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Kaanapali: Maui's Fun Coast
Kaanapali is fit and trim, manicured from its lu`au lawns to its golf tees.
The hotels possess gourmet dining rooms, lagoons with swans and flamingoes,
art treasures in improbable places, vast landscapes and waterscapes with
mega-pools, cascades and thrill slides. The toys in the once-royal playground
are catamarans, outrigger canoes, boogie boards and surfboards, aqua bikes,
snorkel and dive gear, rafts, windsurfers and sailboats.
In ancient times, Kaanapali was a royal retreat for the rulers of Maui.
They liked the perfect three-mile stretch of white sand beach, gentle waves,
warm sunny days, and the broad swatch of green land that swept up to the
rainbow-haunted West Maui Mountains. Maui's "royals" surfed, raced their
outrigger canoes, feasted at lu`aus that lasted for weeks, and where the
Kaanapali Golf Courses now blanket the land, they played ulu maika, a form
of lawn bowling using heavy lava rock balls.
Kaanapali's two championship golf courses are open to all. One is the
creation of the eminent Robert Trent Jones, Sr., the other designed by
Arthur Jack Snyder. The way the courses are laid out, both duffers and
pros get a good game. The only problem is whales. If they're jumping
offshore in their fantastic gymnastics, nobody seems to make par. The
magnificent vistas of sea and mountains are distracting enough to be
considered outright hazards on the links.
Kaanapali has four "A's" in its name and three of them stand for "Action.
The other "A?" It stands for "A Surprisingly Great Deal" because Kaanapali
hotels and condominiums offer a wide spectrum of accommodations, packages
and rates.
Kaanapali was Hawaii's first planned resort and has become a model for resorts
around the world. The hotels and holiday condominiums offer a variety of
experiences from soaring marble lobbies to beachside bungalows. All are
planted in the 1200-acre enclave amid lavish gardens along the beach and
golf courses, each so private they appear solitary. In the center is the
Whalers Village, an open-air, world-class shopping complex housing a whaling
museum. The shops, hotels, restaurants, nightlife, activity centers, golf
courses and even Lahaina town and are all connected by free transportation.
Alternately, the Lahaina-Kaanapali and Pacific Railroad, a restored sugarcane
train pulled by a vintage steam locomotive, chugs between the resort and Lahaina
through sugar plantation fields.
Kaanapali is aware of its history and traditions. Every evening at sundown,
cliff divers reenact the feat of Maui's revered King Kahekili, who bravely dove
from the cliff at Pu`u Kekaa, or Black Rock, into the churning sea, at a time
when the spot was considered to be the jumping off place for the soul to enter
the nether world. The tiki torches are lit along the shore as the ancient pahu
drums and triton shell horns call the hula dancers and revelers to the beachside
lu`aus.
To preserve the unique culture and way of life of Maui, some Kaanapali properties
have adopted innovative programs whereby employees share their heritage with
guests in small ways such as greeting them with genuine aloha, and large ways
such as colorful festivals during Aloha Week, Lei Day and Kamehameha Day honoring
Hawaii's greatest king.
Even with all its wondrous amenities, Kaanapali has retained the reality of
gracious royal Hawaiian hospitality and the pace of the action that made it the
choice of kings.
RESOURCES
Kaanapali Beach Resort Associatio, 2530 Kekaa Dr., Kaanapali, Maui, HI 96761;
800/245-9229.
Hyatt Regency Maui, The Limtiaco Company, 1210 Auahi Street, Suite 208 Honolulu,
HI 96814, 808/591-6599
The Westin Maui, Director of Marketing, Michael Lee, 2365 Kaanapali Parkway,
Kaanapali, Maui, HI 96761; 808/667-2525
Whalers Village Museum Shop, Verena Wilkin, Manager 808/661-5992.
Kaanapali Golf Courses, Director of Golf, Ray Demello; 808/661-3691.
Ka'anapali Beach Hotel, Luana Paahana, Director of Sales & Marketing,
2525 Kaanapali Parkway, Kaanapali, HI 96761; 808/661-0011.
Maui Marriott, Shae Page, Account Executive, McNeil Wilson Communications
1001 Bishop St., Suite 950, Honolulu, HI 96813; 808/531-0244
Royal Lahaina Resort, Kathy Quillan, Director of Sales, 2780 Kekaa Drive,
Kaanapali, HI 96761, 808/661-3611
Sheraton Maui, 2605 Kaanapali Parkway, Lahaina, Maui, HI 96761; 808/661-0031
The Whaler on Kaanapali Beach, 2481 Kaanapali Parkway, Kaanapali, HI
96761, 808/661-4861
Lahaina-Kaanapali & Pacific Railroad, ("The Sugarcane Train"),
Barbara Allen,General Manager, 975 Limahana Pl., Ste. 203, Lahaina,
HI 96761; 808/661-0080
Kaanapali Alii, Lynne Higashiguchi, Director of Sales, 50 Nohea Kai Drive,
Kaanapali, HI 96761, 808/667-1400
Article Courtesy of the Maui Visitors Bureau
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