"Eat, drink, and be Maui" is almost as popular a saying as "Maui No Ka Oi!" We love the pleasures of dining, particularly if we can hang loose in shorts and rubbah slippas while we're enjoying the ethnic melting pot of cuisines that is unique to these islands. Living and working on Maui qualifies any resident to recommend a host of reasonably priced restaurants and lunch counters that dish up quite an array of 'ono (delicious) foods. This list will give you a colorful picture of "food finds" around the South shore of the island. (in no particular order)

What do you get when you take a local island boy, who has worked as sous chef and executive chef in some of Maui's finest dinner restaurants, and plunk him in the middle of Kihei to operate his own cafe restaurant? Big Wave Cafe, perhaps your best choice for outstanding island fare at extremely reasonable prices. The chef-owner is on site for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving hearty portions of Pacific Rim cuisine and American favorites, including Champagne Sunday Brunch. Located in Long's Shopping Center, 1215 South Kihei Road. 

Come to think of it, cafes tucked away in shopping centers tend to offer the most reasonably priced menus. One that is off the beaten path (read, not on S. Kihei Rd.) is Ashley's South Shore Cafe, located in the Hukulii Place complex behind Tesoro gas station. Fresh island fish, local plate lunches, burgers, breakfast items and general comfort foods are offered. 

An amazing eatery that opened early this year is Cevoli's Motorcycle Cafe, located across the parking lot in the Azeka I (Makai) Plaza. The owner is another fine dining chef who has enlisted his whole family to help run the place, so it's not a biker bar. The food is American roadhouse with an Italian flair, and families with young kids are welcome, because the lunch and dinner menus are value-themed. 

Nestled in the Azeka II (Mauka) Center next to the bank is Jawz Tacos, serving some of the freshest and tastiest tacos, burritos and salads on the island, along with an awesome salsa bar. Its new location offers a more elegant ambiance, but its popular breakfast, lunch and dinner menus remain value-priced. We're talking about Stella Blues Cafe in the Azeka II Center. Grateful Dead memorabilia graces the designer walls, encircling a full bar. The new American comfort food includes many vegetarian dishes as well as hearty home-style plates. 

Kukui Mall (1819 S. Kihei Rd.) is home to Kihei's movie theater and one of the most delightful sushi bars on the island, Sushi Go! Its fast-food presentations paraded on a conveyor belt translate to low prices. Sushi favorites, fancy plates and rolls, hot seafood and meat items, and a kid-friendly appetizer menu will appeal to the entire family. A variety of beers and wines are featured. 

Life's a Beach, baby! You might hear this on the radio along with a long litany of food and drink specials at unbelievably low prices. At night it's more of a 20-somethings' dance club, but before the sun goes down, you'll find lots of Mexican favorites along with pasta, meat and fish dinner specials. Look for the open-air lanai on the corner of 1913 S. Kihei Road (across from Foodland). Next to Foodland in the Kihei Town Center, you'll find an affordable family-style bistro, Aroma D'Italia Ristorante. It offers Southern Italian cooking with nightly specials and a complete wine list. 

Another fun, casual place for dining and drinking is LuLu's, located on the second floor of an office-style building with a large, open-air lanai at 1945 S. Kihei Road. A selection of delicious appetizers makes a great lunch or early dinner. Ribs, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and a full bar with tiki-style cocktails and live music round-out the experience. 

For 'smart' and healthy eating at affordable prices, you can't miss at Joy's Place. It's almost hidden along the side of the Island Surf building at 1993 S. Kihei Road. Organic eating includes sliced meats as well as brown rice, fresh produce and juices, wheat-free breads and vegan soups. Open for walk-in lunches and perfect for picnics. 

Da Kitchen Express is one of those local-style "hidden secret" eateries. Located in the Rainbow Mall at 2439 S. Kihei Road, it serves Hawaiian-style plate lunches and the favorite dishes of Hawaii's multi-cultural mix. Entree portions are huge and served with two scoops of white rice and a choice of either potato-macaroni salad or mixed greens. Meat portions can be made as a sandwich, and the local-style Portuguese sausage can be found on the breakfast menu. Cash and traveler's checks only, please. 

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· Great Swimming Areas for Families
Summer is a great time for traveling with the kids to Maui when you'll find dining specials and lots of activity discounts for children 12 years and under. For worry-free enjoyment of the island's most popular natural resource, sandy beaches with good swimming areas, be sure to check-out our list that features West Maui beaches in this issue. Some of the luxurious resort condos and hotels feature special swimming areas just for kids. You may want to explore the following: 

Hotel Pools that Love Kids - Ka`anapali
Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa's new Keiki Lagoon features ocean tidepools and a sandy play area dominated by a 25-foot water slide. The half-acre of swimming pools include waterfalls, a grotto bar, and a 150-foot lava tube slide.
Sheraton Maui Resort offers 140 yards of freshwater swimming lagoon meandering through the lushly landscaped grounds, which feeds into the main swimming pool.
The Westin Maui features an 87,000 square-foot aquatic playground, highlighted by two water slides, one providing a 128-foot ride. The five free-form swimming pools include a swim-through grotto and waterfalls.
For those in vacation ownership, the Maui Marriott Resort & Ocean Club provides a 3-and-a-half-acre superpool with waterfalls and intriguing waterways which surround a Shipwreck Beach sandy play area for kids complete with water slide. 

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· Sunsets are Spectacular and Free! 
Like a color-splashed masterpiece on canvas, summertime sunsets around the islands are a spectacular display of hue and form. Although visitors are ever in search of the elusive "green flash" (which can occur as the last portion of the sun's globe drops into the sea on a cloudless evening), Mauians find that summer sunsets get more brilliant long after the sun disappears from the horizon. We've been asked many times, "What's the best place to view a famous Maui sunset?" Here are our choices islandwide: 

Haleakala National Park- Kind of a well-kept secret, the Visitor Center parking lot at the Crater rim, situated above cloud level, offers arguably the most awesome sunset views in the world. 

Ulua Beach in Wailea and all along the oceanside path to Polo Beach - just keep walking!

Keawakapu Beach - Again, a nice walk; park by the Mana Kai in South Kihei. 

Kamaole Beach III and all of the "Kam" beach parks along S. Kihei Road - their big lawns are perfect for sunset watching. 

McGregor Point Lookout - Pull off Highway 30 and walk to the western edge of the parking lot.

Papalaua Wayside Park (on the west side of the Pali) - You can't beat relaxing on the sugary white sand beach.

Launiupoko Beach Park (south of Lahaina) - The shady lawns are cool and comfortable.

Kamehameha Iki Park (at 505 Front St. in Lahaina) - Harbor views and the island of Lana'i make for a dramatic backdrop.

Wahikuli Beach Park (across from Lahaina Civic Center) - Barbecues and sunsets go well together here.

Ka'anapali Beach - Three miles of sandy beach and a boardwalk from Hanakao'o to Keka'a - need we say more?

Pohaku "S-Turns" Park (in Kahana) - Car-friendly and casual.

Napili Bay and Kapalua Beach- A gorgeous setting, not too far north, with Moloka'i in the background. 

Pack with common sense in mind; what to do with sporting equipment. Sharp metal objects should not be in your carry-on bag, but can be brought in checked baggage. It is recommended that they be sheathed or securely wrapped. The following items can now be taken in carry-on luggage: tweezers, safety razors, nail clippers and files, cuticle cutters, eyeglass repair tools, corkscrews, cigar cutters, and lighters (disposable and absorbed liquid types, but not unabsorbed liquid fuel lighters; safety matches are allowed, but not 'strike anywhere' matches). Photo equipment is allowed in an extra carry-on bag just for that purpose. If you don't have enough equipment to warrant a separate bag, then pack all undeveloped film in your carry-on bag. Equipment used for checked baggage will damage undeveloped film, but screening equipment will not affect digital cameras and electronic image storage cards. Personal items such as laptop computers, briefcases, purses and small backpacks can also be an extra carry-on. Some scuba diving gear can be transported on-board the plane, such as regulators, buoyancy compensators, mask, snorkel and fins, in either checked or carry-on baggage. Dive tanks or compressed gas cylinders are prohibited from any type of luggage. Spear guns, hunting or fishing knives, and even golf clubs can no longer be brought in the cabin, but can be transported as checked baggage. Fishing rods are permitted as carry-ons if they conform to the air carrier's size limitations; while tackle should be placed in checked baggage, fragile fly lures and expensive reels can be carried on the aircraft. 

At the airport security screening checkpoint, especially with kids. Have your picture ID card and boarding pass in-hand and ready to show. Take all metal objects off your body, such as jewelry, keys, and coins, and place them in a bin or your carry-on bag. Large belt buckles, metal hair barrettes, cell phones and personal data assistants should also be taken off your person. All carry-on baggage, including diaper bags, toys, infant carriers and stollers have to go through the x-ray screening machine. It's a good idea to explain this screening process to your children, as they are encouraged to walk through the metal detector independently, and remind them not to joke about threats. Screeners will not ask you to do anything that will separate you from your children. 

Screening people with medical conditions or disabilities. The screener should offer you a private area for screening before a pat-down, or you can request a private area for your personal search at any time during the process. Your companion or assistant may accompany you. Before the screening process begins, you may request a visual inspection of your medication and medical supplies, otherwise they will undergo x-ray inspection. You may be asked to handle and repack your own medication and associated supplies during the visual inspection. 

Hawaii's Agricultural Inspections. The Hawaiian Islands' environment is fragile, mostly due to its geographic isolation from other ecosystems. Because of this, on arrival in the aircraft you'll be asked to declare any plants, produce, or animals that might introduce alien pests to the island. On departure, before you check-in your luggage at the terminal, you must go through one of the Department of Agriculture screening stands and submit your luggage to inspection. It usually takes only a few minutes. The island of Moloka'i now has agricultural inspection at its Ho'olehua Aiport to assist those visitors with a connection to the Mainland or elsewhere.
Beginning July 6, the hours of operation are:
Mondays from 8:30am to 1:30pm,
and Tuesdays-Sundays from 7:30am to 12:30pm.  x.