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Kihei and Poipu Trip

artringwald

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DRI: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 of which is in The Club.
If you're interested in renting a bike while in Poipu, I'd suggest using SpinLister.com, a web site for bike sharing. Several different individuals in the Poipu area share their bikes, and there are several types of bikes to choose from.

This flyby video created by the Relive app shows how many pictures I was able to take in a short period of time.

 

artringwald

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DRI: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 of which is in The Club.
I parked the car behind the CJM Stables property and took a 1.4 mile hike to visit some places on my bucket list.

View from Punahoa Point
2021-08-12 10.49.17.jpg


Gillin's Beach House
2021-08-12 10.21.29.jpg


Makauwahi Cave Reserve tortoise
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Makauwahi Cave entrance to the sinkhole
2021-08-12 10.11.51.jpg


View from the Makauwahi Cave Reserve Trail
2021-08-12 10.08.35.jpg
 

artringwald

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DRI: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 of which is in The Club.

artringwald

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DRI: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 of which is in The Club.
We're back in Minnesota now, so I'll give an update for the rest of our trip.

Restaurants
Restaurants are still at limited capacity and are having trouble hiring. Some have closed permanently. Before you go, check the hours in Google Maps. They usually are up to date. Here’s some comments on the places where we ate.

The Right Slice – Open and the pies are still the best. My favorite is the blueberry piña colada pie.
Jack In The Box – Drive up or take out only. No dine in.
Merriman's – Dining there was always superb… until the pandemic. Not many choices on the menu, the server seemed inexperienced, and the food was disappointing.
Tidepools – Unlike Merriman's, everything was perfect! Great service, selection, and quality. Even the fish in the koi pond next to our table were entertaining. Highly recommended.
Pietro Pizza – Not open on Sunday or for lunch, but we love their pizza. We ate there twice.
Point at Poipu Bar and Grill – We tried breakfast, lunch, and dinners there when we were too lazy to cook or go out. The menu choices are limited, but the food is certainly above average for a pool bar. Zada, Michael, and Karen have worked there for years, and we were glad to see they were back again.
Little Fish – There bagel sandwiches are great, but the word is out. You may have to wait in line.
Puka Dog – Speaking of lines, they were usually too long for me to wait in the sun and heat. They moved from the Poipu Shopping Center to Brennecke's Deli.
Roy’s Eating House 1849, The Dolphin and Dukes – Didn’t try soon enough to book them. Couldn’t get in.
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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Makauwahi Cave Reserve
Hi Art. As we discussed in the adult spa at the Point, how amazing that for both of us, in all the years we have been going to Poipu, neither of us had visited the Makauwahi Cave Reserve!!
 

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artringwald

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DRI: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 of which is in The Club.
Hi Art. As we discussed in the adult spa at the Point, how amazing that for both of us, in all the years we have been going to Poipu, neither of us had visited the Makauwahi Cave Reserve!!
It was fun to meet you at the hot tub. I was relieved to find out you look nothing like your profile picture. Makauwahi Cave Reserve is an amazing place and I'm glad I finally got a chance to go there. It's a long hike from the Point at Poipu, but if you have a 4-wheel drive, it's easy to start from behind the stables.

BTW, thanks for the leftover food when you checked out a week before we did. We enjoyed it. :thumbup:
 

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And here's a view from the far side toward your vantage point -----

View attachment 39180
Actually, that's not quite looking toward your vantage point, because Gillin's Beach House (visible in your photo) is on the other side of the dunes in my shot. So your shot shows the east side of the point beyond Gillin's' my shot is the west side of that same point.

When we did our hike to the area, we parked near CJM, and then walked as far as the tip of the point beyond Gillin's; i.e., the point on the left side of my photo, right side of yours.
 

artringwald

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DRI: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 of which is in The Club.
I have been down that way twice before, in 2013 and 2014, but I didn't hike. I just didn't know how to find the house, cave, and tortoises.

26 Kawailoa Bay.JPG


27 Kawailoa Bay.JPG


37-parking lot for Mahaulepu Beach.JPG
 

zentraveler

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When we took our last trip to Hawaii, we arrived home on March 1, 2020, shortly before the pandemic lockdown. This is the first time we’ve left the Twin Cities since then. We didn’t want to go anywhere until we were both fully vaccinated. We had to postpone our Hawaii trip and an Alaskan cruise several times, so we were really looking forward to Hawaii, but were wondering how much the pandemic would affect everything. I thought our experiences might help those planning a trip.

CLEAR Health Pass for Hawaii (not recommended)
Before we went to the MSP airport, I registered both of us for a free 2 month trial of CLEAR Health Pass. With it you can store your COVID testing and vaccine information. Several partners, including Hawaii, accept CLEAR Health Pass to prove vaccination. After you register, you have to go to the airport to collect your biometrics. What a joke! It should only take a couple of minutes to scan your eyes, face, and fingerprints. Their scanners were either out of order or couldn’t get consistent results. After 20 minutes and several personal trying to help, they finally got us scanned and verified. I’ll cancel my membership as soon as we get home.

Safe Travels for Hawaii (works great)
FYI, it’s not an app, it’s all through a web site. With Safe Travels, you apply for a quarantine exception by uploading your vaccination card ahead of time and enter your flight info. Within 24 hours of your flight, they’ll email a heath questionnaire. Along with questions about how you’re currently feeling, they want to know when you got your last flu shot. Since we were in Seattle by then we had to guess. Fill it out, submit it, and they’ll email a QR code. When you check in for the flight going to Hawaii, the agent scans the QR code, and puts a colored plastic band on your wrist. When you arrive in Hawaii, hold up your wrist with the band, and they let you through without any hassle. The rental car agency may have looked at the band too, because they didn’t ask for and COVID information. Just make sure you read all the information on their web site and in their emails.

Baggage Carousels
My Hawaiian Airlines app said our luggage would be at carousel 3. The sign in baggage claim said it would be in carousel 1. I found it in carousel 2. It’s not the first time this has happened. If there’s luggage coming down any of the carousels, go look to see if yours is there.

Rental Cars in Maui (piece of cake)
TIP: book it early and keep checking for lower prices. I was nervous because of some horror stories about people not getting their reserved car or having a long wait. It couldn’t have been easier. Last time we were in Maui, the Kahului Airport was still under construction. It’s finished and they did a nice job accommodating rental cars. All the major companies are in a single building inside a large parking ramp. A tram runs continuously from the baggage claims to the rental cars vendors. I reserved through National and paid a little extra for a car in the Emerald Isle. The keys were in the cars and I could choose from a wide variety of makes and models. I chose a small SUV by Ford, hopped in, and checked out at the gate.

So we’re staying at Wailea Ekahi Village on the south end of Kihei. It looks like it will be sunny, very warm, and humid all week. As we drove through Kihei on Friday, the car said it was 100 degrees. Fortunately, the condo’s AC works well. I’ll report later on Maui restaurants and attractions.

The luggage carousel situation at OGG is a complete and utter joke. It is like the Abbott and Costello, "whose on first" skit (yes, am dating myself). Irritating after a long flight, unnecessary, and can't possibly be too hard to fix.

At least have the board light up which of the five flights' listed bags (at each one) are being unloaded. Then as one is running around to check each carousel it would at least be possible to get a little information more easily than grabbing people who have picked up bags to see what flight they were on.
 

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The luggage carousel situation at OGG is a complete and utter joke. It is like the Abbott and Costello, "whose on first" skit (yes, am dating myself). Irritating after a long flight, unnecessary, and can't possibly be too hard to fix.

At least have the board light up which of the five flights' listed bags (at each one) are being unloaded. Then as one is running around to check each carousel it would at least be possible to get a little information more easily than grabbing people who have picked up bags to see what flight they were on.
It never used to be an issue. I wonder if you arrived on an off day, or if things have changed.
 

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It never used to be an issue. I wonder if you arrived on an off day, or if things have changed.

The last two times I was there, there was only one carousel running so it wasn't an issue. I never had issues before either.
 

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The last two times I was there, there was only one carousel running so it wasn't an issue. I never had issues before either.
Actually the last time we were there, which was early 2020, they were so efficient that I got the luggage before Steve caught the shuttle to go get the rental car.
 

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Actually the last time we were there, which was early 2020, they were so efficient that I got the luggage before Steve caught the shuttle to go get the rental car.

I was there in April of this year and just last week. Maybe he caught an off day. :shrug:
 

artringwald

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It never used to be an issue. I wonder if you arrived on an off day, or if things have changed.
Several years ago, they sent our luggage to Kauai instead of OGG. They found it and delivered it to our condo about 11 PM. I didn't mind waiting because I went down to the beach to get my toes in the water and watch the stars.
 

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Several years ago, they sent our luggage to Kauai instead of OGG. They found it and delivered it to our condo about 11 PM. I didn't mind waiting because I went down to the beach to get my toes in the water and watch the stars.
Many years ago, before they remodeled the Maui airport and when everything was outdoors, my now ex-husband and I flew from Los Angeles to Maui, stopping in Honolulu. At that time there was no direct flight. My best friend was going to meet us, she was flying from San Francisco to Honolulu, then we'd all fly on to Maui. Her flight was delayed and we opted to wait for her in Honolulu rather than going on to Maui. Back then, no cell phones and I'm not even sure if, or how, we were able to get a message to her. We all finally caught the last flight from Honolulu to Maui. We found our luggage waiting in Maui, just kind of out in the middle of the baggage claim area. I'm surprised someone didn't just walk off with it.
 

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The luggage carousel situation at OGG is a complete and utter joke. It is like the Abbott and Costello, "whose on first" skit (yes, am dating myself). Irritating after a long flight, unnecessary, and can't possibly be too hard to fix.

At least have the board light up which of the five flights' listed bags (at each one) are being unloaded. Then as one is running around to check each carousel it would at least be possible to get a little information more easily than grabbing people who have picked up bags to see what flight they were on.

Must be me! We came is January and it was the same mess. This time there were only two carousels open, each showing 5 flights from all airlines and the flights shifted from one to the other. Glad to know it is usually not like this. I know everyone is short staffed so my SOP these days is to take a deep breath and be grateful I am here. If my biggest gripe is that it takes a while to find my luggage at OGG, just off a great flight from SFO, I am too lucky to complain. About most anything.
 
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T_R_Oglodyte

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Several years ago, they sent our luggage to Kauai instead of OGG. They found it and delivered it to our condo about 11 PM. I didn't mind waiting because I went down to the beach to get my toes in the water and watch the stars.
Several years ago DS and DDIL were flying on Spirit from Houston to San Diego. Spirit sent DDIL's luggage to San Salvador (SAL) instead of San Diego (SAN). It was a four day trip for them. DDIL's luggage was located in San Salvador in the morning of day 3, was routed back to Houston and then forwarded to San Diego. Her luggage finally arrived in San Diego on the morning of day 4, and delivered to her about about noon, fortunately before they left for the airport in San Diego to return to Houston.
 

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Point at Poipu Bar and Grill – We tried breakfast, lunch, and dinners there when we were too lazy to cook or go out. The menu choices are limited, but the food is certainly above average for a pool bar. Zada, Michael, and Karen have worked there for years, and we were glad to see they were back again

Great to hear they are all still at The Point@Poipu. We are flying over in mid October.
 
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