Maui Sands

So this is pretty random, and I hope it's suitable for this forum. But we went to the off-season tour today, and a group of us wanted to go to an indoor waterpark afterward. Our initial thought was to go to Kalahari, but we found that Maui Sands was open, so we opted to check it out.

Their website is admittedly terrible. No hours, no rates, etc. But we called them, and they told us that after 4:00 pm, it was only $20 for a waterpark day pass. So we headed over, and found that this is actually a pretty good spot.

It's not a giant waterpark, but the slides they do have are pretty fun. They have a simple lazy river, an indoor hot tub, and also an outdoor hot tub for the adults. And even better, they have very cheap ($3) craft hawaiian beers.

So if you're looking for a cheap trip to a waterpark, I'd recommend the place. Not exactly Kalahari, but for the price it was a pretty good time.

I'm partial to Great Wolf. Not just because my wife is their ask-a-mom, but I just hold the entire company in much higher regard. I love their bar, too.

Thanks for posting about the hotel. I recently wanted to give it a try, but it always looked a bit shady and as you said, the website lacks much information.

I believe this was the first weekend that the Maui sands water park was open. The hotel has been open for about a year now. But they just opened the waterpark.

I think they actually opened the water park a week ahead of schedule.
Oh, and as I am typing this, I see that one of the banner ads on the side of the screen is for Maui Sands.

Funny, all my ads are for Kalahari

Jeff said:
I'm partial to Great Wolf. Not just because my wife is their ask-a-mom, but I just hold the entire company in much higher regard. I love their bar, too.

Do you see that changing as your son gets older? I ask because the story I get from people who have gone to Great Wolf is that it is young child oriented and as their kids grow up they find Kalahari better suited for them.

I dunno. Same can be said about Castaway Bay. I'll let you know in like ten years. :)

That was our problem with Castaway. Our kids were too big for it. We have stayed away from Great Wolf based on what we heard. I was just looking for another data point.

MOST of the rides at Kalahari have a 42" requirement. My 4.5 year old loves Kalahari! The big 4 person toilet bowl raft, and the toilet bowl body slide are 48" (strong swimmer is a must on the slide)

There were 2 tube slides that were "48 or 42 with adult" but they took away the 2 person tubes from there and lazy river so now those are 48.

This summer our family trip will be Kalahari. It's got lots of "big" stuff she can ride at 43" tall. Once she hit's 48" tall she's going to Cedar Point. Taking her right now to CP is a nightmare of "I wanna ride the coasters!" "no you can't ride that, you aren't tall enough" because all she wants to ride is coasters. The kiddie rides hold no interest for her. In fact on her "height chart" on the wall where she measures herself, she made me mark "roller coasters" at 48"

My issue with Kalahari is that it seems to appear in the local police blotter an awful lot.

I've been to the bar at Kalahari a few times and the crowd it attracts does not fit the "family oriented water park" experience at all. I'm not surprised there as been police activity there.

Really? I've never noticed "bad crowds" whenever I was there. Then again I've never gone to the bar after the waterpark closed. Usually we'd just go out to eat and then come back to our room. Or just stay in the room and order pizza.

Yeah, you were probably there too early. The crowd I noticed do not seem to typically stay at the resort, they seem to be locals who come just to drink from maybe 10:00 pm until closing.

My wife and I went to Kalahari back in later February and the water park bar scene did get a little rowdy, especially outside. There was some pretty heavy drinking going on. Once the water park closed, the party seemed to move right inside and it kept going. I never saw a police presence there though.

It's kind of strange that locals would wanna hang out there.

Exactly. That is pertty weird.

Jeff said:
It's kind of strange that locals would wanna hang out there.

The bar at Kalahari actually advertises for non-guests to come and drink there. I too think it's very strange, but what is even more strange is why the resort would want non-guests at the bar drinking and possibly getting in trouble. At least with a guest they can threaten to kick them out of their room with no refund

I just don't see why locals would want to have $10 girly drinks with tourists. There are plenty of places not geared toward tourists with cheaper drinks.

What's interesting is that the bar seems to change character during the late night hours. It seems to take on much more of a night club type atmosphere, complete with a DJ catering to the 20 something crowd.

Not too many girly drinks, most people were drinking bottled beer, shots or simple mixed drinks like gin and tonic. I seem to remember a Bud Light was only in the neighborhood of $3.50 or so.

I think the resort guest business probably drops off later at night, so to drum up business, they turn it into a local hangout late at night to keep the cash flowing. Might even lower drink prices, just a guess though. But, their plan is certainly bringing in the locals.