Maui has an endless number of beaches, which is partially why I like going to the island so much.
We usually spent every other day at the beach to spread things out and help keep the sunburn at bay–although, both Craig and Cullen still got burnt pretty bad. We were diligent about putting sunscreen on, but I’m wondering if the sunscreen I brought was too old since the last time we used it was four years ago.
The first beach we went to was Wailea Beach in Wailea. It was absolutely perfect. We got there at 8:30 a.m. (pretty early, ha!), but we had run the 5K race not far away in Maalaea, so we hoped over to this beach before the crowds came. It is a nice wide beach and shallow for a long ways out into the water. It was a great beach to introduce Cullen to the beach and ocean waters. (This was his first time to the beach and being in open water.) It was easy to take Cullen into the water because it was sandy for a long ways into the water, and the waves weren’t huge.
One afternoon, my sister, Kristy, brother-in-law, Nick, and I went to Kaanapali Beach while Craig and Cullen stayed back at the condo since they had had a little too much sun already. It was really windy the day we went to this beach. (Actually, this trip was more windy in general compared to our two other trips.) We first got a spot close to the water, but the sand was blowing everywhere, so we moved closer to the treeline, which was better. This beach is one of the largest at one mile long, so there is an endless amount of space for everyone, but I feel like it is a little more exposed than some of the other beaches.
After eating at The Gazebo in Napili one morning, we always head to Napili Bay Beach because it is literally right on the other side of the restaurant. This is a great beach for boogie boarding because the beach is more slanted and steeper than some of the other beaches we had been to. At the same time, it wasn’t quite as (little) kid friendly. It is still a great beach with a boardwalk to the next beach over–Kapalua Beach.
bikini top | bikini bottoms | hat
Our final beach of our trip was Kapalua Beach, which is just north of Napili Bay Beach. This beach is also a little more covered and protected from the wind. It was a great beach for snorkeling because the coral was really close to the shoreline. At the same time though, we couldn’t take Cullen into the water because it got deep quickly, and we couldn’t stand on the coral.
hat | sunglasses | swimsuit | earrings (similar)
Someone also asked if I would share some of my outfits from the trip. I actually own very little summer clothes as the days that I can wear shorts, t-shirt, and tanks are few and far between even in the summer here in Alaska. I’m lucky if there is one week out of the summer where I can wear summer clothes, so I bought a few key pieces for this trip that will last several years. I couldn’t justify spending $100+ on a pair of denim shorts when I can only wear them a few times a year. These were $30 and surprisingly fit really well. I actually tried on several at Target, but I was not a fan of how they fit–way too tight and short. My v-neck shirt is a classic that will last several years, and for less than $20, that’s a steal in my book. Finally, you can’t go wrong with a pair of Birkenstocks!
shirt | shorts | sunglasses | sandals
I loved being able to throw on a simple tee, swimsuit, shorts, and a hat most mornings with minimal make-up and feel ready for the day. This picture was from our breakfast at The Gazebo and right before Cullen had a pretty epic three-nager moment over a pancake that broke apart that I couldn’t fix.
The Hawaiian style if very casual and laid-back, so I didn’t bring any high heeled shoes or fancy dresses. I did wear this Gap romper to dinner with some block heeled, perforated, booties. Unfortunately I got these two items a while ago, so I wasn’t able to find the exact same items anymore, but Amazon did have several different black romper options that were really cheap–maybe too cheap?! Here is a similar option for my booties.
romper (similar) (similar – a little more pricey) | shoes (similar)
The tank in this picture is from Gentle Fawn that I purchased this last summer from Her Tern Boutique before it closed, and I wasn’t able to find anything similar, but I do love the clothing line, and their items aren’t terribly expensive. I also wore this tank with white jeans one night to dinner. Can you tell I got a lot of use out of this hat on our trip? Ha! I’m pretty sure only tourist girls wear this fedora style hat. But for less than $20, I had fun wearing it. I also got Cullen a little fedora hat for $3 from the dollar section at Target, and he got so many compliments on it, so it was fun to match with him.
Running in a tank top and shorts is such a novelty for me, so I soaked up every minute of it. I think I got a little too excited about this because I brought entirely way too many running tanks and shorts on our trip. Oops! This tank is by far the lightest tank I’ve ever worn. There’s a reason it’s called the Ghost Tank. It is branded with the Her Tern Half logo, but it can purchased (sans logo) here. My shorts are one of my favorite for running. They are on the shorter side at 1.75 inch inseam.
I love how strappy this sports bra is. It isn’t actually designed for running, but when you’re x-small up front, you don’t need much support. And these shorts are still my favorite for running, but I see Lululemon has updated them!
sports bra | shorts | shoes | watch
I did purchase one swim cover-up for this trip, but sadly this was the best picture I got of it. Ha! It was a 3/4 sleeve length cover-up with tassels on the front, and came down to my mid-thighs. I really like this one because the length was much longer than the other one I had brought along.
swim cover-up | hat | sunglasses
I also got two new swimsuits for the trip. The first one was a black bikini with a macrame design on the back. The bottoms were comfortable and didn’t move around when I was in the water. I am wearing it in the picture above where I’m walking on the beach. I absolutely loved it, and I wish I would have gotten a better picture of it.
I also purchased a swim suit from Aerie of all places, but once again only got a picture of it from the back, which doesn’t help, but I promise it was cute with its crocheted material and fun coral color. Sadly I couldn’t find the exact same swimsuit online anymore, but this one is a similar color with the crocheted material.
Other items I brought on the trip:
MINKPINK white crochet tank
