KAANAPALI
, just a few miles north of Lahaina but reliably cooler, was never a town; fields of sugar cane here were replaced in the 1960s by high-rise hotels and condos, each no doubt comfortable enough but soulless en masse. Besides several perfect family
beaches
- swimming and snorkeling are best at
Black Rock
, in front of the
Sheraton
- the main attraction is the
whaling museum
in the Whalers Village mall (daily 9.30am-10pm; free). Grisly but fascinating exhibits include a cast-iron "try pot," used for reducing whale blubber at sea; such pots gave rise to the stereotyped but not entirely untrue image of cannibals cooking missionaries in big black cauldrons.
A free shuttle bus connects Kaanapali with Lahaina, and a trolley operates within the resort. The warnings of the car rental companies concerning the sinuous
Kahekili Highway
, which on the map looks like a good route to continue on around northwest Maui and back to Wailuku, should be taken seriously; it's an exceptionally dangerous drive. Two of Maui's most famous
surfing
spots, at Mokuleia Bay and Honolua Bay, are a few miles along, however, before the road gets too hair-raising.
