We visited Santa– at the beach no less. We are determined to make the most of living in Maui, including with our yearly holiday traditions. We were looking to find a Santa (and not at a mall if possible) and learned that he makes a brief appearance at Whaler’s Village, just off the pathway that takes you along the beachfront of the Kaanapali hotels, between Leilani’s and Hula Grill. I do have one daughter who knows (ahem), but she still has so much fun with the annual tradition. Two years ago we were at Rock City on Lookout Mountain, GA. Last year the girls were at Disney World in Florida. And this year they are on the beaches of Maui. Originally I was sad when we had to leave our favorite Santa at the Westlake Promenade (Westlake Village, CA) a few years back, but this year I realized that this is also a fun way to do things. So if you are coming to Maui, or living here, check out Santa here on a Friday or Saturday afternoon in the first two weeks of December. He isn’t here often, but an ocean backdrop is fun, and it was overall stress free. Here are some images I snapped of my girls with Santa and letting him know what he wanted.
Oh, one more thing. This Santa is a little forthcoming in information. As in my youngest told him what she wanted for Christmas and he said “That should be easy.”

REALLY?

So maybe go the first week so you have time to scramble if need be. 😉

One final note, we’ve never made a big deal about Santa– other than the yearly pictures, he isn’t the focus of Christmas.  We’ve taught the girls a lot about the original Saint Nicholas and how certain traditions have come to be, and how they vary in different countries.  I know there are so many ways to “do Santa” or not, but this has worked out well for us.  And if you need a good resource, we just got the “Why Do We Call it Christmas?” DVD and it was really great too.  Also on Amazon.