Last Minute Maui

Day 3

• Drive to Hana

Aerial View of Road to Hana

Today we embarked on the "dive to Hana."  We read that it was a cool dive and we kind of expected it to be like the Amalfi coast or Mediterranean coast of Turkey, but it wasn't at all.  There weren't really views of the ocean because the vegetation was so lush, but it was similarly a narrow road with 54 one lane bridges and over 300 ess curves winding its way through dense forests, waterfalls, and a rugged coastline.

Along the way there are a TON of sights to explore, waterfalls, hikes, national parks, beaches, and so much more.  We didn't make every stop, but the ones we did were pretty spectacular.

We started by getting breakfast in the town of Paia, which I loved and want to go back to when the shops are open, then we stopped at a local grocery store (and I mean local, a woman who lives on the island sold me bars that she was stocking on the shelves that she makes and delivers every morning).

Such a cute restaurant

We made a few stops that weren't all that impressive, but also a few that were amazing.  The first of which was the hike through a bamboo forest along a stream that lead us to some very cool waterfalls.

The denseness of the forest was breathtaking, and the path was tiny.

Waterfall 1

Waterfall 2

Waterfall 3

That last waterfall was so fun.  We were the only ones there so we went swimming in the pool and played in the falls.  So pretty and so fun.

Took this with an app called CamMe.  It's awesome.

Next we made our way to the black sand beach, called Naupaka Beach.  It's made from black lava rocks eroded down to sand.  We've never seen anything like it.  The foam of the water against the black of the rock was just beautiful, and add to it the lush green plants that were growing out of the lava and it's really a beautiful sight.

Black sand beach

Lava rocks were all over the place.

Then we started exploring, there were caves and ledges of lava rocks everywhere, so we hiked along them for a little while.

Finally, we found a little swimming hole called Waioka Pond.  This place apparently flash floods, so I wasn't too keen on staying, but boy was it pretty.  The blue ocean pounding just outside a deep but warm pool, and the rugged scenery surrounding the area is absolutely stunning.  Jason even jumped from the cliff along the water's edge.  

Day 4

• Sunrise at Haleakala Crater
• Paako Cove 

This morning we woke up at 4am (it's not as bad as it sounds, since we're still on east coast time we're getting up early anyway) so we could watch the sunrise from the top of the volcanic crater.  We saw the top sticking out from above the clouds when we were flying in.

We heard it would be cold, but you can't believe how cold it was up there.  Jason is flying to Minnesota after this, so he happened to bring his winter coat, gloves and hat with him, so I wore yoga pants, a sweatshirt and his coat.  Jason, however, wore just shorts and sweatshirt.  The poor guy was absolutely freezing!  It was in the 30s with blustering 35 mph winds and no sun.  Add to that we were at over 10,000 feet above sea level, so the air was thin, and you've got unbelievably cold conditions.  You can't believe you're in Maui!

SO COLD!!!

It was so amazing, though.  You start up there in the complete dark, but as the sky lightens you begin to see the crater around you.  Then you realize you are above the clouds and you're watching the tops of the them pass by.  Then you get the light show as the sun begins to rise above the clouds.

the view of the other direction

The sunrise was beautiful, but the weather conditions didn't give us the spectacular show you can sometimes get.  Google image search Haleakala Crater Sunrise and you'll see what I mean.

The original plan was to do some hiking around the crater (which is why Jason wore shorts), but instead we decided to leave.  It was super cold and starting to rain.  On the way down we had the heat on and it took us a long time to thaw out.  Long time.  But we got home and changed into bathing suits and headed out for breakfast and beach for the day.

On our way back we saw a perfect rainbow with all of the colors and full from one end to the next.

I read about this secret cove, so we set off to find it.  It wasn't easy, but after passing the entrance once we finally found it.  It was this small opening in a lava rock wall along a residential street.

 Boy was it worth it!  When we got there we were the only ones (except for some local boys that were fishing and jumping off the rocks into the water).  

Those blue chairs are ours, and just as we were taking this, another couple arrived.

The beach was simply gorgeous.  The water was so pretty, the coral reef around the corner was spectacular, the sand was perfect.  It was by far our favorite.

Of course it didn't last that we were the only ones there, just as we took the picture above another couple arrived, but we wound up talking with them and going out to happy hour together to watch the sunset!

Pretty great day!