Mahalo Maui

My Hawaiian adventure begins with four action packed days on Maui.  Since I’m living on Pensacola Beach, I didn’t come to Hawaii to relax in the sand.  August 1-4 are still a blur.  I landed on Maui at 9pm and was picked up at the Hotel Wailea at 2am for my first excursion.  Wearing a coat and ski gloves, I watched the sunrise above the clouds on the summit of Haleakala, the 10,000ft mountain in the southern central part of Maui.  Even on two hours of sleep it was well worth it! After a glorious start to August, our group of 13 drove down to 6,500 ft and hopped on bikes.  We spent all morning biking downhill through Eucalyptus trees, lavender farms and gorgeous tropical flowers. We ended up at about sea level in a cool hippy town called Paia. I fell in love with Hawaii that morning! 

After a visit to Polo Beach and a good nap, I met a friend of a friend for dinner at Capiche? in my hotel.  Jerry, a local ophthalmologist, treated me to my first Mai Tai. Maui sunsets are meant to be savored over a Mai Tai!

Day two was all about exploring the West Coast. My first stop was the town of Lahaina.  Precious! Lahaina was the original capital of Hawaii until it moved to Honolulu in 1845. The 1.5 mile coastal Front Street walk was full of shops, restaurants, bars, art galleries and a massive Banyan tree.  The former whaling town reminded me of Provincetown or Key West.  I felt right at home.

After a good lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise, I was back on the road up to see the beach at Ka’anapali.  This is the premier resort beach in Maui.  It’s lined with fancy hotels and has a great beach path stretching down to the Black Rock end.  I passed several luau’s on my walk, but the highlight was hearing Don Ho’s famous “Tiny Bubbles” performed at sunset.  Check!

Apparently you can’t leave Maui without snorkeling the Molokini Crater.  So off I went.  I sailed with a fun group on the Paragon, a catamaran.  We sailed ten miles from the Ma’alaea harbor to this cool sunken crater that’s now a marine sanctuary.  There was some nice coral, but the real attraction was the parade of tropical fish.  I hated to get back on the boat, but at least we had lunch and more sailing to look forward to.

I spent the afternoon on what many consider the best beach on Maui.  “Big Beach” is just past my Wailea resort area at the end of the line in Makena.  The beach is through woods and feels hidden.  The almost 2/3 mile long 100 ft wide beach looks like a post card.  No resorts, no vendors, just golden sand and clean surf. At one end of the beach I climbed over some lava rocks to find “Little Beach” which is an illegal nude beach. Then low and behold, I got to watch naked surfing.  My trip is complete! Unfortunately I couldn't take photos.

I couldn’t leave Maui without driving the Road to Hana. The most famous drive in Hawaii allows you to “experience the tropical fantasy.” I don’t know if I would go that far, but it was a blast to drive. It’s a two lane, twisty cliff side road that is filled with one lane stone bridges. Guide books say there are 600 turns, but I never remember going straight. The views were breathtaking and the hikes to waterfalls were amazing.  The places along the way to pull over and explore were endless. I’ll put this on my list to do again when I return to Maui one day…