The boys jumped up out of bed this morning when the alarm when off. They knew it was surfing day and couldn’t wait!

Breakfast… At the Hotel?

The previous night we got a phone call late in the evening after we had mostly gone to bed. I was a bit annoyed to have to get up to answer it, but it was well worth it. On the other end was the on-call manager. I had written a complaint about the crappy breakfast option we were offered at check-in. I had outlined that the Marriott loyalty program guaranteed “breakfast in the restaurant” but we were offered essentially a grab and go option in Starbucks. When I had pushed back at check-in the excuse was that they didn’t own the restaurant. I do not consider Starbucks to be a restaurant at a 4 or 5-star hotel and respectfully voiced my criticism. I also pointed out that they offered paid rates that included the buffet breakfast at the on-site restaurant which further undercut the excuse at check-in. My goal of the complaint was to call them out for not following the stated policy which I feel devalues the loyalty program overall.

The manager on the phone said they were sorry we were unhappy with the breakfast offerings at check-in and offered us buffet breakfast for the remainder of our stay as compensation. We would just charge it to the room and the charges would be wiped out at checkout. We’d definitely take advantage of that and make sure the charges were properly reconciled on checkout. It was certainly good for us, but sad that they weren’t following the program policy from the start.

Tomatico was especially happy with the news when he woke up. He’s always excited about news related to food! We quickly got dressed and went looking for my wife who was working in the lobby. Unfortunately, she had meetings and we would have to go on our own since we didn’t want to be late for our surfing lesson!

We found the restaurant but it hadn’t quite opened yet. We were a few minutes early so we waited nearby to be the first ones in. We were seated promptly and had an amazing view of the pools and ocean. As it turned out the restaurant was directly above our room!

The buffet had the traditional hot and cold options as well as fruit and yogurt. It did not have an omelet bar or waffle station to Tomatico’s disappointment, but he still managed. There were quite a few local options as well.

We ate our fill but we had surf lessons to get to so we finished quickly.

Surf’s Up!

I can’t describe how excited the boys were about the surf lessons. The meeting place was in a park across the street from the Kihei Caffe so it was a short drive to get there. We pulled into the parking lot just as the van for the company we were using, Big Kahuna Adventures, was arriving. We talked with the driver while he set up the space for the day.

Our lesson was the first of the day. It was a group lesson and another family of four would be joining the three of us. There were two instructors as well so we would all get a lot of attention.

Once the other group and the main instructor, Jesse, arrived the lessons got started. Jesse started with the safety instructions and described what we would expect in the water. In particular, the water we would be in would be really shallow, about waist level or less, with a mix of a sandy and rocky bottom. We would have to be careful when we fell or got off the board so we wouldn’t injure ourselves.

After that, we got a quick lesson on technique for going from the prone position to standing on the board in the water. He gave some great tips for positioning our feet, keeping our balance and the steps for making the transition. It all seemed so simple bet at the same time was a bit of information overload, but thankfully we headed for the water next to try to put all the pieces together.

The water was shallow and the ground was sandy and rocky as promised. We walked our boards out about 200 yards out where the water was still just above our knees. We gathered with the primary instructor and he got the three of us on our first waves. None of us were successful the first time, but we all started to get the feel.

We spend the next 90 minutes catching waves, trying to get up and hauling the boards back out to have Jesse help us catch the next wave. Our youngest was the first to successfully ride a wave. He caught on very quickly. That shouldn’t have been much of a surprise as he’s pretty nimble and has great balance. I was able to ride a couple of waves. Tomatico was struggling to get fully up on his board, but he was grinning ear to ear the entire time. He loved it. We all did!

Far too soon our lessons were coming to an end. We had to take our last waves in. By that time our youngest and I had both ridden multiple waves. Tomatico has come SOOOO close but hadn’t actually successfully stood up on his board so the pressure was on. He came through with his best ride of the day, standing up nearly the whole way into the beach. He was super proud, just as he should have been.

Back at the meeting spot we thanked the instructors and got some final group photos taken. Everyone in the class had successfully ridden at least one wave and had had a great time. Surfing was easier to get started on than I expected, but it was a lot more physically demanding than I thought. During my falls I had hit the bottom and scraped my hand a few times and I was physically tired but had no regrets for doing it. I had always wanted to try it so I can now cross it off my bucket list. I have a feeling the kids will want to try it again.

Active Recovery

After getting back to the hotel the boys somehow still had some energy. My wife went with them to the game room since she had been able to finish work a little early. I took the opportunity to rest (and blog) in the room. We went back into town for some lunch at the Paia Fish Market again before coming back to spend a few hours at the pool. The boys alternated between playing ping pong, foosball and riding the slides.

Around mid-afternoon, I went to drop off some more laundry to get cleaned in town like we had midway through he trip in Lahaina. While we could wait until we got home, our schedule is pretty hectic in the days after we got back so not having to worry about laundry was worth the $50 it cost.

After I returned I played a game of foosball with Tomatico, which he narrowly beat me at. I think he must have cheated!

We ended up eating at the general store again since it’s so reasonable and convenient.

Afterward, the boys wanted to go see the movie in the Movie House again. Tonight was Finding Nemo. They made sure we got there on time so they could get their prime seats and make sure the popcorn wasn’t all gone. They were really getting into a routine.

Back in the room, my wife had to get ready for an important meeting at 9 am EST (3 am local time) and I watched a movie with one eye on the magical sunset outside the patio. There are worse ways to end the day! In fact, the next day would be our last full day of the trip. These last few days were really going by quickly!