Maui, Hawaii
Oct-Nov 2022
~ Click any image or map to enlarge ~
During our visit to Maui, we stayed at the Ka'anapali Beach Club which of course was right on the beach!
We were on the 7th floor with a view of the ocean. The hotel pool deck was really nice with several waterfalls scattered around. We enjoyed some live bands by the pool in the evenings.
This little injured red-crested cardinal liked to join us on our balcony for treats!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Honolua Bay
For our first full day in Maui, we drove up the coast from Ka'anapali to Honolua Bay to enjoy some snorkelling. We parked on the road and walked through trees to get to a rocky beach, where there was a reef just a short swim away. We saw quite a few medium-sized turtles along with colorful reef fish. The photo is of Honolua Bay from above. You can see the reef where the boat is, and where the water is a lighter blue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Lava Fields
The next day was Halloween 🎃 and we drove south from Ka-anapali along the west shore of the island. Our first stop was in Kihei, where we enjoyed a beer flight at the Maui Brewery. This included a pineapple beer and a coconut beer! The music selection was all about Halloween, including songs like Ghost Busters, Monster Mash, Thriller, Don't Fear the Reaper, and so on. Roosters paraded around the patio, along with a few lady hens and baby chicks.
We next stopped at Wailea for a beach walk and a picnic. After lunch, we continued driving south on highway 31 until Makena. The remaining road is all unpaved, at the end of which you will have reached the lava fields at La Perouse Bay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Northwest Maui Peninsula
We knew that the coast road around the peninsula would be very picturesque, so we decided to drive all the way around. Our first stop was the Nakalele Blowhole, where we also discovered some very interesting erosion patterns in the rocks. We continued up the road to the Ohau Loop Trail, a 2-mile hike through natural hedge rows and great views.
We followed the road to the Olivine Pools which are swimmable tide pools on the lava ledge along the ocean. The strong surf fills the pools at high tide. We hadn't found any picnic areas, so as you can see below, Graham created our own private picnic nook along the trail!
We then continued along the winding single lane coast road to Waihee.
Very picturesque indeed!
Next we continued southward and stopped at the Maui Tropical Plantation along highway 30. This started out years ago as a sugar cane plantation, but as sugar is no longer a profitable business on the island, the plantation now grows over 40 different crops including bananas, coconuts, coffee, macadamia nuts, papaya and avocados.
It was really fun to walk around since there are so many beautiful plants and flowers, and the plantation has done a great job incorporating the old sugar cane equipment into their gardens and buildings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Road to Hana
We spent a very long day doing "the road to Hana". We used the Shaka "Reverse Road to Hana" audio tour, which means we started with the southern backroad to Hana along the "lava" coastline. The road has improved since the last time we drove it, with fewer unpaved portions!
We then visited Hana, and finished with the scenic waterfalls on the north side. The Shaka app tracks the GPS so can tell you exactly where to turn or when to stop! I will let the captions of each photo below tell our story!
The south road to Hana was ruggedly beautiful with its black lava rock, vivid blue ocean and rough white surf.
Just click any photo to browse through the galleries.
For us, this was the north road from Hana! This part of the road is known for its many waterfalls, many of which we just slowed down for and drove by due to the minimal parking. But we definitely hiked to a few, and also had some surprises along the way such as the Lava Tube, the unexpected freshly made coconut ice-cream, and a perfect rainbow as the grand finale!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for visiting!
