11 Mar Like Playing Well? For a Health And Fitness Vacation, Kaanapali, Maui Has Everything You Need

Ola means life. Because Hawaiians have always understood that the life-force is enhanced by practices such as massage, cleansing, and herbal therapy, the word ola also means health and well-being. Kaanapali perpetuates the spirit of Hawai’i’s native therapeutic practices by providing for the ola of the guests.

KAANAPALI, MAUI, HAWAI’I – For lots of us, a vacation is primarily a time to get back in touch with our own bodies—to shed stress, to get outdoors, to play hard, and to revitalize the physical equipment that we rely on every day. Maui is one of the best places on Earth for that kind of experience. The island continues to offer more and more for the health-and-fitness conscious visitor, everything from extreme sports activities to wellness retreats, from wilderness treks to spa treatments. Kaanapali Resort, Maui’s preeminent master-planned resort community, is the island’s leader in providing options for this kind of travel. You can regard the entire resort as one enormous health and wellness center, and many refugees from the daily grind are using Kaanapali in exactly that way. The natural setting, first of all, is just plain ideal for bodily enjoyment. The clear sky and the clean sea are as pure as the dawn of time.

Kaanapali sits on the leeward or dry side of the West Maui Mountains—about 12 inches of rain each year—so the sunlight is lavish nearly every day. In other circumstances, this daily brilliance would create stifling heat. But Kaanapali is bathed almost continuously with breezes that have traveled over thousands of miles of open sea. These breezes dance in the rigging of West Maui’s yachts and sailboats, rattle the big leaves of Kaanapali’s coconut trees, and keep ambient temperatures between the mid-70s and the mid-80s day and night.

Kaanapali Beach puts a three-mile-long strand of clean sand between you and a porcelain-blue sea, a sea that’s always a comfortably swimmable temperature, somewhere in the low 70s. The water is calm here because Kaanapali faces a sea channel protected by small neighboring islands. Here is the sea for swimming, for snorkeling and diving, for floating in the realm of sea turtles, dolphins, and the humpback whales that migrate to this channel each winter.

On land, Kaanapali Resort encompasses a matched pair of championship golf courses. The Kaanapali Tournament North Course, par 71, was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Arthur Jack Snyder laid out the par 71 Kaanapali Resort South Course. Together, these 36 holes share a pro shop and driving range. If golf is your means of fitness, you will delight in the challenge and the sheer beauty of these courses. For those just learning to game of golf, Kaanapali Golf Courses offer lessons taught by one of their six golf professional staff on site. Beginners can also try their swing at one of the daily clinics offered at the lessons facility.

If tennis is your game, Kaanapali will play. Royal Lahaina Resort’s Tennis Ranch provides a pro shop and 11 courts, one of which is a 5,500-seat stadium court. There are 24 other courts associated with various other properties at Kaanapali. About half of the resort’s courts are lit for night play.

Water play dominates the resort every day. This refers only in part to the things you can do in the ocean—boogie-boarding, kayaking, windsurfing, paddle-boating, and Hobie cat sailing. Various beachfront activity desks will arrange for these marine outings. But the swimming pools at Kaanapali actually rival the sea itself for human attraction—although the term “swimming pools” is inadequate to the reality. Basically, Kaanapali Resort is an aquatic playground.

The “superpool” at Maui Marriott Resort & Ocean Club covers 3.5 acres and includes a variety of slides, waterfalls, grottos, and a swim area designed especially for children. At Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa you can zip down a 150-foot “lava tube” waterslide into the half-acre pool. The Westin Maui Resort & Spa’s 87,000-square-foot water park includes five free-form pools and two waterslides, one of which shoots 128 feet with 270-degree turns and a 23-foot drop. Sheraton Maui Resort has a “lagoon” 140 yards long. Besides these, the resort includes a dozen other pools and at least that many whirlpool spas.

Fitness centers can be found in most of the resort’s leading properties, so guests can use their vacations to maintain or to ramp up their accustomed exercise programs. But two extraordinary facilities at Kaanapali combine fitness with wellness, beauty care, and pampering to provide ultimate experiences of physical restoration.

Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa situated its 10,000 square-foot Spa Moana right on the beach. This huge facility includes 15 treatment rooms, a full-service beauty salon, sauna and steam rooms, and two luxury spa suites for couples who want to enjoy treatments together. Spa guests can relax with massages, manicures, and pedicures in oceanfront cabanas. Renovated as recently as December 2003, Spa Moana offers all the latest in body treatments, facials, and expertise in numerous massage techniques, including Hawaiian-style lomi lomi deep-tissue massage.

The newest addition to Kaanapali’s physical rejuvenation centers is The Spa at The Westin Maui. This $5 million facility covers 14,000 square feet and includes 16 treatment rooms, changing areas with steam and saunas for both sexes, a workout facility with state-of-the-art equipment, and a yoga studio. The full-service salon provides manicures, pedicures, hair-braiding, make-up—in short, whatever pampering you need to get right with your physical self.

All of the above takes place right on the grounds of Kaanapali Resort. If there’s something more you might desire in the cause of fitness and wellness, you’ll have to make an easy drive to Maui attractions that are close by the resort. Want to ride a bicycle from the top of a 10,000-foot volcano to sea level? Want to get on horseback and canter along a tropical coastline? Want to hike into a benign wilderness? Want to ride a zipline, learn how to kite surf, or kayak a wild coastline? Maui can provide that, and Kaanapali is a great starting place for all sorts of healthy adventures.

Or… you can lounge by the pool, in the shade, with a good novel. Everyone’s idea of wellness is unique. Many needs; one answer: Kaanapali.

RESOURCES

Hotels

Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa, 200 Nohea Kai Drive, Lahaina HI 96761-1985. (808) 661-1234; fax (808) 667-4497; reservations U.S. & Canada (800) 55HYATT; packages (800) 772-0011. www.maui.hyatt.com.

Kaanapali Beach Hotel, 2525 Kaanapali Parkway, Lahaina HI 96761-1912. (808) 661-0011; fax (808) 667-5978; toll-free (800) 262-8450. www.kbhmaui.com.

Maui Marriott Resort & Ocean Club, 100 Nohea Kai Drive, Lahaina HI 96761. (808) 667-1200; fax (808) 667-8300; toll-free U.S. & Canada (800) 228-9290. www.marriott.com.

Royal Lahaina Resort, 2780 Keka’a Drive, Lahaina HI 96761. (808) 661-3611; fax (808) 661-3538; reservations (800) 22ALOHA. www.2maui.com.

Sheraton Maui Resort, 2605 Kaanapali Parkway, Lahaina HI 96761-1991. (808) 661-0031; fax (808) 661-0458; reservations (800) 782-9488. www.starwoodhotels.com.

The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, 2365 Kaanapali Parkway, Lahaina HI 96761. (808) 667-2525; fax (808) 921-4699; reservations (808) 921-4655. www.westinmaui.com.

Condominiums

Kaanapali Alii, 50 Nohea Kai Drive, Lahaina HI 96761. (808) 667-1400; reservations (800) 642-6284. www.classicresorts.com.

Maui Kaanapali Villas, 45 Kai Ala Drive, Lahaina HI 96761. (808) 667-7791; fax (808) 667-0366; 24-hour toll-free reservations U.S. & Canada (800) 92-ASTON [(800) 922-7866]; 24-hour worldwide direct reservations (403) 444-4136.
www.aston-hotels.com; www.maui-kaanapali.com.

Outrigger Maui Eldorado, 2661 Keka’a Drive, Lahaina HI 96761-1993. (808) 661-0021; fax (808) 667-7039; toll-free US, Canada & Guam (888) 339-8585. www.outrigger.com.

The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, 6 Kai Ala Drive, Lahaina HI 96761. (808) 667-3200; fax (808) 667-3201; toll-free (888) 488-3535. www.starwood.com/hawaii.

The Whaler on Kaanapali Beach, 2481 Kaanapali Parkway, Lahaina HI 96761. (808) 661-4861; fax (808) 661-8315; 24-hour toll-free reservations U.S. & Canada (800) 92ASTON [(808) 922-7866]; 24-hour toll-free reservations (403) 444-4136.
www.aston-hotels.com; www.whalerkaanapali.com.

Activities

Kaanapali Golf Courses, 2290 Kaanapali Parkway, Lahaina, HI 96761. (808) 661-3691; fax (808) 661-0203; toll-free (866) 454-GOLF. www.kaanapali-golf.com.

Lahaina-Kaanapali & Pacific Railroad, 975 Limahana Place Suite 203, Lahaina HI 96761. (808) 667-6851; fax (808) 661-8389; toll-free (800) 499-2307. www.sugarcanetrain.com.

Whalers Village Fine Shops & Restaurants on Kaanapali Beach, 2435 Kaanapali Parkway, Lahaina HI 96761. (808) 661-4567. www.whalersvillage.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Kaanapali Beach Resort Association
34 Kupuohi Street Suite 304A
Lahaina, Hawai’i 96761
Telephone: 808-661-3271
Email: kbra@kaanapaliresort.com

Digital images available upon request.
Images & text © 2005. Kaanapali Beach Resort Association.

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