondo said:

I stayed at the Whalers Village Condos before. Really enjoyed having the food court next door. Between that and Safeway we were able to save a lot of money on food to use for entertainment. I believe I told you in another post that sometimes the local kids will practice hula and other Hawaiian dances there. Is the ice cream shop still there? They have excellent Kona coffee ice creaam.

Glad to hear you are having such a good time. I have been keeping track of all your posts while over there. I love going over there and always enjoy myself.

Cool. Glad you're enjoying them. The ice cream place is still there and is a Haagen Daz, which may or may not be new. There's also a gelato place and my brother got an amazing peanut butter and hazelnut combo. Really, really good.

my brother ad I drove up to Kapalua to see the Plantation course this morning. It rocked. Bought a couple of things in the pro shop but couldn't pull the trigger on a sleeve of three imprinted Calloway Chrome soft balls for $18 (the Titleist Pro V1's were $20). Ouch. Felt bold and asked them if I could borrow a putter and go out to the practice green for a couple of putts. They said sure, go ahead. Handed me a putter and five golf balls and bingo. That was pretty awesome. Thought of how much you would have enjoyed being there with me @gotbeer and @Adam and @nate and @stevestevens. 

We're at the Marriott this week and the Royal Ka'anapali golf course is right here. Pulled in to their pro shop and bought a couple of things there, also. This was the home of a senior tour event, an LPGA event, and the home of the Seniot Tour Skins Game, so there are some pictures on the walls. Their prices are TONS more reasonable than Kapalua ($129 resort price vs. $500). When we come back, we're bringing the sticks and playing Ka'anapali.

going snorkeling tomorrow and hoping for calm waters.

[nate]

@Tank That is awesome.  I actually have only been golfing once since we played with @Adamdown in Anaheim or wherever that was.

[Stradling]

On 8/6/2017 at 1:09 AM, Tank said:

Thanks. Have heard several people mention this place. As someone who doesn't eat fish, however, I don't think we'll be eating there. Going to try and hit up The Gazebo at some point. Ate lunch today at The Whalers Village food court. It was cheap, the food was good, and the hot shave ice chick had sugar free syrups. I'm guessing we'll eat there again.

There's an ice cream place there that is pretty legit, Lapperts? Maybe.

[Tank]

9 hours ago, Stradling said:

There's an ice cream place there that is pretty legit, Lapperts? Maybe.

Sorry, Strad, but I'm only taking recommendations from insanely hot female boat captains. 

[Tank]

Did our snorkeling trip this morning at Molokini and it was phenomenal. One of the most enjoyable things I've ever done. Wife and daughter did snorkeling while I did snuba, which is a combo of snorkeling and scuba. It rocked and makes me want to get certified for scuba.

my immediate impression on entering the water was how friggin ' blue it all was. I grew up three miles from manhatten beach and never saw water that blue, ever. We were in about 20 feet of water, it just felt so vast. My partner and I, a 14 year old girl from Idaho, were tethered to the same air tank, so wherever one of us went, both of us went. It worked out well. The tether prevented us from going deeper than about 12 or 15 feet, but for a first dive that was absolutely fine. Plenty of fish, mostly Tangs (black, gray, and yellow varieties). There was also a native black, yellow, and white fish that looked like an angel fish, but captain Dan said it was another breed. The water was so clear and yet so blue, and it was all so magnificent. We were under for 30 minutes and I wished very much it could have been longer. 

Climbing back onto the boat was the toughest part of my day because I had to get on my knees for a bit on the ladder, and it was very uncomfortable. But I determined to get through it and was fine.

returned my diving harness and weight belt then went back in the water and snorkeled with my wife and daughter. It was good but a bit of a letdown after the snuba, to be perfectly honest. I think I'm hooked.

they fed us on the boat, both breakfast and lunch. They even had veggie burgers available, though the BBQ pork and BBQ chicken smelled amazing while cooking on the grill. My veggie burger was excellent, however, and I'd eat it again. I bought the picture package and have it on a thumb drive. Will share pictures some time after I return home and can access my computer.

i still can't get over blue the water was and how much fun I had. 

Edited August 8, 2017 by Tank

[Stradling]

2 hours ago, Tank said:

Did our snorkeling trip this morning at Molokini and it was phenomenal. One of the most enjoyable things I've ever done. Wife and daughter did snorkeling while I did snuba, which is a combo of snorkeling and scuba. It rocked and makes me want to get certified for scuba.

my immediate impression on entering the water was how friggin ' blue it all was. I grew up three miles from manhatten beach and never saw water that blue, ever. We were in about 20 feet of water, it just felt so vast. My partner and I, a 14 year old girl from Idaho, were tethered to the same air tank, so wherever one of us went, both of us went. It worked out well. The tether prevented us from going deeper than about 12 or 15 feet, but for a first dive that was absolutely fine. Plenty of fish, mostly Tangs (black, gray, and yellow varieties). There was also a native black, yellow, and white fish that looked like an angel fish, but captain Dan said it was another breed. The water was so clear and yet so blue, and it was all so magnificent. We were under for 30 minutes and I wished very much it could have been longer. 

Climbing back onto the boat was the toughest part of my day because I had to get on my knees for a bit on the ladder, and it was very uncomfortable. But I determined to get through it and was fine.

returned my diving harness and weight belt then went back in the water and snorkeled with my wife and daughter. It was good but a bit of a letdown after the snuba, to be perfectly honest. I think I'm hooked.

they fed us on the boat, both breakfast and lunch. They even had veggie burgers available, though the BBQ pork and BBQ chicken smelled amazing while cooking on the grill. My veggie burger was excellent, however, and I'd eat it again. I bought the picture package and have it on a thumb drive. Will share pictures some time after I return home and can access my computer.

i still can't get over blue the water was and how much fun I had. 

I'm guessing they didn't take you to "turtle town"?  That's pretty damn cool if you get a chance.  Each time I've snuba at Molokini they've taken a trip over to Turtle town on the way back. 

[gotbeer]

On 8/6/2017 at 6:42 PM, Tank said:

Cool. Glad you're enjoying them. The ice cream place is still there and is a Haagen Daz, which may or may not be new. There's also a gelato place and my brother got an amazing peanut butter and hazelnut combo. Really, really good.

my brother ad I drove up to Kapalua to see the Plantation course this morning. It rocked. Bought a couple of things in the pro shop but couldn't pull the trigger on a sleeve of three imprinted Calloway Chrome soft balls for $18 (the Titleist Pro V1's were $20). Ouch. Felt bold and asked them if I could borrow a putter and go out to the practice green for a couple of putts. They said sure, go ahead. Handed me a putter and five golf balls and bingo. That was pretty awesome. Thought of how much you would have enjoyed being there with me @gotbeer and @Adam and @nate and @stevestevens. 

We're at the Marriott this week and the Royal Ka'anapali golf course is right here. Pulled in to their pro shop and bought a couple of things there, also. This was the home of a senior tour event, an LPGA event, and the home of the Seniot Tour Skins Game, so there are some pictures on the walls. Their prices are TONS more reasonable than Kapalua ($129 resort price vs. $500). When we come back, we're bringing the sticks and playing Ka'anapali.

going snorkeling tomorrow and hoping for calm waters.

That is awesome.  you know you are in a first class place when that happens.  Of course I would have pressed my bets and asked for clubs to use in the driving range.

[gotbeer]

6 hours ago, Tank said:

Did our snorkeling trip this morning at Molokini and it was phenomenal. One of the most enjoyable things I've ever done. Wife and daughter did snorkeling while I did snuba, which is a combo of snorkeling and scuba. It rocked and makes me want to get certified for scuba.

my immediate impression on entering the water was how friggin ' blue it all was. I grew up three miles from manhatten beach and never saw water that blue, ever. We were in about 20 feet of water, it just felt so vast. My partner and I, a 14 year old girl from Idaho, were tethered to the same air tank, so wherever one of us went, both of us went. It worked out well. The tether prevented us from going deeper than about 12 or 15 feet, but for a first dive that was absolutely fine. Plenty of fish, mostly Tangs (black, gray, and yellow varieties). There was also a native black, yellow, and white fish that looked like an angel fish, but captain Dan said it was another breed. The water was so clear and yet so blue, and it was all so magnificent. We were under for 30 minutes and I wished very much it could have been longer. 

Climbing back onto the boat was the toughest part of my day because I had to get on my knees for a bit on the ladder, and it was very uncomfortable. But I determined to get through it and was fine.

returned my diving harness and weight belt then went back in the water and snorkeled with my wife and daughter. It was good but a bit of a letdown after the snuba, to be perfectly honest. I think I'm hooked.

they fed us on the boat, both breakfast and lunch. They even had veggie burgers available, though the BBQ pork and BBQ chicken smelled amazing while cooking on the grill. My veggie burger was excellent, however, and I'd eat it again. I bought the picture package and have it on a thumb drive. Will share pictures some time after I return home and can access my computer.

i still can't get over blue the water was and how much fun I had. 

Just wait till your free dives off of the So Cal Coast.  @Stradling brought up the turtle dive.  That would be appropriate for a So Cal Dive.  Oh and about that visibility....  But I will say that if you can get past all that stuff.  So Cal Diving has it's own very nice charms. 

[Tank]

14 hours ago, Stradling said:

I'm guessing they didn't take you to "turtle town"?  That's pretty damn cool if you get a chance.  Each time I've snuba at Molokini they've taken a trip over to Turtle town on the way back. 

No turtle town option today with this company. That would have blown my mind to add that to the first dive.

Edited August 8, 2017 by Tank

[Redondo]

Snuba is a blast. Did the same at Molokini. Amazing how clear the water is compared to SoCal.

 

[ten ocho recon scout]

17 hours ago, Stradling said:

I'm guessing they didn't take you to "turtle town"?  That's pretty damn cool if you get a chance.  Each time I've snuba at Molokini they've taken a trip over to Turtle town on the way back. 

Turtle town? Water is that cold?...

[ten ocho recon scout]

Thats great @Tank, glad you had fun. Diving is a blast. Just a heads up, its not near as good in california, unfortunately. But if its something you can see yourself really liking, save your pennies and start looking at maybe next year going back to hawaii, or cancun, something like that. The water is insane.