My wife and 3 kids (ages 8,6,and 3) just returned from 7 days at Aulani. We were somewhat apprehensive about going because so many services were not available, therefore I thought I would give my post travel reaction. We have never been to Aulani before so I don't have much to compare it to. Crowd levels were minimal to non existent most days. I don't know if this is typical for January? It could possibly be because of covid? I have read of people having to get to the pool early to save a chair and long lines for slides and such, we never experienced this even on the weekend when there was a uptick in local visitors. On multiple occasions our family found ourselves to be the only ones in the infinity pool as well as the pool that used to be adult only.... Beach was also never crowded. We mostly ate off resort or in our room (We bought breakfast food from Costco upon arrival), but felt like there were sufficient food options on the resort as well.
Things we did..
Hawaii Nautical dolphin and snorkel tour... Probably the highlight of the trip for our kids. We saw dolphins (bottle nose and spinner) up close, whales, as well as got time to snorkel and view octopus up close. There was only one other group on the tour. Our boat captain said that we are very lucky to be there during COVID as the boat is usually full of people... They also provided a very good lunch.
Hanauma bay.... The highlight of the trip for my wife and I.... We did not experience any problems getting in for a Friday. We arrived at 7:45 AM got tickets for the show for 8:15 and spent time on a very uncrowded beach and snorkeling until around 2:00 PM.... I have heard its hard to get in here, we did not experience crowds or any difficulty getting in.
Waimea Valley.... Very enjoyable experience walking to the waterfall and swimming in the pool at the base. Life jackets and changing area was provided.
Bonzai Pipeline beach.... Watched the waves and surfers
Polynesian Cultural Center.... It had recently reopened and was a bit expensive for an exclusive experience, but worth it in our opinion. The luau and show were phenomenal, capacity was limited so it was less crowded. Would have been nice if they opened earlier. If you are to go here I recommend booking it as soon as possible to choose your seats for the show. We booked weeks early and had front row seats. No price difference for selecting better seats.
Paradise cove near Aulani.... We saw several sea turtles
Dole Plantation.... Our kids loved the train ride and maze... I would skip the garden tour if I was to do it again
Diamond Head.... I would get there early, this is the only place we experienced high crowds, but we went on a Sunday mid day... We had to wait about 30 minutes to get a parking spot
Makapuu Light House.... Beautiful easy paved trail to light house with views of Maui... We also saw whales off the coast from here.
Places we ate...
Uncle Clays house of Pure Aloha... Our favorite Shave Ice on our trip, Natural syrups and added fruit
Matsumoto Shave Ice.... We heard it was great, better than aulani shaved ice. No line to get it which was nice
Giovanni Shrimp..... My wife loved it, I dont like shrimp so I had crepes for a truck near buy fantastic and once again no crowds
Kono.... Amazing breakfast pork wrap
Rainbow Drive in.... I had the Moco Loco bowl and it was amazing
Monkep Pod.... Across the street from the resort with incredible food
Pizza Corner.... Also across the street decent pizza
A few other places that I have forgotten the name of.....
Final thoughts.
To anyone who is thinking of going during COVID I would recommend going....... I understand that both Aulani and Oahu are usually more crowded. I would trade the less services (although I dont know what I am missing) for the low crowds. It literally never felt crowded and we never had to wait long for anything except for parking at diamond head... It reminded us of our visit to Disney World in early August (No one was there!!!!) We enjoyed it so much we are considering looking into a trip to Maui in April if crowds stay like this because of COVID....
My Question.....
Is Aulani usually less crowded in January, or is this because of COVID?
After our trip we are considering DVC purchase there, but I don't want to buy in if it is usually crowded chaos. My thought would be to alternate trip to DW and to Aulani every other year.....
Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts