Grand Wailea Family Activities

Wailea Beach
It’s only fitting that we begin our kid-friendly recreation section with the sparkling Wailea Beach. Hailed as one of America’s most stunning three-mile strips, this crescent-shaped beach is blanketed in fine golden sand. The serene waters, flanked by lava rock formations, maintain mild and friendly surf. If you’re looking for waves with towering heights, this isn’t your beach.

However, if your family would like to kayak, stand up paddle or snorkel out to marvel at the local sea life, this is precisely where you belong. Because the waters are so well protected from crashing waves, sea life are attracted to the region. Count on meeting a rainbow of brilliant fish, eels and mellow turtles. Glance seaward from December through April and you’ll see one of the most exceptional views in all of Hawaii: migrating, breaching, giants of the deep. And, at day’s end, sigh in breathtaking awe at the spectacular sunset.

Rent scuba, snorkels, kayaks, boogie boards, surfboards, windsurfers and Hobiecats. Windsurfing lessons, scuba instruction and kayak excursions are also available. Want to just kick back? Chill in complimentary chaise lounges and chairs. You’ll also find a great footpath winding past all of the major Wailea Beach resorts including the Marriott, Grand Wailea, of course, and the Four Seasons. And for fun, stop along the way at any of the resorts’ bars or restaurants for an impromptu meal.

Camp Grande
For such a high-end resort, it’s hard to fathom that there’s an ounce of “Mayberry RFD” here, but there’s more than just an ounce or two. You see, families visit the Grand Wailea initially and the kids in the camp form tight friendships. The parents meet thanks to the kids and voila! The next thing you know families are madly emailing back on the mainland determining when their friends will next be at the Grand Wailea. It’s common for families to meet back year after year after year watching the kids grow up together.

And it’s no wonder the kids bond at this exceptional camp. Created for kids 5 to 12 years, Camp Grande, a fully licensed and insured childcare facility, sprawls over 20,000 square feet, is open 7 days a week and offers full day, morning, afternoon and night camp. Children can choose from a plethora of activities including: sandcastles building contests, exploring tide pools, nature walks, stringing a Hawaiian flower lei, dancing the hula, creating a puka shell necklace, learning Hawaiian tile painting, sinking into an afternoon movie and creating a tie-dye T shirt.

Even after a long day, it will be tough to pull kids away from the whale-shaped outdoor wading pool, the foosball, ping-pong and pool table, the indoor play area with Lego™ blocks, the play kitchen and tool set, video games, snack bar, The Camp Grande Movie Theatre, large craft room and a full-sized soda fountain. Whew. See what we mean?

Night Camp from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., includes dinner, a Walkie Talkie Tag at Night game, sand crab hunting, theater games, scavenger hunts and more. Camp Grande counselors are dedicated career folk who stay at Camp Grande for years and remember keiki when they return. They’re committed to making the camp experience as awesome as possible, and counselor-to-child ratios for day activities are 8 to 1 and 6 to 1 for the night camp.

Camp Grande rates are $45/half day, $75/full day and $85/Night Camp.

Grand Luau
Listen to the call of the conch shell, hear the beating of the drums, be wreathed in a lei greeting and happily sip at the proffered Mai Tai. And that’s just the beginning. This classic Hawaiian luau shares song and dance of Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand and Tonga, including magical hula culminating with the awe inspiring fire knife dancers (don’t try this at home, kids).

You’ll feast on grilled top sirloin, steaks glazed with teriyaki sauce, macadamia nut crusted mahi-mahi, shoyu chicken and kalua pig. Island-inspired desserts follow including coconut haupia (traditional coconut milk-based Hawaiian dessert similar to pudding), banana cream pie, Guava Chiffon Mousse and pineapple upside-down cake served with Kona blend coffee. Seating begins at 5:30 p.m. with the luau starting at 6:00 p.m. Packages start at $89/per adult and $59/per child. Kids 5 and under are free.

Spa Grande
Wow your keiki by surprising her with entrance into one of the finest spas in the world: Grand Wailea’s Spa Grande. True, you will absolutely ruin her for other spas, but the Spa Grande memory will last into her 90s. One day your daughter may bring her own kids and grandkids back to enjoy this amazing spa with her children and talk about the visit she once took with her own mom.

Suggest that she choose the “Maui” package and she’ll receive a 25-Minute Chocolate Coconut Massage, a 25-Minute Tropical Facial, a Chocolate-Coconut Pedicure, a Chocolate-Coconut Manicure, hair color gel application and one small henna tattoo. Teens can choose from the Rainbow, Mud or Chocolate packages that incorporate massage, hair styling, a henna tattoo, a facial and a mani/pedi. (Spoiling them on occasion is half the fun of having them, right?)

Tennis
If your kids have begged for lessons or are pros in their own right, the Grand Wailea offers it’s guests special pricing at this beautiful club that boasts 11 courts, three lit at night, just a quick mile from the Grand Wailea. The great news is that one junior (under 12) is free with two paid players. Didn’t want to carry equipment on your flight? No problem, the Club rents racquet, balls, tennis shoes, a ball hopper, even a ball machine. Ask about the Club’s private, semi-private (two or more people, per hour) and half-hour lesson. Your keiki will return to the mainland with new skills to test!

Pools
Saying that the Grand Wailea has pools is like saying Queen Elizabeth has necklaces. The Wailea Canyon Activity Pool is a 2,000-foot-long, 25,700-total-square-foot, 770,000-gallon pool consisting of nine pools at six levels -- beginning at 40 feet and dropping to sea level. The pools are connected by a river that carries swimmers at various speeds. Wailea Canyon includes four jungle pools, four slides, a whitewater rapids slide, a Tarzan pool with rope swing, the world’s only water elevator, a sand beach, six waterfalls, caves, three Jacuzzis, an infant pool, and a swim-up bar, where guests can order yet more liquid.

What is a water elevator, you wonder? It’s an actual elevator, full of water itself, that eight soaked guests can sit in and up it goes to the top of the water slides. Silly, good, different, fun.

Word to the wise: One of the best investments you’ll make on your Grand Wailea trip is to rent an activity pool cabana, Hibiscus Pool cabana or lawn Casabella when you book your room. The cabanas and casabellas provide beautifully shaded, comfy lounge chairs with luxury amenities such as popsicles, frozen grapes and chilled towels being offered throughout the day. Because the pool area can become crowded very early in the morning, you won’t have to rise at 7:00 a.m. to claim a precious spot of real estate at the pool if you’ve already reserved a cabana or casabella. Full deposits for cabanas and casabellas are taken at time of booking. (Prices start at $150/a day.)