Kelley & Krista's Blog

For our last full day on Maui, we wanted to have more beach and snorkeling time.

Not in a hurry, we slept in, tired from our previous day of getting up early for our surfing lesson, and took our time to pack a lunch and prepare for our day.

It had been suggested to us several times to snorkel at mile marker 14 on the Honoapiliani Hwy (HWY 30). Our drive there was only 10 minutes South of our hotel, the Lahaina Shores Beach resort. There was plenty of tree shaded parking right off of the highway and we found a sunny spot on the shallow beach to rest and have a picnic lunch before snorkeling.

The reef was very shallow but there were natural channels void of reef to swim through and see a lot of coral and fish. We snorkeled out far from the beach in still shallow water for about 45 minutes and then headed back to our towels to dry off and relax before heading to our next beach.

We remembered enjoying our first visit and snorkeling at “Black Rock” on Ka’anapoli Beach, so we drove North to there. But parking was difficult to find so we went further North to Kahakili Beach Park, where we had also attempted to snorkel and we knew we could get a parking spot.

The first day we visited that beach the waves were still active from the high surf advisory and regular snorkelers said that they were anxious for the waves to stop because this beach was their favorite place to snorkel. Not only were the waves difficult to deal with that day, but it was stirring up sand underwater making visibility next to impossible.

We were in luck because the waves had subsided, the surf was not as active and visibility was fantastic. We rested on the beach for a short time and jumped in for some of our best snorkeling on our trip. We didn’t see any turtles like we had on our previous visit, but this location yielded a fantastic reef full of colorful and busy life to watch and appreciate.

We finished our evening eating dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe on Front St. in Lahaina. Our meal was typical HRC food and there was a live band playing blues. We didn’t stay long.

Walking back to our hotel, we shopped at the stores on Front St. one last time to buy gifts for our family.

We “woke up” at 6am to get ready for our 7am surfing lesson with Goofy Feet Surfing School, next door to our hotel, the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort. When we arrived there were several people and families signing up. We had pre-registered and paid the day before so all we needed to do was show up for the lesson.

Our instructor was “Uncle John”. He brought us and three teenagers to the shore to teach us some basics of surfing and to be mindful of other surfers. Then it was out to the water. We paddled out to John where he prepared us to catch a wave. We were both able to stand our second time paddling out. It was a lot of fun, and with our group of 5 we were able to get in 4 or 5 waves each. And John was right, surfing was 90% paddling out 9% waiting and 1% surfing. It was great exercise and a lot of fun!

We had read a lot and had seen pictures of a place called “Big Beach” where there was little reef and a lot of sand and water to swim in, and wanted to have a relaxing day of sun and swimming. So we made the one hour drive South to Makena to visit “Big Beach” on the shores of Makena State Park.

There was plenty of public parking, port-o-potties and a food vendor at the North lot (there was a South lot as well). There were a lot of people at the beach, but the beach is so vast that overcrowding is virtually impossible. Lifeguards were stationed at either end of the beach from what we could see.

The sand was the best we had felt on our feet and the water was clear with big waves to swim and body surf back to shore. Because of the High Surf Advisory in effect at the time the swells were very high and it was just fun to tread water and bob up and down for a while.

Today was a day of kayaking on the ocean. Lahaina Kayak rents Ocean Kayaks from 8am to 4pm. They charge $40 for two hours or $50 for the whole day, so we decided to get there early and rent for the whole day.

Jeremy got us set up with a tandem kayak, paddles, personal floatation devices and a floating dry bag to protect personal items while on the kayak. He also instructed us at the shoreline of the path we had to take to avoid the coral and rocks.

On our way out we crossed two Monk Seals relaxing on rocks. Jeremy said that these Seals are on the endangered species list and to avoid getting too close to them. So we snapped some pictures as we passed and continued out to open water.

The water was a brilliant blue color and it was very quiet as we paddled further from land. Other than the peacefulness, we were hoping to have some more whale sightings. We did see some whales breach and spout, but it was miles away. We may have seen more if we paddled out further but then we’d have to paddle back and that was not something we wanted to do. We figured we paddled out about a mile and that was far enough.

We paddled back to shore, passing the seals again, to have our favorite picnic lunch on our hotel beach.

After relaxing for a little while after lunch we paddled back out to the open water, but found that the waves were significantly more active than the morning. so rather than battling ocean waves we came back in to explore more of the coral reef in the surrounding shoreline.

Jeremy had mentioned an area called Shark Pit where reef sharks often swim. He hadn’t seen any yet this year, but he said they could be there. We looked for their black tipped fins and tails but didn’t see them either. So we paddled back to shore for the day and returned our kayaks.

With a good amount of daylight left we wanted to visit another beach. We drove North to Kapalua and found Kahakili Beach Park with parking next to the Westin Hotel. There was a public restroom, shower and plenty of beach space. Although at this time of year there were a lot of seedpods in the sand which was very sharp and uncomfortable to walk on.

We did some snorkeling but the high surf advisory was still in effect and the waves made it difficult. We did see a Sea Turtle and some other fish but decided to stop because of the rough water. While cleaning off at the fresh water shower a man told Kelley that he’s been snorkeling in Maui for years and said this beach was one of the best but the high surf was just too much to enjoy it.

After breakfast we decided to relax today and take advantage of the little beach behind our hotel, the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort. The sand and the water are very shallow and tranquil with a line of reef and rocks to keep big waves from disturbing the shoreline. We relaxed in the sun for a while and had a picnic lunch on the beach. While we were eating we saw some people snorkeling out in the water near us. So we got our snorkel gear and headed out to do the same.

There were a few pockets of coral and fish scattered throughout the area and it was very shallow so we had to be mindful of the taller rocks and coral. This wasn’t a prime snorkeling spot, but there was definitely some life to appreciate and discover.

After cleaning up from snorkeling we headed out to see Front St., the historic street where whalers and other sailors used to port their ships in the late 19th century. Now it is lined with restaurants and shops for locals and tourists.

We stopped in at the Goofy Foot Surfing School and Ocean Kayak Rental, both next to each other, to get information and prices for our next few days of experiencing Maui.

Also next to these businesses was Betty’s Restaurant and Bar, so we stopped in for happy hour to have some drinks and look out into the harbor before dinner.

We planned to meet some friends for dinner, who also happened to be vacationing in Maui, and we all agreed it would be fun to have some traditional Hawaiian food together. Our hotel recommended Da Kitchen or Hawaiian Mixed Plate, both in Lahaina. We chose Hawaiian Mixed Plate on Front Street behind the Safeway where we had been getting our groceries. The food was very good and the atmosphere of the outdoor restaurant was very inviting and friendly. They offer food from every culture represented on the islands of Hawaii.

The opposite of yesterday, we were up at 6 am to get ready for a day of “adventure”. We made the one-hour drive across Maui to the little town of Ha’iku to check in at the Haleakela Bike Co. to bike down the east side of Mt. Haleakela.

We checked in and waited for about 30 minutes as people continued to arrive to check in. We weren’t very clear as to what had to happen before we left so we waited for instructions. After we got fitted for helmets and all of the bikes were loaded on the trailer we were all asked to step outside to get fitted for bikes. This was not very organized as they kept counting and recounting.

We loaded the van and our driver, Kimo, told us about the trail route and facts and stories of the land. He explained how the U.S. government traded the top of Mt. Haleakela from the ranchers for the promise to buy the rancher’s beef for life. The beef is used to feed the entire military. He also said less than 10% of the rancher’s beef remains on the island to feed locals. Other facts he told us were that milk can sell for up to $9.00 per gallon and that most cereal boxes sell for between $7.00-$8.00.

We only paid for the Express Tour, so we started our descent at an elevation of 6,500 feet and not at the 10,023 foot summit. After the tour guide asked for his tip, we got our bikes and coasted down the winding roads stopping a few times to take pictures from up high. We were above the lowest cloud line and had a great view of the nearby towns but because of the volcano on the Big Island, visibility was hazy.

The bikes were good, but the seats and handlebars were not comfortable. Krista was not a fan of the single gear chain either when it came to having to pedal uphill. Also, we hadn’t biked since September and we could feel it in our backs having to lean forward for so long. After the experience was over we didn’t feel that the cost was worth the experience. We felt it could have been cheaper by at least half.

For lunch we wanted to have another picnic at a beach, so we drove to nearby Ho’okipa Beach Park. There was a High Surf Advisory so the waves were filled with eager and experienced surfers. It was great entertainment to go with the beautiful sunny day. And the haze from the volcano was not as bad on that side of the island.

We saw a man with one leg go out and surf and from what we could tell, he was doing just as well as most of the people out there.

After eating and relaxing on the beach we headed back into Ha’iku to find the Northshore Zipline Co. for our next “adventure”.

We arrived early to the location, which was an old military training base. There was a canopy and a walk-in storage container for office equipment. Check in was very casual and unprofessional. Our guides were in their early twenties and were rarely serious, which wasn’t so bad but it gave us a very unprofessional feeling about them.

After getting fitted for helmets, gloves and harnesses we headed out to the course for instruction on how to break ourselves when coming in to the end of a line.
There were 13 of us with the 3 staff members zipping along the course. But we were hardly zipping and mostly waiting. In fact, individually the time spent zipping was probably a total of 2 minutes. But it took more than 2 hours to complete the course.

After turning in our equipment the staff thanked us for coming and asked for their tips and offered everyone a tiny 8oz bottle of warm water.

Again we felt that the cost of the activity was more expensive than it should have been, except this time we felt it might have been worth 25% of what we were charged.

Something that seems to be universal on all of the group activities in Hawaii, regardless of the island, is the comfort level of the guides to ask for tips. Even on our last trip to Oahu in 2008, if there is a guide of some sort they were not shy about asking for tips or pointing out that they need money and there is a special tip jar or container of some sort. The thing that is different is the approach they all have. Some are tactful and “matter of fact” about it and others are shameless and repeat how much they need the money. We feel that if guides want tips so badly it would be better for them, and a classier approach, to just include the “tips” in the price of the activity and not appear to beg for cash at the end of the experience.

We headed out as soon as possible and met a traffic jam with an endless view of taillights bumper to bumper on HWY 30. Our hour drive became a 2 hour drive and we didn’t get home until after 7pm.

We made dinner and finished our day with a short walk along our beach with the high tide and moonlight.

How lazy can we be? We slept in, had a late Bruch/Breakfast, packed food for a picnic and headed out for some beach time.

Our first beach was in Napili Bay. It appeared to be mostly a multi-resort beach that included public access with parking on Napili Place off of Lower Honoapi’ilani Road. The beach is a very steep sandy hill, but has a deep swimming area. We tried some snorkeling and saw some coral and fish on the North side but the waves were too strong to swim on the South side. We waded and swam for a while before relaxing and drying off in the sun at the top of the hilly beach. There seemed to be a lot of families at this beach with lots of kids.

Next stop, Kapalua Bay. Just North of Napili Bay, also with public parking off of Lower Honoapi’ilani Road, we didn’t see many people snorkeling but stayed a while to lay out in the sun. This was also a family friendly public beach with a bathroom and it was the start of a 1.75 mile paved walking path.

We finished our beach hopping with a visit to the D.T. Fleming Beach Park, which is in close proximity to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Kapalua Golf Academy. The sun was getting low in the sky so we just walked down to see the beach. There is public parking on Office Road and Lower Honoapi’ilani Road, but you have to walk down the walkway to get to the beach. The waves were a little higher than the other beaches since it is closer to the North shore and some surfers were taking advantage of that. There was also a wedding, and we saw a little of the ceremony as we were leaving. This beach was the end of the 1.75 mile paved walking path.

After cleaning up at our hotel we shopped at the Maui Dive Shop on the Honoapiilani Highway (HWY 30) and Keawe St. to get some new swimwear and went across the highway to the Safeway for groceries.

We went for a fast walk on Front St. in the morning to get some exercise to make up for all of the laying on beaches and sleeping in that we’ve been taking advantage of on vacation. While walking we decided to buy our tickets for a two-hour tour of whale watching on a specialized raft with the Pacific Whale Foundation.

The Pacific Whale Foundation is a non-profit organization. Ticket sales support ongoing whale research in Hawai’i, Australia and Latin America, marine education programs that inspire science learning and ocean stewardship, conservation programs, including our fight to stop commercial whaling worldwide.

You can learn more about the Pacific Whale Foundation at www.pacificwhale.org.

We ate a quick picnic lunch by the hotel pool and went to the dock for our tour.

Christy, our Naturalist for the tour, talked to the 17 of us going on the raft about the trip, what to expect on the water and a little bit more about Humpback Whales and the Pacific Whale Foundation.

While boarding the raft we met Brock, the captain of the raft. He casually informed us all of the safety features and procedures of the raft and showed us where the bathroom was should we need it. They were very excited about this since it was new and unusual to have a bathroom on a raft. We should mention that this was not a typical raft, but rather a boat with an inflatable hull and a metal railing, which is why we think it was classified as a raft. But it was faster and more maneuverable making it favorable for whale watching.

As Christy and Brock were explaining to look along the water surface and the horizon for air spouts from whale breathing, sun reflections on whales on the surface and large splashes from whale breaches, Krista and I saw a big splash which was about 3 miles away. We pointed in the general direction and the whale breached and splashed again. Brock and Christy said “great eye you two, it looks like we have some active whales over there!”

Brock asked everyone to hang on and he would get us there as quickly as possible. While we were heading there we spotted other whale activity all around us.

When we arrived in the general area of what we saw the first time Brock said now we play the waiting game depending on how much air the whale took in and how deep or far it would swim. But it wasn’t long and a whale surfaced about 300 feet from our raft. Another appeared and Christy was excited and said it was a calf, the first she had seen this season. The ocean waters near Maui are where Humpback Whales come to birth their young. We saw several other whales coming up for air and a few tails waving as they re-entered the water.

A few whales started to breach (jump out of the water) and make a big splash. It happens so quickly that unless you are pointing a camera at the exact spot where it happens you are not going to get a picture of it. The first time it happened a lady with a big hat jumped in front of Kelley and, although he was ready for the whale he wasn’t prepared for her hat. But it did happen again and Kelley got a fairly good shot of it. Seeing a 45 foot whale jump out of the water in person really is amazing.

After whale watching we walked past the the large Banyon Tree on Front St. and got a “Shave Ice” treat on Front St. to eat while we walked back to our hotel. Krista got a Banana flavored shave ice and Kelley got Lime, Banana and Watermelon flavored shave ice with Maple Nut Pineapple Ice Cream.

We felt like some beach and snorkeling time, so we checked our maps and books for a new Maui beach and chose Wailea Beach on the Southwest side of the island. The drive from Lahaina to Wailea was about 45 minutes, driving between 30-45 miles per hour.

The beach was open to the public but was associated with many hotels and resorts along the shoreline. The waves were not too bad but the snorkeling area was very hazy and there were not any fish and very little coral. So we just laid out in the sun and swam in the waves to cool off. As a beach we liked it, but as a snorkeling location we weren’t too impressed. It could have just been a bad day or wrong time of year for this location.

We drove back to our hotel and for the first time on a vacation, we did laundry. This is one of the reasons we chose the Lahaina Beach Resort. We packed enough clothes for half of our trip expecting to do laundry at some time in the middle of our trip. We also chose this location for the kitchen so we could make some meals. So far, we’ve only had a Safeway Pizza. Maybe we’ll be more adventurous in the future. We’ve also had some good recommendations for restaurants in the area.

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Historical note: Starting this day, Civil Unions are now legal in Hawaii.

After a restful night of sleep, we awoke to birds chirping, a few roosters crowing, and people moving about in the parking lot. Our view from our hotel is of the Pu’u Kuku’i Mountain range.

We took our time getting outside at our hotel to have a picnic lunch and lay out at the beach and cool off in the water. The beach and the water are quite shallow, but with more privacy than public beaches.

Around 3 pm we decided we wanted to do some snorkeling so we looked up some snorkeling spots and chose Pu’u Keka (Black Rock), just north of us at Ka’anapali Beach. This area is the end of a 3-mile beach populated with upscale hotels and resorts. The grounds for each are meticulously landscaped and there’s a paved sidewalk that stretches the entire area.

We found a nice spot on the beach and prepared for snorkeling. There were a lot of tropical fish by the volcanic outcropping with some coral sporadically growing as well. It was amazing how close some of the fish would get to us. We did have to be careful of the people jumping from the Black Rock, however. We met a couple from San Francisco swimming back to shore as we were and they said they saw sea turtles north of Black Rock. We’re planning to go back to find the turtles another time. We need to buy fins so we can swim faster and further!

It was New Year’s Eve and local people were shooting off fireworks all over town through the night. This was controversial as a law was passed prohibiting the use of privately owned fireworks, so police sirens accompanied the very thick sound of explosions, pops and cheering.