Another big week for the planning of our next trip, so I wanted to post an update. We finalized (or tried to) our final activities for our little 2 weeks of heaven on Maui in February, and we’re entering into our last trip preparations leading up to our flight.
Booked: Vacation Portrait Session
This was something I inadvertently left off the previous planning posts, but was something I was really interested in arranging this trip. I had seen a little kiosk setup at Whalers Village last year, and thought it was worth looking into. Well, we booked our session for Friday, Feb. 20th with photographer Natalie Brown.
It is going to be an hour session at Keawakapu Beach in Wailea, just before sunset. The spot was recommended by Natalie, and based on some of the photos in her portfolio, we know it’s a safe bet that things are going to be wonderful. She was also kind enough to recommend two top restaurants in the area, Sarento’s On The Beach and Five Palms Beach Grill. Both look wonderful, and regardless of which one we choose (or yet another option), this has all the makings for a magical evening on Maui.
Booking: Whale Watch and Dinner Cruise
The plan was to book these two this morning and then be done with all the pre-booking stuff, but issues with the Pacific Whale Foundation site were keeping me from crossing this off the list. We know there are other fish in the sea (pardon the pun) when it comes to these whale watches and dinner cruises. We’ve just grown accustomed to PWF because of all the work they do on the islands and for the environment, and plus, they sure know a lot about whales.
According to our early week planning, Wednesday, Feb. 18th is going to be our afternoon whale watch out of Lahaina Harbor. This is essentially the same one we did last year, but a little later in the afternoon (and hopefully with a lot less motion sickness). It’s a two hour affair, and with all the whale activity going on in Maui waters this time of year, I’m really, really excited.
The second booking with PWF will be the Dinner Cruise on Thursday, Feb. 26th. We had scheduled this last year as well, but after the rough waters on our whale watch, the three of us (my mom being the 3rd that trip) agreed to stick to land. We like to opt for the premium seating on the upper deck, and really enjoy drifting along the West Maui coastline just at sunset. We’ve done dinner cruises on the Maui Princess in the past, so we pretty much know what to expect.
Scratched: Star Gazers Maui
It soon became obvious that we had a tad too many things going on for our two week trip. Unfortunately, the Star Gazers Maui tour planned for Friday the 20th had to get scratched, and we’ll only be making one trip up Haleakala this time around instead of two. If things go well, we might be able to leave a little earlier for the sunrise so I can get some star photos before sunrise. Just don’t tell Cindy. 
What’s Next
Well, tomorrow will mark 3 weeks before we leave for Maui. At some point next week, we’ll start figuring out what we’re packing, do a trial run filling up our luggage, and any last minute shopping between now and the time we leave. I’ve been meaning to pick up a different carry-on bag, and as if we didn’t think it was possible after last year, I’m bring along even more techie toys this trip. Yikes!
There are still some other site updates I’m hoping to wrap up here before we leave, as well as dust off my Maui Twitter page. Seeing that Twitter is a bigger part of my life these days, I shouldn’t have a problem remembering to tweet with updates. I really liked how my Twitter posts from last trip went and the final output ending up in our Itineraries section. You can read more details about what to expect here.
That’s all for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.
Mahalo.
