Out in the middle of the Pacific, 10k feet above sea level, you’ll find one of the greatest places to watch the sun rise and set.  It’s a bit of a drive, but a beautiful one at that.  If you’re planning on visiting Maui, then this is a must do, but make sure you plan far in advance because it’s not just open for anyone to do and will take some preparations.

Plan ahead

If this is something you are definitely going to do, then get on over to the National Parks website and request a reservation as soon as possible.  Reservations only cost $1.50/day/vehicle, but are very limited.  60 days prior to any date, reservations go on sale and may sell out within a week at peak times, or a few weeks other times.  A few extra reservations are available just 24 hours prior to going, but I don’t suggest counting on that if at all possible.  Once you get there, there is also a $30 fee per vehicle to get in to the park.  Most of the reservations seem to be taken up by tours given which will could cost you 10 times more than driving yourself.  

Also, if the Sunrise is happening at 6:00am, be there no later than 5:30am as the best viewing and colors happens prior to the sun breaking through the horizon.  People start arriving hours ahead of time, so the earlier you get there, the better chance you have at landing the perfect viewing spot.

Pack warm clothes

You may be in the tropics, but at 10k feet it’s going to be cold.  Even during the summer, expect the temps to be in the 40’s (f).  A blanket, or pants and jacket is definitely necessary.  The wind can also be a factor so be prepared.  The temperature change from the summit to sea level can be drastic, so dress in layers to be properly prepared for a full day.

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Relax and enjoy the sunrise!

Don’t be in a rush to leave once the sun does come up.  The view from the summit is spectacular and constantly changing over the next hour or so.  There is also a visitor center/observatory that you should check out.  Considering you can see half of Maui on a clear day, the view is something you’ll want to soak up and enjoy.

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Tip: watch out for people biking down the mountain.  This is an excursion many swear by, but it’s also dangerous as people get hurt often. 

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If you have any other questions, feel free to comment below.  And as always, check us out on Instagram for more pictures and video of our adventure to Haleakala and other cool adventures around the world.

Maui is a very beautiful island and there’s one adventure anyone who goes there has either done or heard of, the road to Hana.  The entire road to Hana is only 52 miles, but the drive can take anywhere from 2-4 hours to do.  This is because the road has 620 curves, 59 bridges (most are one lane) and is all over the place in elevation.

Driving just about anywhere on the road to Hana over 20 mph is rare.  When taking into account stops made to take hikes to beautiful waterfalls, or just stopping on the side of the road to check out the view or get some banana bread, a trip to Hana and back will most likely take all day.  The only true way to fully enjoy this majestic side of the island is to stay somewhere in Hana so you save yourself the drive out there and can take your time exploring.  Hana is a small town with a population not more than 1,000 and is fairly isolated, so your options for finding somewhere to stay are far and few between.  The main and only resort on this side of Maui is Travaasa Hana and their prices reflect the lack of competition.  Other options include AirBnb/VRBO and the place we called home for a few days, the Bamboo Inn, a bed and breakfast that much more than we ever expected.

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The Bamboo Inn is run by it’s owner, John, who stays out of site, but lives on sight with his dog.  This bed and breakfast only has 3 suites from the 2 story Nai’a Suite to the smaller ‘Iwa Suite and Honu Suite, which we stayed in.  Each suite has it’s own benefits, but we absolutely loved the quaint feel of the Honu.  Bamboo is everywhere here and covered the entire inn.  The doors to each of the suites are custom made and carved with different designs.  Our room had a queen size bed, kitchenette and an awesome 2-person Jacuzzi on the balcony facing out to the east with a view found only in story books.  Adding to the romance, our shower was actually located outside, under the stars, a feature we love but have only enjoyed once before, on our honeymoon.  The kitchenette had everything we could ask for including a toaster oven, small fridge, blender and basic kitchen utensils.

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Check-in couldn’t have been easier as our key was info was left in an easy to find location and we just checked ourselves in when we arrived.  Checking out was similar with us just leaving our key in the room when we left.  Of our entire trip to Maui, we had the most amazing breakfast while at the Bamboo Inn.  Each morning breakfast is set out for each of the guests to grab and take and includes fresh bread, croissants, fruits and fruit juice.  This, plus a cup of coffee we made in the room, was a great way to start off each day.  

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One of the best things about the Bamboo Inn though is that you have a direct view of a beautiful black beach and unimpeded view of the sun rising in the morning.  The black beach is more of a black rock beach like nothing we’ve seen before.  The “sand” is all black rocks, ranging in size from nearly the size of sand to the size of a basketball.  The sound the ocean makes when waves move the rocks back and forth was really different and something I’ll never forget.  This isn’t your normal type of beach you want to lay out on or go swimming in, but those are within walking distance.  The water here is a little rough and you won’t want to even be barefoot as the rock can be a little tough on your feet.

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Within walking distance is the Hana Bay Beach Park and a little beyond that is the hidden Kaihalulu beach, also known as the red sand beach.  The red sand is created from Ka’uiki Head a cinder cone hill on the north side of it.  Getting to Kaihalulu is a little bit of a hike, crossing private land, but is done regularly and is fairly well marked.

Staying at the Bamboo Inn puts you at just 30 minutes from Kipahulul, where the Pools of ‘Ohe’o (marketed as the Seven Sacred Pools) and Bamboo Forrest are.  Just north of the Bamboo Inn is the state park, Waianapanapa, which has a beautiful black sand beach, long hiking trails and caves to explore.  You’re also not too far from the lava tubes you can walk through as well.  All of things, which you shouldn’t miss, would take hours to drive to each day if staying on the west coast.  This is why we highly recommend staying here at least a night or two.

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If you have any questions about the Bamboo Inn , or Hana, feel free to contact us.  You can find more information and pictures over at Instagram as well.

Thank you hurricane Irma for making us have to extend our trip.  With our return flight cancelled due to the Ft. Lauderdale airport being closed, we had no choice to be extend our trip.  Excited to see more of Costa Rica we quickly decided on heading down to Quepos with the intention of seeing Manuel Antonio Park, more wild life and beaches.  Excited to try something new out, we hopped on booking.com and found Hotel Villas Nicolas for a great price.  We didn’t stay long, but still enjoyed every minute we had there.

About Hotel Villas Nicolas

This is a hotel situated in Quepos, Costa Rica, that caters to adults only, a feature we tend to always look for.  The villas are on the top of the mountainous terrain that overlooks the beaches.  Our view was amazing, set with our own hammock and private porch.  The room wasn’t that large, but had everything anyone could need for their stay.  Included with your stay is a cooked to order breakfast that doesn’t disappoint.  The hotel is also on the bus route for Quepos and Manuel Antonio, so you can get just about anywhere for a small fee.

We were also lucky enough to see some white-faced monkeys running across our view in the morning.  The sounds of the rain forest are very calming, but not too much to overwhelm you to where you can’t sleep at night.

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Our stay was short with no preparation so we wanted to make the most of it.  Everyone working at Nicolas was extremely nice and gave us just about every bit of information we could ask for about Queposand Manuel Antonio.  We spent a day at Manuel Antonio and went down to the local beach, Playa Espidilla, twice.  Keep in mind, depending on how you get to this beach, you may need a 4-wheel drive vehicle.  We choose the tough path on the northwestern part of the beach, which was extremely rewarding once we got there.

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Tip: Supposedly at Playa Espadilla, if you get there early enough in the morning, you can see crocodiles walking out to sea to catch some food and take it back up to the river/swampy areas.  We didn’t get up early enough to see this, but heard from multiple people about it.

We would highly recommend staying at Hotel Villas Nicolas when in the area.  The price for what you get can’t be beat and it’s location to everything there is in the area is great.

Zephyr Palace, a 5 start resort near Jaco in Costa Rica, is everything it claims to be and more. I’ve been watching this place for a while now, with plans to go there eventually. Somehow everything just worked out for us to finally take our first trip to Costa Rica and stay at the Palace. In all of our travels, this ranked as one of the greatest views. Visiting during the rainy season, we were lucky enough to have the entire 7 suite “palace” to ourselves all but one night. Each room is decorated in a different theme and makes you feel like royalty. We started out with 3 nights in the New World Suite, followed by 3 nights in the Egypt Suite. Both rooms had their own benefits and in the end, we were very happy to get to use both. There isn’t a bad suite at Zephyr Palace. The other suites available are similar or better than what we got to experience and we hope that some day we will be able to return and try them out.

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About Zephyr Palace

Zephyr Palace is an add-on to beautiful boutique hotel Villa Caletas tucked up top of a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean about 10 miles north of Jaco. The drive here from the San Juan airport took us around 1.5 hours and completed with a 2 mile drive up the mountain ridge with some of the most amazing views. For those scared of heights, looking down may make you a bit squeamish. On the way from the airport, make sure you stop at Crocodile Bridge to see the crocs. We don’t see a reason to pay for an excursion there, but it’s definitely a sight to see.

Zephyr Palace was built in the 90’s but is still very modern with it’s amenities. We found Wifi to be available everywhere and Cable TV was available though we rarely watch tv, especially on a vacation. We did enjoy having a mini fridge to use and espresso machine in each room. All rooms also come with a personal hot tub which was cleaned spotless every day. Even after coming back from the beach and getting sand in the hot tub, it somehow disappeared the next day. This is one of the things we love the most about Zephyr Palace. Since we were the only ones there, we never saw any other guest, but we also rarely saw anyone working there. It was as if it was our own private home. They do have security cameras around the place and we’re pretty sure they used those to know when we left the room or pools. Once we left our room someone had to be there cleaning it up and was gone before we ever got back. Staff was also very accommodating and would bring us buckets of ice for our Champagne, and give us rides over to Villa Caletas. Room service was also very handy to have with their prices being very reasonable.

While we adventured out every day, we also made good use of room service. Food was always delivered within 30 minutes and was delicious. The prices were reasonable as well for the food, though high for drinks, but they have no problem if you bring your own. We were really surprised when we took a bottle of our own Prosecco to the pool to drink over at the beautiful infinity pool at Villa Caletas and they brought us a bucket of ice and two glasses, no charge. Also, these places believe in being as natural as possible, not using any pesticides for the greenery and pretty much just letting the jungle grow uninhibited.

I also have to give one of the employees, Alex, a shout out after he let me know we had a flat tire on our car and helped change it. It’s service like we received at Zephyr Palace that will bring us back for another stay.

New World Suite

We stayed our first three nights in the New World Suite. I picked this one out mainly for the balcony. The room is on the lower floor and it’s balcony jets out past the rest of the palace. As a result, it’s the only room with a balcony that has direct access to the sun directly above. For privacy there are blinds that you can pull around the hot tub and there is also a private set of stairs from the deck that leads directly to the pools. The room had a huge mirror over the bed which you eventually realize is a window to the bathroom and a tv that popped up out from the foot of the bed. When we were in our room, we spent most of our time on the deck. It had a couple of loungers, a table and chairs and the hot tub. The views are incredible and something to really take in.

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Egypt Suite

Wanting to try out as much as possible, it was tough, but we left the New World Suite for the Egpyt suite. This was one floor above New World and thus had a slightly even better view. This room was decorated really nice, but the downside is that the hot tub is tucked away in the porch losing that view when you’re using it.

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The Pools!

The pools here are one of the amenities that you don’t want to miss. They’re so beautiful, you feel bad even getting in them. The Piscina pool, the infinity pool at Zephyr Palace is the top pool and our favorite view, while the garden pool is a more private tucked away pool. I could see this pool being used for parties of larger groups or for your wedding, if you choose to have it here. In addition to these two amazing pools, you can head on over to Villa Caletas and use their infinity pool as well. That pool is incredible as well, with nature surrounding it, an infinity edge, and another view of the Pacific Ocean. For us, we didn’t use this pool as much because we were enjoying the solidarity of Zephyr Palace way too much.  Check out the videos below to get a really good look at what these pools look like and the views that accompany them.

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Private Beach

If the pools and views weren’t enough, Zephyr Palace and Villa Caletas have a private beach. Their beach is usually described as being a rocky rough beach, but we found that there’s more to the story than that. There are three ways to get to the beach and we did all of them. First, you can hike down from the resort, more on that below.The second way down is by way of the Hotel’s truck. It leaves every hour down to the beach and back every hour on the half hour. The problem with this, in our opinion is that the last transfer back was at 4:00, too early for us. You can stay longer if you choose the third way down, by way of your own vehicle. They recommend only doing this if you have 4-wheel drive and I will agree with that. We booked a 4-wheel drive vehicle knowing this in advance and did drive it down once. The way back up is steep, but we were able to make it without iss aren’t any guard rails and it’s a long drop at points if you were to lose traction so be careful if you do choose this route.

Back to the beach…There are plenty of lounge chairs and even beach beds available for use here.  There is no charge for these like some resorts do.  This area is a rocky part of the beach with the waves hitting up against a rock wall.  Walk 50 feet to the north though and you’ll find a nice beautiful sand beach.

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Hiking and Waterfalls

One way to get down to the private beach is to hike.  In order to take this hike, they ask you to sign a waiver then take you to the start of the trail.  Keep in mind that you’re 1200 feet up and it’s over a mile to the beach. This isn’t a walk in the park and though it starts our really nice with stairs and a paved walkway, that quickly disappears and the hand rail even disappears soon after that.  You’re left to your own devices to get down the rest of the way.  The best part about this hike though is when you’re about 75% of the way down, there is a small bridge to walk over a running stream of water. If you walk under the bridge and back up the stream about 100 feet, it turns to the left and there are some of the most beautiful waterfalls that you can enjoy all to yourself. We had a hard time leaving these, but knowing there was a beach at the end to enjoy, we eventually finished our journey.

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If you’re looking for a romantic getaway, or even one with little chance of seeing children, Zephyr Palace should definitely be on the top of your list. Even if the place was fully booked that means only another 12 people would be around, which by most cases is still a very private vacation. We give Zephyr Palace 5 stars for the way they treated us and the overall beauty experience of our entire stay there. We hope to be able to go back, experience other rooms and/or stay at Villa Caletas in the near future.

As always you can find more pictures over on our feed in Instagram.  Follow us to get all of our updates.

We had the opportunity to visit the Renaissance Festival in Texas this last weekend.  This is the 43rd year they’ve been doing this and it is considered to be the largest one in the US.  Each weekend is a different theme and there is lots to do for everyone.  The theme for the weekend was Pirate Adventures, though we aren’t quite fully in character.  Amanda was a Snow Queen, wishing it was much cooler than the 90 degrees we had to endure.  I just didn’t want to wear a shirt, so I threw on a piece a leather and called it a day.

This is a must do event that spans 10 weekends in the fall about an hour northwest of Houston.  In addition to the faire, you can camp out for the weekend, but beware, the activities going on late at night are no place for kids to be.  If you do decide to bring kids, keep them in your camp area at night.  No matter what, you’ll meet the nicest people and forget that you live in the 21st century for at least a little while.  I’d say that about 50% of the people there are dressed up and the costumes are some of the most amazing ones we’ve ever seen.  People really get into this and go all out.

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On the camp grounds there is also a large building used each Saturday night for an “After Dark” party.  This weekend the theme was Burlesque.  Entertainment inside included different types of dance, and burlesque shows.  There is also a room for karaoke and a VIP lounge for those who decide to pay a little extra for the included appetizers.  This was our first time going to After Dark and it was amazing.  First, it was a nice break from the weekend heat as the place was cooled down very nice.  But we met a lot of really nice people, were entertained and had an excuse to dress up again, always a plus for us!

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If you ever get a chance, go check out the Faire.  You can find more information on their site at: https://www.texrenfest.com/ and as always you can find more pictures over on our feed in Instagram.  Follow us and get all our updates.

There are so many things to do in Mexico, but one you’ve probably heard of or possibly done is to visit some of their cenotes.  A cenote is a natural reservoir of water created from limestone bedrock that collapses.  The water underneath is exposed and beautiful swimming areas are formed.  Some cenotes are completely open with everything collapsing, while others form caves nearly completely covered, with scattered openings to access them.

Using our free smart car from the Grand Oasis Sens, Amanda and I went out on an adventure to enjoy some of these natural wonders and weren’t disappointed.  Knows as Los 7 Cenotes, an area about 30 minutes south of the hotel zone in Cancun, there are multiple cenotes ranging from enclosed to open.  We were warned ahead of time that a 4 wheel vehicle may be needed to get to these cenotes, but we were just fine driving that little smart car.  There are numerous tours you can take if you don’t have a vehicle or prefer a guide, but we usually find that doing things on our own is not only a lot cheaper, but also a fun adventure that doesn’t make us feel rushed to move on to the next stop.

Once we arrived, it looked like any other area.  For $20 USD we were able to access everything on our own and were given life jackets to use.  Normally, I’d forgo the life jacket, but we had just been told that the cenote we’re about to swim in is 300 feet deep.  We eventually lost the life jackets for a little bit once we were more comfortable.  Anyway, after getting ready, we had to head down a ladder to access the water.  I got in first, never really thinking about what I’m doing, then had to slowly coerce Amanda to join me.  I tried to keep it a secret as long as possible, but once she looked up, she realized as I just had, that the top of the cave was covered with bats.  The bats never bothered us more than a couple of close flybys, but it’s something to keep in mind in case you’re deathly afraid of them.

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This particular cenote actually had 5 openings to the ground level.  300 feet deep, we arrived when a group of scuba divers were just wrapping up a dive.  Once you’re in the cenote, there are ropes you can hang on to if you wish and pull yourself around to the different areas.  And for the more daring, “cliff” diving into the cenote was extremely exhilarating (see video below).  The water was also fairly cool considering it’s not exposed to the sun.

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I definitely see us checking out more cenotes when we return to Mexico as each one is completely unique.  If you wish to see more of our adventures here, check out our Instagram feed.

It’s honeymoon time!  Amanda and I finally got married and took the trip of our dreams to St. Lucia.  I spent a lot of time researching this trip ahead of time along with many other possible destinations.  St. Lucia has always been near the top of my bucket list but I didn’t want to just go sit at some resort and not actually enjoy the location.  If that is the experience we wanted, we could have done that anywhere.  For that reason, we looked high and low for the best location to stay, near lots of activities and with a great view.  I really wanted to be near the iconic Pitons and have a view of the Ocean.  Since it is our honeymoon, privacy would be something treasured as well.  There were a few options around the Soufriere area, but Stonefield Estates ended up being exactly everything we hoped for and more.  We got the kind of luxury, privacy and features that most think they can only get at Jade Mountain, but at a fraction of the price.

Tip: If visiting St. Lucia, no matter where you’re staying, we highly recommend getting a vehicle.  The normal vacation in St. Lucia involves staying at a hotel and never leaving, or taking a single high priced excursion to something touristy.  If you drive yourself, you can do all the touristy stuff at a fraction of the price and you can do it on your own time.  There is so much to explore.  Most of the people we talked to that had been to St. Lucia before us never wondered outside of their resort.  Just be warned, if driving in St. Lucia, you’ll be driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the road.

First Impressions

We flew in to Hewanorra International Airport and drove ourselves the hour drive up to StoneField.  When we first pulled up to Stonefield, we were blown away by all the vegetation.  It was if we just drove into the Garden of Eden.  We weren’t sure which way exactly we were to go to check in, but finding out way there was enjoyable none-the-less.  I really wanted this to be the best honeymoon possible, so I did my research ahead of time and made sure we had an amazing villa.  We got a Hillside Oceanview Villa that had a view of Petit Piton, the Ocean and no other Villas.  It was as if we were there all alone.  We couldn’t hear anyone else or see anyone else.  Our 1200 square foot villa included our bedroom with a king bed, bathroom with outdoor shower, kitchen and living area.  Outside we had a pool, and two decks.  One of the decks was covered and had a hammock, the other open for a full view of the sun above, with two lounge chairs.  One of the great features that you get here that is absent at Jade Mountain is air condition in your bedroom.  The rest of the view villa is open for fresh air including the shower which is outside.  There is nothing more serene than taking a shower under the moon and stars.

We were originally upset that we arrived later in the day and wouldn’t get to enjoy the beach already, but the sunset we witnessed that first night was second to none.  It was soon followed by the moon over the ocean providing a spectacular view all night long.  We stayed up until 4am just sitting outside and swimming in the pool, enjoying the serenity of this magnificent place we were lucky enough to be experiencing.

The location of Stonefield was very desirable.  Within a short drive there were waterfalls, an active volcano, a couple of towns and of course the Pitons.  We review some of the places we got to experience in another post, here.

The View

This is the best view we have ever experienced for a beach resort.  Not only is the beach just below you, but to the south was that incredible Petit Piton.  It may sound petite, but it is actually the larger of the two pitons and not too safe to climb.  I did climb it before knowing that, which you can read about that in our St Lucia Adventures review.  Every single night we took the time to stop everything and watch the sun set.  And every single night we enjoyed the Moon passing over head.  During our stay, the moon rose from the east and set in the west.  There isn’t much to do in Soufriere at night, so we were usually in early and up early.

Again, we couldn’t see anything or anyone else from our villa.  Some of the others may have views of a backside of another Villa, but ours had completely unobstructed views.

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Our Villa

We were blessed to have a very large pool, big enough to not consider it a splash pool, two decks, a living area, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and outdoor shower.  The kitchen has most of what you could need for a short stay, though getting groceries isn’t as easy as we had hoped for.  There is a small store in town, but very little to choose from.  Fortunately, breakfast was included at the Mango Tree restaurant and we often ate out for dinner.  The bedroom does close off and has an A/C unit which was nice to have.  The open air resorts are a great idea, but depending on the time of year you’re visiting, I’d had to not have the option of controlled temps when needed.  One of our favorite features was the outdoor shower.  We didn’t have any issues with mosquitoes or other critters, so it was very relaxing to use.  The living area was nice as well, but never used considering we had two porches to enjoy being outside instead.

The Beaches

Stonefield doesn’t have a private beach, as all beaches in St. Lucia are public.  But, you can catch a ride down to the beach, or drive (as we did) and find a fairly quiet, often empty, beach to enjoy.  The beach ranges from beautiful sand to rocks depending on the area you decide to stop at.  In addition to this, Stonefield will shuttle you to the other side of Petit Piton to enjoy Sugar Beach for free.  This beach is nestled between Petit Piton and Gros Piton with extremely white sand, and clear water.  I’d recommend visiting this beach at least once to enjoy a view you won’t find elsewhere.  We also took the time to check out the beach at Jade Mountain as well as another one further north on the island, Anse Conchon Beach, which is know for glittery sand, a mixture of dark volcanic sand and white sand.  Every one of these beaches, except the one at the base of Stonefield have bars for food and drinks.

Mangos, Mangos & the Mango Tree

There is a very good reason their restaurant is called the Mango Tree.  There is a very large Mango Tree on the cliff full of fruit.  We’ve always enjoyed the taste of mangos, but never like this before.  We weren’t sure if we could just pick them off of the trees so we played it safe and called the front desk to ask.  Sure enough, we didn’t have to pick anything, the gardener would pick the best fruit for us and deliver it to our villa.  We had the bring half a dozen mangos and other fruit to us daily and ate up every bit of it.  The mango’s in St. Lucia are amazing, soft and delicious.  We’ve yet to have another mango since that has come close to comparing to them.  Don’t miss out on eating fresh fruit every day picked straight from the trees.

The Mango Tree restaurant was also very nice.  The view was similar to that of our Villa, though probably 50 feet higher.  They had entertainment a few nights during our stay, a small bar, and amazing food.  Breakfast, made to order, was included in the stay and amazing every day.  You could even order to have the food delivered to your villa instead.

Overall, we highly recommend Stonefield and could definitely see staying here again.  They even offer larger villas for big groups that would make for a really fun group trip.  It was very difficult driving away from here when our trip was over.  Feel free to comment below if you have any questions that we could answer or want to know more.  You can find more pictures of our trip over on Instagram and Facebook as well.