Fishes and Turtles and Whales! Oh Maui!

    Cyndi and Rick have taken three winter vacation trips to Maui, first in 2017 and back again in both 2018 and 2019. Cyndi spent two years searching, negotiating, planning and then executing Wyndmere's move to our new building in 2107 - see the previous post at Wyndmere's New Home. Well, Wyndmere is now moved, settled and operating full tilt. It’s winter, we were in Minnesota, and we needed to "get us outta here." So we arranged these extended vacations to Maui, the major Hawaiian island which we had not previously visited. COVID prevented trips in 2020 and 2021 but we are set to return once more in February, 2022.

   Maui is somewhat butterfly-shaped, with extinct or almost extinct volcanoes centering each wing. They are joined by a broad, low, flat valley. Hence, Maui is called the Valley Isle. Here's what it looks like:











    Maui has so many things to see and do, your trip will be a buffet, each day choosing from the myriad of options. Let’s see, which beach to snorkel/swim today? Or shall we hike Haleakala, the north shore, or down the road to Hana and beyond? Maybe a charter boat to see whales, or snorkel Molokini? Charter boats, helicopters, ziplines are all readily available. Truly luxurious resorts line the shores, if pampering is your goal. We hit a few of these for happy hour. There is the aquarium, Lahaina the tourist Mecca, shopping in funky beach shops or at Tiffany’s in Wailea. And golf at tour-quality courses as well as local muni courses. Life here is a more than just a beach.

  There are two major visitor areas. On the western edge of the lower, bigger wing is a string of beautiful beaches rivaling any beaches, anywhere. This is South Maui. We stayed in south Kihei, just north of the very upscale Wailea area. Here are some photos of our place and area:

View from our condo towards West Maui mountain

 

 

 

 

Near sunset from the lanai

 

The Wailea Grand resort 

   So many beaches line the shore, we went to a different one nearly every day. At the risk of being repetitious and boring, here are a few more photos of the beaches:

Makala Big Bach State Park. 1 mile long!

 

Big Beach from the cliff at north end

    

Black Sand beach. The reef there is nicknamed "turtletown"

 

Kaanapali Beach, west Maui

  

 This video shows normal beach activity and wave action:

  There was a big ocean swell for a couple days, with 5 foot waves crashing in. Lifeguards were warning people to stay out of the water. This video gives some sense of their strength:

   Snorkeling can be done at virtually all beaches, and in other places as well. We snorkeled almost every day. The coral reefs are alive, active and colorful while the fish activity was awesome. Colorful tropical fish were all over. Here are a few we saw in quantity; photos are not ours but do show what we observed:

Surgeonfish

Yellow Tang

Moorish Idol

Cornetfish and Convict Tangs

Sometimes they all swarm!

  Here are a couple of videos taken while snorkeling. Three were made at our favorite site, called "the dumps," near the end of the road on south Maui. Despite the unfortunate name, snorkeling there is fantastic:

The next video was made on the reef right at our condo. It shows a turtle sleeping under the rocks!

   Green sea turtles live throughout these waters and we saw many of them. While snorkeling we swam with turtles(!) and many nosing around the rocks as we walked along the shore. They like to come up to eat seaweeds and often crawl up on the sand to rest. These guys breed in islands some 700 miles away, then return here each year. Here are some more pictures:

This is usually what happens when a turtle comes on beach to rest!

 

   The big highlight was to see humpback whales out on the ocean. They winter here, breed and calve, without eating. In April they head up to Alaska where they eat, fatten, then come back in the fall. We can see them spouting, jumping clear out of the water, also smacking their tails and flippers on the surface. Pictures are hard because while they may be close in by ocean standards, but to photo you see little. When they do jump or slap it is an awesome show. We did not take a whale watching boat but these are readily available. Seeing a great whale "breach" entirely above the water is truly a sight to behold.

     Haleakala is the big volcano here. “Hale” means a house, or shelter. Akala is the Sun. So this huge pile of lava is the home of the Sun. It looks it, rising more than 2 miles above sea level and taking up the majority of the island. Those who know these things think it is nearly dormant. We hiked to the crater’s edge; it s a surreal landscape. Here are some photos:

The central crater/valley

Inside the volcano, surreal landscape

Rick - note the clouds climbing upwards (left)

Cyndi catching a breath

Trail around the mountain

Observatory at top, 2 miles up and COLD

Lava field from last flow, maybe 1790? Maybe earlier?

 There's more - jump to Part 2 here

 

Oh Maui, Part 2

     Another “must” activity is the road to Hana. We did this twice, once each visit. The road is incredibly twisty, with narrow one lane bridges. Yet the beauty of the drive stuns you. Tropical trees, flowers, and greenery are everywhere. Waterfalls glimmer from the heights, so many they are uncountable. At one point we hiked up through the jungle and a huge bamboo forest to get to Waimoku falls, the coolest of them all. Here are some photos:

Waterfall along Road to Hana

Another waterfall along Road to Hana

Rick climbing to a falls

View eastward along north shore

Looking north. Alaska is a couple thousand miles up

Waves crashing on north shore along Road to Hana

Along the Road to Hana, one of many

7 Sacred Pools a.k.a. Oheo Gulch

Along trail to Waimoku

7 Sacred Pools a.k.a. Oheo Gulch

Bamboo forest

The payoff after a 2-mile hike up - Waimoku, 400 foot drop

   Charles Lindberg, the quintissential American hero, is buried at Kapahulu, very near Waimoku.

     We added a week in West Maui. This too is a big resort area centered on wonderful Kaanapali beach and the old whaling port of Lahaina. More snorkeling and beach lounging, but also the north shore for sights and hiking. The weird shapes in lava as result of wind and wave activity are astounding; we could wander these areas for days if we wished! We'll start with a couple videos, then the photos:

Blowhole along north shore, west Maui

 

Path to a beach, West Maui

Banyan tree in center square, Lahaina. A full city block in size

Banyan tree has 18 trunks. Nox, eat your heart out!

      Golf is big here, if you care for that particular vice. Rick played twice, once down south at Wailea Gold then again in West Maui at Kapalua Plantation. The latter is where the pros play the Tournament of Champions each January. Views every hole overlooking Molokai, with whales breaching in the channel:

#18 at Kapalua Plantation

When they say out of bounds, they really mean it!

I'oe Needle

     Then there is the I’oe (Eey-yow!) Valley, site of ancient taro fields ponds and a major battle between Hawaiian kings many generations ago.  Kamehameha, king of the big island, massacred
Mauian warriors and many others in this beautiful valley to take control of the island. Hard to believe given the peaceful beauty it has now:

Japanese Garden in the valley

   Someone a century ago planted a Redwood forest halfway up the west slope of Haleakala. You can get there if you like to drive very narrow, rutted dirt roads. We don't, but did anyway:

  Everywhere are flowers in bloom, trees and views:

    For the bird watchers among us, you can see the ubiquitous Jungle Fowl, a.k.a. chicken

These hung around our chairs at Mouka beach. We called her "Suzy"

Where's the nearest road???

Hawaiians have a sense of humor. It is expressed often by subtle alterations to signs; this kind of thing can be seen often:
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 One day during a storm we saw this waterspout:

    What more could you ask? Sun, sand, fishes, turtles, whales and exotic scenery. This could become a habit! We've been here twice now, and hope to return often.