They say Maui is for lovers, but it can also be a luxurious getaway for family and friends. While there’s plenty of romance on this island, fresh food and fun times can be had by all.
Where to Stay
The newly opened Montage Kapalua Bay is an oceanfront paradise. Each residential-style suite has a full kitchen, washer/dryer and private lanai balcony, ideal for longer vacations. With only 50 rooms across 24 acres, spacious is an understatement. The grounds are just as vibrantly breathtaking as postcards promise and service is incredibly thoughtful and friendly, yet never intrusive.
What to Do
After a long flight, Spa Montage is the perfect cure for jet lag and sore muscles. Allow a full day to experience everything from the outdoor spa pool and garden to a dry sauna and eucalyptus steam room. Treatments use Kerstin Florian products, including caviar pearls and spirulina face masques.
Go snorkeling and spot Hawaii’s state fish: the striped triggerfish, or humuhumunukunukuapuaa as it’s known here. Try saying that three times fast! Paddleboarding, kayaking and golfing are also popular, or do sun salutations at the Point, a special lookout at Montage that offers a sweeping view of the ocean with the majestic islands of Lanai and Molokai rising up on the horizon.
Although the resort can keep you busy for a week, the rest of Maui is beautiful too. Peel yourself away from the pool cabanas to discover where delicious local produce comes from with an all-inclusive Maui Country Farm Tour. Learn about the canoe plants of Hawaii, brought to the islands by Polynesian explorers in canoes. Coffee-lovers will enjoy sampling brews at MauiGrown and eating coffee cherries right off the tree.
For the most authentic lu’au experience on Maui, join more than 400 guests at Old Lähaina Lü’au each night for a traditional Hawaiian dinner and show. Before feasting on a lavish buffet, see the kalua pig roasting in the imu, a traditional underground oven, and learn about indigenous crafts while snapping sunset selfies. Once appetites are sated, the hula performance begins, portraying the story of Hawaii’s history from early Polynesian migration to missionaries and contemporary tourism.
Where to Dine
Montage has fantastic food and cocktails right on property at Cane & Canoe, where Chef Riko Bartolome’s modern Hawaiian menu includes everything from classic hamachi poke and local monchong fish to vegetarian turnip “scallops” in a porcini tea broth or Maui coffee-crusted beef tenderloin. It’s hard to resist breakfast in bed, whether it’s a healthy acai bowl with granola, pineapple and mango or decadent sweet-potato pancakes topped with bananas, pecans and coconut glaze.
Merriman’s Kapalua is an option for vibrant, fresh food within easy walking distance. Three-time James Beard finalist, Chef Peter Merriman, is known for pioneering Hawaii’s regional cuisine and his restaurants continue to inspire young chefs today. Opt to get two half entrees instead of just one, so you don’t have to choose between macadamia-crusted Monchong and wok-charred ahi. Just save room for dessert, including the signature chocolate purse, made with phyllo dough and local Waialua chocolate.
With Kids
Paintbox is Montage’s kids’ club, where keiki can explore the tidepool, maybe even spotting a rare monk seal lounging on the beach, and do arts and crafts under friendly supervision while parents sneak away for romance. Monday evenings, watch family-friendly movies like “Shark Tale” poolside at the dive-in theater. The whole family can also learn ukulele, hula and lei making with Hawaiian cultural ambassadors. Take a hula lesson before a lu’au to better appreciate and decipher the hip swaying and gentle hand movements, the language of the Hawaiian heart.
