One of the great things about being a running group of 180 people on a cruise line is you get to get off the ship first before anyone else on the ship! Yup after a private breakfast just for us, we walked off as soon as we docked which was around 8am for the Maui 5K.
The Maui 5K
We walked off the ship and onto some buses that took us to the Hoaloha Park where we ran two laps that equaled a 5K. The Maui Running Company hosted this event. There was the usual gear check.
Support and beautiful views.
Here’s my friend Jayme who thought it would be fun to run dressed up like Forest Gump in Maui. I have no idea how he survived in that beard and wig.
Oh and there was a HUGE hill you did twice which definitely changed my pace the second time around. Here I am sneaking up on John…
And there’s always “The Tunnel of Love” for the last runners coming in.
After the race we bought a couple of shirts and hats from the run club. We had to bring home a shirt that say Maui on it.
Off to the Beach!
Then we took a bus ride back to the ship to clean up and eat again. We decided that a beach was something we wanted to hit in Maui so we headed to the front desk on the ship for some information. They were very helpful in picking out a close beach for us. So we grabbed a taxi and tried Baldwin Beach Park.
The water was a little rough but we didn’t care. We were on a beach in MAUI!!!!
After about 4 hours, our taxi driver Bert then picked us up and brought us back to our ship.
We stayed overnight in Maui so we took an Uber to our second beach the next day. It was called Wailea Beach and it was beautiful all nestled behind some really swanky resorts. And it was only 30 minutes away from our ship.
The four of us never Ubered before so we were nervous at first. But the driver coming home was amazing and gave us information on the island and the islands we were heading to next which was perfect.
We arrived back to the ship just in time to watch the ending of our Chicago Bears winning a game.
And attended a Kona beer tasting session. Since we were heading to Kona soon, we figured we better do some research.
Then the usual delicious dinner and early bed after the show since we were heading to Hilo next for the 5Kish Shake your Grass Skirt Run.
HELPFUL HINTS:
- Be prepared for some hill work
- Taxis are easily available at the end of the pier (It cost us $30 for a 15 minute drive)
- If you take a taxi anywhere, grab the driver’s card. They are happy to pick you up.
- Where the ship ports is a loading dock and it’s not very pretty. Go beyond the port using taxis and Ubers and you’ll find some pretty areas.