Golf and the good life on the Hawaiian Islands

Getting to the most remote island group in the world – the Hawaiian Islands are separated from the U.S. mainland by more than 2,000 miles – was a big ask for my nearly 2-year-old daughter, but she feasted on snacks and watched her favorite show, CoComelon, and handled the nine-hour direct flight with Mama and me from Atlanta to Maui on Christmas Day 2022 like a champ.

The sacred lands of Ka’anapali were once called home to the Royal Chiefs of Maui. The home of our week-long family vacation was built on the West Maui Mountains at the westernmost point of the island along nearly three miles of sun-kissed beach. At the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, we were greeted with leis of purple vandal orchids around our necks, and my daughter squealed with glee at the sight of the exotic parrots and South African penguins in the palatial open-air lobby.

Sitting at breakfast the next morning, my wife leaned over and said the setting was “enchanting.” I couldn’t have agreed with her more. Add in the fact that we checked out from the world for a bit, sipping drinks at the swim-up Grotto Bar, lounging in hammocks and eating decadent desserts such as Hula pie, we might say life was good. We usually detest being charged resort fees but these were actually worth it, with all the amenities included such as towel service and the complimentary pineapple delivered to our cabana. You can’t buy Maui Gold pineapples in the U.S. anymore, so eat up and consider bringing a box back with you. For much of these days, our daughter was living her best life at the kiddie pool, and it often took bribing her with homemade tropical flavors from a poolside outpost of Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice to get her to take a break.

There are several delicious restaurants on property – Japengo, which hangs over the pool, wins for sushi and setting – but our favorite meal was at Drums of the Pacific, the on-site luau, a tasty way to experience a time-honored island tradition. The performers tell the story of Polynesian culture and history through music, song and dance. Samoan slap dances, Tahitian drum dances and the closing fire-knife dance are all presented in an informative and spell-binding narrative at an amphitheater beneath the stars while guests feast on a sumptuous buffet. Months later, my daughter instinctively dances the hula whenever we mention Hawaii and loves to rewatch videos from the performance.

While travelers come for the sunshine, turquoise…