Ka’anapali Beach is the Epicenter of Good Maui Livin’, On and Off the Links

by Vic Williams

The slightly overweight writer drew a cheer as he strolled down Ka’anapali Beach. “You been workin’ out?” He asked himself. This was in the days before the Wii Fit took over his life, hopefully for the better. “Nope,” came the reply.

So why the applause? He checked off the possibilities. Must be the carefully maintained golfer’s tan or the cool Maui Jim shades … the confident, I-belong-here-too gait as he trudged, shoes in hand, for the famous sand-stretch’s northern end, where the Sheraton nudges up against fabled Black Rock … or perhaps golf writers are more recognizable than he thought.

Or maybe, just maybe, his fellow mainland refugees — newlyweds and middle-aged marrieds, beer-sipping twentysomethings and well-heeled housewives, bronzed athletes and pale bodysufers — were giving it up for someone or something else. The sun playing hide-and-seek behind the clouds stacked up against Lanai to the southwest? The feel of warm January sand under their toes? The mere fact they were here while the rest of the world toiled?

Certainly wasn’t him. Couldn’t be. Then he looked over his left shoulder, out to sea.

And there they were: Several whales in full breach, a mile out perhaps. The unmistakable spray, the somehow graceful leap (for a several-ton beast), the arcing half-flip dive back into the blue. Not something you see every day.

The writer cheered, too, and kept walking down the broad, mile-long beach lined with hotels and bungalows, pools and restaurants, little shops and non-native palm trees, most of them planted back in the 1960s when Hawaii began its journey from faraway military outpost to full-blown vacation destination. Now Maui is considered by many travelers to be the best of the four main islands for its mix of great golf courses (most of them along the west side, from the historic whaling village-cum-party city of Lahaina to Ka’anapali — the island’s original “hotel row” — to Kapalua, though Makena and Wailea on the south side are popular, too), stellar resorts, active nightlife and wealth of watery adventures. After three nights in the exquisite, breezy and friendly Westin Maui Resort followed by two nights at the Sheraton, this writer can’t any argument with that assessment.

If you hadn’t guessed, this was my first time on Maui, at the comparatively ancient age of 48. I’ve spent a lot of time on the Big Island of Hawaii and love its microclimates, volcanoes and golf-rich Kohala Coast. I’ve also been to Kauai, the Garden Isle, which in some ways seems the most “Hawaiian” of them all. But Maui seems to have that chillin’ vibe so many of us crave in a tropical getaway, at least one decked out with all the creaturecomfort whistles and bells. It’s also a crossroads of sorts, situated between several other islands and a natural stopping-off (or staying and playing) point between Honolulu and, say, Kona.

In Ka’anapali, Maui newbies and vets alike get a good cross-sampling of what a classic Hawaiian resort can and should be. It’s got two golf courses, one of which, Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s Royal Ka’anapali, is on perennial best-of lists and hosts the annual Wendy’s Champions Tour Skins Game, which just happened to take center stage on the very January weekend I showed up (imagine that). It boasts seven hotel or condo properties, dozens of restaurants, several spas and wall-too-wall shopping at Whalers Village and up and down the strand. It’s rife with outdoor side-trip possibilities, from snorkeling off a Teralani catamaran — the largest such vessels on Maui — to cycling up and down the coast to fishing and surfing excursions to hikes up into the West Maui Mountains or, if you have the time, up into the clouds shrouding Haleakala’s 10,000-foot summit on the island’s eastern, more remote side.

Oh yeah, and whale watching. We can’t forget one of nature’s biggest (and I do mean biggest, as in megatonnage) displays, with several showtimes daily from late fall through spring if you’re paying attention. Which you should be.

It’s considerably tougher to see the leviathans in action from either Ka’anapali course, though I’m sure a good pair of binoculars would do the trick. Neither the Royal nor Jack Snyder’s Kai Course actually touches the Pacific. The latter resides well up the hill above the resorts, most of it across the highway, while the former — where the team of Ben Crenshaw and Fuzzy Zoeller took $535,000 of the Skins game purse with a mix of laser approach shots and timely putting, with Greg Norman and Jay Haas finishing second with $190K (see FG’s March issue for a full report) — comes close to the beach only once, at No. 5. Still, like Kapalua to the north or just about any Hawaiian track you can name, both courses boast sweeping ocean views and drive challenging winds, and even in winter they remain in great shape, owed mostly to a change to TifEagle greens through the years. Fairways and tees are also Bermuda, that gnarly strain of green stuff that befuddles so many golfers the first time they play on it.

The Kai Course began life in the late 1960s as an executive course, but a recent overhaul yielded a par-70, wide-open, women-friendly layout that climbs gently into a residential area. I’d call this the perfect “starter” course for anyone visiting Maui’s west shore for the first time. It’s got the feel of a muni but the polished conditioning you’d expect from a top-flight resort course. The Kai (Hawaiian for “ocean” or “water”) gains some teeth thanks to steady 25- to 30-mph Kona winds howling out of the southwest or more frequent tradewinds from the northeast. The course’s first and final three holes are flat, but the rest of the route plays out on the side of a mountain with some tricky uphill and downhill shots to negotiate.

Overall the Kai demands careful negotiation with its straightforward, gently-bending demands. There are no surprises; it’s all there in front of you, and from the tips, a 3-metal or hybrid will do the trick in most cases. If you can bang the dog straight, go for it — you’ll be rewarded with a variety of short-approach options such as run-ups, flops over the well-sanded bunkers and low-and-skip wedges. Still, on virtually every 4-par except, perhaps, the No. 7 hole (395 yards) or No. 16 (402 yards with an approach over water; it’s the toughest test out there though the scorecard says otherwise), you’re better served to lay back and rely on your iron game into greens that are, for the most part, flat and very receptive. They’re also among the smoothest, best-conditioned surfaces in all of Hawaii. The Kai won’t blow you away, but it’s got everything most folks look for in Hawaii golf: great ocean views, a relaxed attitude, a good mix of easy and less-easy holes (both 5-pars are reachable for big hitters and the 3-pars are sneaky tough), and great fairway lies. Venture into the rough and the Bermuda will swallow a ball whole, however. One last tip: Be prepared for mid-swing whistle blasts from the little locomotive shuttle that trundles along the course’s edge.

Royal Ka’anapali is a solid and somewhat flashy big brother to the smaller, simpler Kai. It is straightforward, stalwart Old Man Jones at his early ’60s best, with broad fairways lined by trees; large, seriously tiered, wellbunkered greens; and that certain parklandmeets- major championship personality that distinguishes much of Jones’ mid-period work. Pacific Rim architect Robin Nelson, an FG favorite who also designed Puakea on Kauai and Dunes at Maul Lani just over the mountains from Ka’anapali, performed some nifty nip-and-tuck on the Royal in 2006, and all of a sudden it got its world-class mojo back, enough so to attract the Skins game. As far as I could see after watching Fuzzy, Ben, Greg, Jay and four other guys named Jack, Tom, Gary and Bernhard do their big-bucks thing across its perfectly coiffed, impossibly green expanse, Royal Ka’anapali held up well. It’s in amazing shape, and its two nines are very different in character — one side flat and nudging close to the ocean, the other very hilly and somewhat more dramatic in character. The final par 4 over water is one of the islands’ great finishing holes, classic old-school, Trent Jones stuff. Like Mauna Kea on the Big Island’s Kohala Coast, it’ll have a spot on Hawaii’s don’tmiss list as long as golf is played here.

Guests of any Ka’anapali hotel get first crack at tee times, which, some would say, are a reward in themselves. But the 731-room Westin Maui isn’t content to let you just swing and retire to the pool or one of its open-air saloons. The hotel’s outstanding Heavenly Spa cries for your attention, your time and your underserved sense of well-being. Make a late afternoon of it: Start with a spell in the dry sauna, followed up by a steamroom stint, a whirlpool soak and a pre-massage cooldown in the finest “quiet room” I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a few from Lake Tahoe to La Jolla to the Dominican Republic. Bathed in indirect tropical sunlight, its floor-to-ceiling windows look right out to the restless ocean and nearby islands.

Take my blood pressure now, nurse!

Then, just as you’re ready to doze off with glass of lemon-laced water in one hand and a magazine in the other, it’s time for 50-minute golfer’s massage. Mine was expertly applied by Southern California native Sue Ann who just bought a seaside house a few miles north of here. Ask for her. She knows how to get those hip and shoulder muscles singing with delight. And don’t forget to drink lots more water afterwards to drive those built-up lactic acids into oblivion.

One pampered session deserves another, right? Here that means dinner at Tropica, the Westin’s signature beachfront restaurant, located directly underneath the spa. Take a table in easy earshot of the crashing surf and dine on lobster chowder, spicy lobster flatbread (a killer island version of pizza), one of the best bouillabaise entrees you’ll ever find — the broth really isn’t broth at all, it’s a rich, almost rust-colored sauce with a hint of sweetness — maybe a bottle of Willamette Valley pinot noir and, for dessert, pineapple turnovers and a chocolate cake “fantasy.” Don’t take my blood pressure now, nurse!

Haven’t had enough Maui-style fun? Jaunt next door to Leilani’s Restaurant for a nightcap and conversation with fellow travelers or a colorful local or two. Or take a moonlit stroll up the beach and back, window-shopping at Whalers Village along the way. Or catch a cab for the five-minute ride to downtown Lahaina to kick up your flip-flops in the company of Mai Tai-powered revelers. End the evening by taking big greedy gulps of the heady Hawaiian air — can they bottle this stuff? — and head back to your room for a little flat-screen TV viewing and a date with Westin’s “Heavenly Bed.” If I could have lugged it home with me on the plane, I would have.

You’ll find the same level of comfort and casual-yet-polished service at the exquisite Sheraton, where all eight Skins participants stayed as FG moved in for its last two nights in paradise. Again I scored an ocean view in a wing of the 45-year-old, recently updated hotel that’s built in concentric stair-stepped fashion around an extensive pool complex that rivals even the Westin’s multi-level mini-waterpark, with its slides and adultsonly pool. After following Saturday’s Skins round at Royal Ka’anapali, I headed to the Sheraton’s open-air bar and ordered a big ol’ pulled pork sandwich, downing it and a beer with glee as Bernhard Langer and his wife strolled by, obviously enjoying the relaxed between-round down time. Then I ran into Jack Nicklaus and his big brood — wife Barbara, a couple of daughters-in-law, several grandkids — plus Tom Watson and two-time U.S. Open winner Andy North, all coming out of the hotel’s excellent Japanese restaurant. They were laughing it up. Who wouldn’t be?

“Great putt you made to halve the ninth hole,” I said to Watson, referring to a nasty, downhill, big-breaking 12-footer that kept big money on the table.

“That was a great putt, wasn’t it?” my new friend Jack replied while Tom just gave a simple “Thanks.”

Alas, the next day this giant duo, with 25 majors between them, would walk away empty-handed. I walked back to my room in a middle-aged groupie’s haze. My ascent into heaven on Earth had just gotten better, and there was still a day to go.

How to wrap up a sunny, slummin’ five days at Ka’anapali? With some much-anticipated beach time in the shadow of famed Black Rock, where cliff divers still do their thing at sunset a couple times a week.

I spied two-time U.S. Open champ Curtis Strange chilling under an umbrella, then saw him again later, supping with friends at Hula Grill while I and some friends of my own powered through an outstanding menu of seafood appetizers, entrees (I tried a special trio of fresh fish) and the week’s best desserts by far.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot the Mai Tais that began my final stanza on Maui and made the last night’s sleep even deeper — but not deep enough for me to miss one last chance encounter with another Skinster, this time Norman. I ran into him at 6 a.m. in the Sheraton lobby’s coffee station, meticulously preparing cups of joe for himself and bride Chris Evert with the same care he employs when staring down a 10-foot birdie putt. I congratulated him and we shook hands. What a dream finish, huh? But the trip wasn’t quite over.

The previous Friday saw me rained out of a planned round at the Dunes at Maui Lani, one of the island’s handful of excellent inland courses. So I rescheduled for Monday morning and teed off at 7:30 with a couple of local regulars. Suffice to say for now that it’s one of Robin Nelson’s finest achievements, routed through some of Hawaii’s only true dunescape, a linksy lass with the added flavor of big-time elevation change through stands of kiave. Quite a delicious way to finish off a luscious midwinter Maui visit.

Then again, it’s Ka’anapali — the beach, those stellar hotels, the golf, the food, the sunsets, the whole brilliant perfection of it all — that continues to capture my thoughts as the months blow by and I wonder when I’ll make it back into the Magic Isle’s welcoming arms, sticks in tow and spirit aglow.

Published in FG Magazine, April 2009

THE MAUI RIVIERA
The half-dozen hotels and condo complexes lining Ka’anapali Beach, including the Westin Maui shown here (with Royal Ka’anapali Golf Course in the foreground), share a mile of sand that was ranked best in the world in 2003, plus high-end dining and shopping and a waterfront walking path. Opposite: Sunset at the Westin’s Tropica Restaurant. Sunset at the Westin’s Tropica Restaurant.

HOTELS

Westin Maui Resort & Spa
www.westinmaui.com
808.667.2525
Room rates $525 to $810 through Dec. 20; golf packages available

Sheraton Maui Resort
www.sheraton-maui.com
808.661.0031
Room rates $505-$790 depending on time of year; golf packages available. Call properties for up-todate rates on all rooms, including suites

GOLF

www.kaanapaligolfresort.com
866.454.GOLF
Rates: $190-$235 for Royal Ka’anapali, twilight $120; $150-$195 for Kai, twilight $95. One round on each course for $269-$339

Courses open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily (call for hours, as these are adjusted based on daylight during the year)