Here is a taste of our Ritz Carlton Kapalua Bay trip. Watch for more installments soon.
The joy of a beautiful week on Maui at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua Bay still lingers in my head, weeks after our return. Their are two visits that continual return – the smile of pure joy from our sons face when he returns from the Ambassador of the Environments program (see full details later) as well as the nice balance between native lands, preserved beaches and developed areas.

Overall Resort:
The property itself is in excellent condition as are all the grounds in Kapalua. The butterfly logo the area uses is very appropriate as there were always at least two butterflies when we were out if not more, and in one tree it was continually covered with these beautiful creatures. One morning, on the way down to the Ambassador building, we caught the lawn crew painting the grass in some areas, which lead me to believe that they limit the watering of the resort.

One of the most visible areas where the care to sustainability is shown on the resort is the organic garden the resort maintains. There is a small herb garden just outside the pool area as well as a larger Kapalua organic garden up the road from the entrance to the resort. The food from these gardens is clearly marked on all their menus and even for sale in the local grocery store.

I have to comment on the wind – which we were prepared for and had very little trouble with on site. Being our third trip to Maui, we have experienced winds with sand-blasting like effects in both Kaanapali as well as Makena. For five of the eight days we were at the resort, we had less winds then we’ve had other places. On two days they were equal and on one day they were much worse. To judge this resort solely on the wind is to do a disservice to the property. For anyone looking for an luxury resort with earth-friendly practices, there are few choices in Maui that can compare to the Maui Ritz Carlton Kapalua.

Beaches:
It was really hard, from the website and literature we saw before the trip to determine what beaches could be reached from the resort and what the beaches were like.

The closest beach to the Ritz building was DT Fleming Beach. The beach was a short walk down the hill from the hotel itself, although from most areas of the hotel you could not see the beach. We knew the beach was separate from the hotel because they had found ancient burial grounds when they developed the property, which they preserved. It was one of the reasons we chose the hotel over others. The walk wasn’t much farther than other Maui properties, like the Maui Beach and Golf Resort. The hotel had a shuttle back but it wasn’t always available at the moment you wanted to return up the hill. The Ritz has a beach bar at DT Fleming as well as chairs and towel service. The beach itself was beautiful but not always swimmable. The waves ranged in our January visit from two foot to over five foot with a strong undertow. There were a few great sea caves at this beach as well as tide pools and turtles so even if we didn’t go swimming here, it was a great place to spend a few hours. The other real positive of the beach was the whales played quite consistently in front of the beach in the morning. Most days, we found this beach too windy to enjoy by 2:00. But this has also happened to us in other parts of Maui so we were prepared for moving in the afternoon away from the flying sand.

The next beach over from the hotel, and within walking distance as well, was Oneloa Beach. This beach was part of the Coastal Boardwalk trail and did not have any services. However, it was a beautiful setting to walk along the shore and there where lots of people enjoying the water with their kids and dogs. We enjoyed the walk here but choose other beaches more.

Finally, there is the Kapalua Bay Beach within the Kapalua resort as well. Kapalua Bay Beach was technically walkable from the resort and we did do that one afternoon by continuing on the Coastal Trail from Oneloa Beach. However, on the day we spent the afternoon at this beach, we took the shuttle from the Ritz there instead of walking. One of the reasons we did that shuttle is we wanted to bring some stuff along, including our snorkeling gear. The bay ended up being some of the top snorkeling waters we have done in years. Definitely in the top five of all the locations we have done. Not only was the water crystal clear but it wasn’t overrun with people. I often felt I was the only one out in the Bay because of how much there was to look at and the few people in the water at one time. For those who didn’t have the gear with them, you could rent some at a small beach store and I think they also rented other gear as well. The two days we went to this beach the bay was in very different conditions. The first day was gentle quiet waves that even very small children could swim in, while the second day we had larger rollers that could knock you over but didn’t present any undertow, which was a nice difference from the DT Fleming Beach that same morning where the waves were HUGE and quite dangerous.

Rooms:
The rooms were in great condition and offered good space for our families. If there was one place that I was disappointed in the Ritz offerings, it was in-room. There are quite a few areas were the Ritz could go farther in their conservation efforts without an impact on the guest themselves. For example, I was surprised that I wasn’t offered in-room recycling. Remember, though, we are never looking for perfection so I would never recommend not visiting the resort for this reason with all the other initiatives they are implementing.