We stayed in Valeria's condo from July 30-August 8, 2021. It was a lovely, restful spot to come "home" to out of the sun and ocean! It is very clean, organized and full of little thoughtful perks like a cooler, beach chairs & umbrella and snorkeling gear. The bed is remarkably comfortable, and the a/c unit in the bedroom is top-notch at cranking out the cool for solid sleep, though the fans throughout keep the breezes flowing too; you might not even need the a/c. She also set up an air mattress for us too, much appreciated! The big TVs are fun to watch "Point Break" on ;-) (Use the Spectrum remote to get into Netflix.)
Other guests have mentioned and I will too that having your morning coffee and tea out on the balcony is so nice; listening to the birds as the sun rises and watching the ocean turn colors with the shifting light magically removes all mainland tension. Coming from too-often cold and foggy San Francisco, I ate almost all my daytime meals out on that table to watch the turquoise water and clouds. Having assorted teas and a separate electric hot water kettle was much appreciated by my husband, and I was glad for the included container of ground coffee in the fridge!
LAUNDRY: Having the laundry access was great too, we washed almost all our dirty clothes before we left. The mermaid tail key gets you into the laundry room and also the pool area. The PayRange app you can use for the laundry gives you your 1st purchase for up to $3 free and the "topping off" drop-down option for the dryer will add more time to your first time increment. (The app will charge you a 25 cents fee for adding $5 or under to your account.)
MARKET: The close-by Napili Market (3-min. drive south) has a great variety of tasty, quality poke, and near the poke counter, a baked goods display that includes pre-packaged rice crispy treats made with brown butter (sadly forgot brand) which are dangerously addictive. They go great with Kung Fu Girl Riesling if you want to carb up post-swimming ;-) This store has all your essentials but yes, probably for more $ than you are used to spending on mainland.
RESTAURANTS: Book any reservations as far in advance as you can. Waiting until you are on the island is too late in most cases. Maui is very busy these days!
TOURS & ATTRACTIONS: If you are looking for an awesome tour, we highly recommend Temptation Tours to save you the headache of driving the Road to Hana itself. The Road is very crowded these days, and having a safe, seasoned driver like Scotty who knows the road like the back of his hand point out all great vantage points for photos, bring you to the best banana bread seller ever, and guide you safely over slippery waterfall rocks is worth it, in my book (plus Temptation Tours make a delicious lunch)! We went on the Hana Sky-Trek combo drive/helicopter ride fly tour with driver Scotty (so great!) and pilot Mike T. I recommend swimming under the waterfall if you go, and jump off above if you are braver than me! There is also a stunning deep black sand beach with the most intense turquoise waves I've ever seen...
If you also want to see the sunrise at the Haleakala volcano summit, park reservations are required and you should either start trying your hand early on at the lottery giveaway at 7am 2 days prior to when you want to see the sunrise (my 2 tries at the $1 car pass sold out in under 15 seconds) or book with a tour group for guaranteed access, or you can watch the sunset up there, no reservation required! For more Haleakala tips, check out the podcasts/info from ShakaGuide.
Another visit my husband and I really enjoyed was the Maui Ocean Center (40-min. drive south) and the Humpback Whale 3-D sphere movie they have. It's a very nice aquarium, and I say that having seen some awesome aquariums including Monterey Bay's. Plus their attached Seascape Ma'alaea Restaurant is really delicious -- I'd say my entree there of Pacific Ocean Fresh Catch sandwich was even better than my fancy Seared Ahi Hiyashi Chūka at DUO/The Four Seasons the same week. Sorry, Four Seasons!
And finally, if you want to get more snorkeling or beach rental gear, fins, float belts, swim cap, waterproof phone cases, The Snorkel Store (11-min. drive south) is AMAZING. They also can send you a daily snorkeling email report they put a lot of research into. Excellent service and friendly staff! Our fav snorkeling beach was the right side of Slaughterhouse Beach aka Mokuleʻia Beach (7-min. drive north); it wasn't crowded, but it does involve a few flights of cement stairs down to the beach and has no bathrooms or rinsing-off stations.
We hope to stay here again someday in the future! Thank you, Valeria!