Last Minute Maui

Day 5

It’s Sunday and Jason and I are both in the hunt for the finals in our fantasy football leagues.  I know how this sounds, but we went to a sports bar and watch the early games.  It was cool, though.  The bar had views of the ocean, the Sunday Ticket, and mimosas.  The games are so early here that we could watch over breakfast and still have a day.  That’s exactly what we did. After the early games, we went to the beach and relaxed.

Breakfast Bar

Jason is in the water here.  Look closely!

Then we caught the Eagles game over happy hour dinner at the restaurant we went to on our first night.  From there we could watch the game and the sunset.  Win – win.

Finishing where we started.

Jason leaves tonight and I leave in the morning.  It’s just the way we were able to get th tickets so last minute because Jason needed to get to Minnesota.  So we went back to the condo and got Jason packed and I drove him to the airport.

Day 6

Today I woke up, cleaned the condo, returned our rental chairs and headed to Paia for some shopping.  It’s a cute little town with some great galleries and shops.  On the way I heard there was an accident on the road to Lahaina and I thought I was lucky to not have to deal with that and instead got this beautiful rainbow as I was driving!

Another perfect rainbow!

So I did some Christmas shopping and loaded up on food for my trip from a great grocery store called Mana.  Then I headed to airport to return my car.  As I pulled in, the guy taking my car asked where I was coming from, when I said Kihei, he said he hasn’t seen anyone from the West side of the island because of that closed road.  I thought I was lucky that I wouldn’t miss MY flight because of that and headed to my gate.  In fact, I was a little early, so I had lunch and a last rum punch and waited.

Not a bad way to wait for my flight.

My flight was delayed 2 hours because – of course – my flight crew WAS on that side of the island and couldn’t get to us.  The worst part was that I would miss my connection.  No problem, we worked it out and put me on the last flight from Phoenix to the East Coast, then from there I’ll get to Philly in the morning.

Alas, it’s not that easy.  Our delayed flight took forever to get off the ground, so I knew I was cutting it close.  We landed at 2:10am and my next flight was 2:20am.  I literally ran to the gate and got there, but as I stood there, I listened to them give away the last seats to the people on standby and I was SOL.  Luckily they got me on the NEXT flight, which was 8am and put me up at a hotel nearby.  I finally got to the hotel at 3am and set up my alarm for 6am and hit the sack.  I was so tired.

I was so tired I slept until 8am!!!!!  I missed my flight.  What can you do?  I’ve learned from these kinds of things that there is NO point in getting upset about anything you cannot control.  It will work out eventually.  We’ve definitely had worse travel days, so  I got to the airport and got on the standby list for the 10am flight and waited some more.  There were 2 seats available and I was number 12 on the list.  Worst-case scenario: I’m on the wait list for 12pm flight, and there are over 20 seats on that one.  I knew I’d get home today.  Well, it turns out that a lot of the names above mine were military and they didn’t want to get on the plan if they weren’t together, so they all opted to wait for the next flight when they could fly together.  And just like that, I got on the flight!  Home sweet home.  Now we just need Jason to get home tomorrow morning and we’re all ready for the holidays!

Mahalo and Mele Kalikimaka!

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!

Last Minute Maui

Day 2

• Honolua Bay
• Kapalua Bay
• Ka'anapali Beach
• Whale Watching

Today we thought we would take in the beaches on the West side of the island.  We heard there was good snorkeling and great beaches, and it's a little bit of a drive, so to see it all, we did some beach hopping and started at Honolua Bay.  We drove a little past it so in our turnaround we stumbled upon a surfers road and decided to check it out.  That brought us to this line of cars and a look at a ton of surfers below.  Our first indication that the conditions might not be right for snorkeling at Honolua Bay.

Surfers were having a blast.

Honolua Bay

Once we saw where we were supposed to be, we headed back and parked.  

The sign at the parking area

The trail to Honolua Bay was really beautiful.  There were so many different kinds of beautiful old trees!

But we got there and the waves were big and the water was brown, so "no good for snorkel."  We did, however see the prettiest rainbow.

Rather than waste any time here, we decided to push off to the next beach, Kapalua Beach.  Conde Nast rated it as the “Best Beach in the World,” and the Travel Channel declared it the “Best Beach in America” in 1991.  I have to say, it was pretty great.  Even though it was just around the corner from Honolua Bay, because it was sheltered, the waves were not as bad and didn't stir up the ground.  The sand was super soft and the coral was just off the shore, so we we could walk in and up to it easily.  And the coral was the best I've ever seen.  The water was super clear, so we could see all the way through the coral to it's various layers and all of it's colors.  So pretty, but we had no underwater camera to capture it.  There were fish, not as great as that spot in Kuai, but were plentiful and weren't scared of us.  

Kapalua Beach

After a little snorkel, we moved on to the next beach, Ka'anapali.  We decided to have lunch at this adorable little place on the beach first, then checked out Ka'anapli.  Jason said this was his favorite so far.  It's a nice, wide beach with a lot of shops and restaurants around, so lots to keep you entertained, also, at the end there was a black rock that people were jumping off.  We didn't have time for all that because we had to get to our boat for the Whale Watching!

That's the black rock at the end of the beach.

We saw a few breachin (jumping) whales!

We shoved off for our first (and probably only) guided tour.  As you may have read, we don't like noodling. (For definition of noodlers click here.)  But this was worth it.  We opted for a raft tour because they are smaller and can go out further, and we had a captain and whale conservationist with us to help us find them.  It was so cool, we saw a few groups and learned so much. (Did you know killer whales are actually dolphins?)

The raft, it was actually quite large.

This whale kept spinning around and we saw his fins and tail pop up a bunch

After our fun adventure, we headed off to home to watch the sunset on the beach by our house and have dinner with some live music.  Fun day!

Our great little beach has a great sunset view

Our little dinner spot was so cute.

Last Minute Maui

Day 1

This was a very last minute trip and because it's not one we planned for, we're making it up as we go.  We've been to Hawaii before and did it resort style when Jade was young.  This time, though, we wanted to live like a local so we rented a tiny little condo on the beach.  I like to do that now since I have so many food allergies and can control what I eat better.  We also rented a car, but that was it!  No other planning went into this trip at all.  In fact, we didn't even pack a camera!  This is going to be an iPhone captured trip (sorry in advance for the less than professional pics).

As we flew into Maui, we could see the top of the mountains we will be hiking later above the clouds.

We landed in the early evening, so we hit happy hour and watched the sunset, then had dinner at a great little place called The Monkeypod.

Day 1

• Big Beach
• Waihee Ridge Trail

This morning I was up incredibly early and Jason wasn't too far behind me, we really didn't know what to do and we were tired and pale, so we packed some water and snacks and headed to one of Maui's famous beaches.  We chose the Big Beach in Makena.  It's over a 1/2 mile long and wide, with soft sand and big breaking waves.  It was a little windy, but we read a little, dipped in the ocean, walked the length of the beach and really enjoyed this beautiful spot.  The view of the island from in the water was pretty amazing, and since we got there so early, we had to ourselves for a little while.

We decided maybe this is how we should start every day, just pick a different beach and relax each morning while we plan our day!

When we started getting hungry, we headed off to lunch at a little place called 808 Deli.  It was such a great lunch in this little tiny tucked away place.

After some good grub, we went home, got changed, and headed out for a short 5 mile hike on the Waihee Ridge Trail.  We had to pass through a cattle-proof gate and up a 200-ft cement road that was pretty steep, I'm not going to lie, I was winded, but once we got off the paved road, we turned into the forest and it was so pretty.  Pictures don't really capture it...

Treated to a view of waterfalls about 1/3 of the way up.

Our first turn into the forest

The tops of the mountains were in the clouds

Jason can't read

The views were so great, but the iPhone just can't capture it.

Again, the phone doesn't capture it, but parts of the path looked like they belonged in the Lord of the Rings

Made it to the top in the clouds

Had to play with the colors to get the rainbow to show

Then we ran back down

The views were amazing on the way down.  I'm in the picture there somewhere.

After our hike we decided to clean up and head out to dinner someplace close by and hit the sack.  We were beat!