Trip to Maui

[BoomerD]

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I did a West Maui and Molokai helicopter tour solo and ditched the family. None of the pictures do it justice. After the flight, I got some steak stir fry and a root beer float from the food trucks. Today's been a good day.
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We did the "helicopter tour then go to Hana, get in a van for a leisurely return to Kahalui" thing in...2002, IIRC. Nice day. Driver hit all the usual touristy places in the way back.

You snorkel outside of he Molokini crater or inside? From the pic it looks like you all wee just outside of it. I thought inside was usually for snorkeling and outside was for (wall) diving since it goes down quick.

We took the molokini/turtle town snorkel trip about 20 years ago. Back then, it was set up to snorkel/snuba inside the crater, dive outside the crater.
We were swarmed with various kinds of triggerfish and parrotfish, plenty of smaller damsels and such too. Had one monk seal swim through and some kind of smallish (under 6') shark (not a tiger) sniffing around the bottom.
While we were there, some local cameraman went in the water to get pics of a large tiger shark munching on a turtle Somewhere off the coast near Kaanapali.

 

[BoomerD]

That's all West Maui. We're in Wailea, so we'll probably stick to these waters. We may come back and see how the Westin compares to the Grand Wailea next year.

We stayed at the Westin one trip. Nice enough, but very dated. We were there that time on one of their "come see our timeshares, stay with us cheap" trips. We bought a timeshare...that was why we went. Bad decision. The annual maintenance fees kept going up to the point where they cost us more than we would have paid for a similar trip booked theough Pleasant Hawaiian...including airfare and rental car...although, with a 2 bdrm lock-off condo, we could break it into two separate units...and get two weeks per year.
We sold (and took it in the shorts) after about 5 years...

 

[NuclearNed]

That's all West Maui. We're in Wailea, so we'll probably stick to these waters. We may come back and see how the Westin compares to the Grand Wailea next year.

a few years ago we started staying at the HonuaKai condo complex in west Maui. It’s great - highly recommend it.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Cool pictures. I was rewarded with a free trip to Maui from work (Wailea area as well) as a performance award, but the trip was moved from October to August of next year due to Covid. I guess it just gives me more time to plan.

 

[Scarpozzi]

We woke up this morning and decided to do the road to Hana and then loop back around.





Hana beach with black sand.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Stopped for lunch in Hana from the food trucks.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Went swimming under this 80' waterfall.

Beaches with these rocks had a unique rumble when the waves went back out.

 

[Scarpozzi]

 

[Scarpozzi]

Sunrise this morning at Haleakala.



Parking lot and lookout at the summit:


Haleakala Crater:

Lava cones in the crater:

 

[BoomerD]

We hit Haleakala in December 2007.

That's Mauna Kea on the Big Island with snow on top...

 

[Muse]

Sunrise this morning at Haleakala.
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Parking lot and lookout at the summit:
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Haleakala Crater:
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Lava cones in the crater:
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A trek through Haleakala Crater is one of the highlights of Maui. I did it a few times with a backpack. Don't know if it's the same, but around 50 years ago there were 3 cabins inside the crater. I didn't reserve any but managed anyway. One time I got to the 3rd cabin (the one nearest Hana) and came down with an illness that was pretty bad. I got in the cabin, went to bed and after nightfall (IIRC) a couple local men (Portuguese, I think) entered the cabin, carrying rifles! Their English wasn't much. They were hunting wild pigs. I tried to explain to them that I was sick. They let me stay. In the morning I trekked out down the path that led to Hana and hitchhiked back to Paia where I was based.

 

[Scarpozzi]

We hit Haleakala in December 2007.

That's Mauna Kea on the Big Island with snow on top...

I wanted to go to Mauna Kea and explore last year, but had my in-laws with me and the kids were a year younger. I didn't try to fight it.

 

[NuclearNed]

That bamboo forest in your pics is one of my favorite things in all of Maui

 

[Scarpozzi]

That bamboo forest in your pics is one of my favorite things in all of Maui

The sound of the bamboo banging and leaves in the wind is surreal.

 

[Scarpozzi]

My flight leaves in the next few hours. I checked all my bags instead of dealing with carry-on and used that as an excuse to hit up Mele for a new Mango wood tenor uke with all the bells & whistles.


I also decided today that I'm going to quit my job when I get back in the office Tuesday. I had a real Joe vs the volcano kind of trip. 😁

 

[Muse]

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Stopped for lunch in Hana from the food trucks.

Man, thanks for posting this thread. My sister moved from California to a condo in Kihei, Maui a little over a year ago and called me this morning and asked when I'm finally going to come visit her! Haven't been there in almost 50 years. I had her look up your thread.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Man, thanks for posting this thread. My sister moved from California to a condo in Kihei, Maui a little over a year ago and called me this morning and asked when I'm finally going to come visit her! Haven't been there in almost 50 years. I had her look up your thread.

No prob brah! (Trying to take pidgin)

I got a new cellphone just to take those pictures. Glad you enjoyed. (My old phone had a hardware issue and the wide angle was the only one that worked half the time). I'm wheels up to the mainland in less than a minute. 😕

 

[Muse]

No prob brah! (Trying to take pidgin)

I got a new cellphone just to take those pictures. Glad you enjoyed. (My old phone had a hardware issue and the wide angle was the only one that worked half the time). I'm wheels up to the mainland in less than a minute. 😕

Mahalo!

 

[Scarpozzi]

Mahalo!

I just walked in the door.....17 hour trip back home.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I was just thinking about the drive to Hana and remembered we made a few stops. I didn't post some of the pictures I took because they were of my family and not very good. I was in the moment and not really trying to document anything. We stopped at a few waterfalls and did some short hikes. One of the things I wanted to do on the Big Island last year was walk through a lava tube. Sure enough, there was one right off the road to Hana that was free. (there's one I think you have to pay for closer to Hana) I was trying to remember where it was and found it on Google Maps. The best part is that Google knows I was there...as I'm sitting here at work, that makes me smile. =P

From the Road, you just see a small opening, but then after squeezing through it, the cave opens up and you can walk through it easily. It forks off to the right and you see pictures of vines that allow you to climb out and make it back to the road without backtracking. It was a really cool free 5 minute stop.

There are pictures of the cave people have posted on Google Maps:

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