Maui
Paia
We arrived in Maui on Tuesday afternoon. The flight was five and a half hours from Portland and we gained two hours in time zones. The main town is Kahului. We’re staying with our friends Terry and Lisa in Paia about 6 miles to the east. It so happens that Adinah and her roommate Penny are also over here. They met us for dinner and the six of us ate at the Fish Market in Paia. The place was hopping.
Adinah, Me, Terry, Lisa, Linda
Penny and Adinah
Right now I’m lying in bed and can hear the surf. A huge swell hit just yesterday. They’re saying it’s the biggest surf in 40 years.
Surfing near Lahaina
Today I went surfing. You may have heard that Hawaii was getting some of the biggest waves in 40 years. I didn’t go anywhere near them. Instead, we drove across to the south side of the island and had some nice small waves. I wasn’t sure if my ribs were healed enough to lie on a board, but I didn’t have any trouble. It felt great to be able to surf again.
The beach where we surfed.
After surfing we went into Lahaina which is a tourist town on the southwest side of “west” Maui. Maui is actually two big volcanoes with a narrow isthmus that connects them and forms a valley. This is the main route from the north coast to the south as the roads around the ends of the island are narrow and windy.
Whales and Dolphins
Headed out early to catch an ocean raft out of Lahaina with Terry and Lisa. The raft held us, plus 5 other tourists and 3 crew. Headed across the channel towards Lanai in calm water. Saw two baby Humpback whales with their mothers and one other “companion” whale. Spent a lot of time playing with spinner dolphins. Doing this on a raft is great because you’re right on the water.
After the dolphins,we pulled into a bay which is a marine reserve on the south tip of Lanai, for snorkeling. The water was about 15 feet deep, full of coral and colorful tropical fish. It was like swimming in an aquarium.
After the boat trip we spent the afternoon snoozing on the beach in the shade of palms and other trees. We stopped for smoothies at a fruit stand, then headed south to Kihea (pronounced key-hay). Found a nice beach to watch the sunset and then dinner at Pita Paradise. Then back to Paia.
Sunset at Kihea.
Hana Highway
Got up early again for the long drive to Hana. Long being a relative term here since it is less than 40 miles from Paia. However about 30 of those miles are on a twisty narrow road with lots of one lane bridges. Speed limit is 15 on the good parts, 10 on the bridges. The jungle is thick and the views spectacular. Many waterfalls. We were playing leapfrog with a tour bus and a bunch of other tourists stopping at every opportunity.
Looking down at Wailua from the Hana Highway
Taro fields in Wailua
Not sure what the name of this valley is.
More waterfalls on the Hana Highway.
We stopped at “Uncle Harry’s” for a fruit smoothie and banana bread. There are a number of places like this along the way and we really liked this one. Very friendly. When I remarked about a fierce looking boar’s head mounted on the stand, a Hawaiian guy told us about the local boar hunts. They had a couple of pictures of Uncle Harry, who looked like he probably did a lot of boar hunting in his day. His grand niece was running the stand this day with baby in arm and two others running around.
The first stop before Hana was Kahanu Gardens, home to Pi’ilanihale Heiau, the largest remaining ancient Hawaiian sacred structure and a national historic landmark. The spot was preserved and there are now 123 acres of tropical plants and trees all nicely identified.
Click on picture to open it full size for reading.
The mountains looming behind Pi’ilanihale.
Next stop was the black sand beach which is the main tourist destination. The sand is formed all at once in a big explosion when lava hits the ocean.
Black sand beach.
After this we went to Hana bay to swim. This is a little park right in town with very few people, mostly locals. We swam and relaxed on the beach before heading back.
We stopped for dinner at a little place in a wide spot on the road that looked like it was hanging off a cliff. A very cheerful Thai lady served us great vegetables and noodles with peanut sauce. Very tasty and enough to fuel us for the drive back. On the way back, there was much less traffic and it was a mellow drive.
That evening we visited with Neil and Tracy, who recently moved here from Seattle. You can follow their adventures at vonhofmills.blogspot.com. I last saw Neil 13 years ago so it was great reconnecting.
More Surfing
Back over to the south side for another morning of surfing. Waves were tiny but I got some good rides. This could be addictive. I’d say surfing was bringing back my youth except for how beat up I feel afterward. I’d have to do it a lot to really get in shape for any real waves.
Speaking of which, we stopped off at Ho’okipa point back on the north side to see the surf. It was head high, with lots of people in the water. Somewhat windy but the waves still had some shape. Very different than the south side.
Linda got this great shot from the point at Ho’okipa
Last night on Maui
Had dinner with our hosts Terry and Lisa, and our friends Neil and Tracy. It’s amazing to go someplace you’ve never been before and have this many friends. We had a great meal at the Mambo Cafe in Paia. Paia was really rocking out on a Saturday night.
Neil, Tracy, Me, Linda, Terry, Lisa
Tomorrow we’re off to the Big Island. Wish we had more time on Maui as there is much more to see. We never got away from the coast and it is very different up the slopes of the central volcano, Haleakela.
Big Island
Hilo
Arrived in Hilo in the rain. The airport was built for it with covered walkways everywhere. It seemed old and it felt like we stepped back in time landing here. Hilo is a funky little down. It has many old buildings that obviously have some history to them. There is also a farmer’s market that seems to run everyday. This is also a very rainy place, however the rain stopped shortly after we arrived.
Lili’uokalani Park
Went to Queen Lili’uokalani garden park on Banyan Drive on Hilo Bay. Just happened to find the place but it is quite beautiful.
Rock paths and bridges winding through pools.
Linda in a Banyan tree.
Monkey Pod tree in Lili’uokalani park.
Tropical Botanical Garden
The Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is an incredible place just north of Hilo. There are hundreds of species of tropical plants in a lush jungle setting. There is a large creek with waterfalls and the path takes you down and along the ocean.
Onomea Bay
Linda n the garden.
Onomea Falls
Waipio Valley
The Waipio Valley is a hidden paradise on the northwest coast of the Big Island.
After driving up the coast for 40 miles we met the van that took us down the ultra steep narrow road to the valley. Then up the valley through many river crossings to where the horses were waiting. On horseback we rode further up the valley through jungle and past taro fields.
Cowgirls and me ready to ride.
On our trusty mounts.
Taro grows in water like rice. Plenty of water here but it seemed out of place to see the black plastic they use to line the fields.
Looking down on the valley and the coast.
Here are some links for more about Waipio Valley
Puna District and south coast
Our friends who we stayed with have an acre in the Puna district south of Hilo. The land here is hard to describe as it varies a lot. It’s kind of a coastal plateau on old lava. It’s no longer jungle like it is above Hilo but is still quite lush in places. Or it can be kind of scrubby resembling areas of shore pine on the Oregon coast only with tropical trees.
We visited some people who have a very lush place less than a mile from the ocean with every kind of tropical fruit. The guy makes beautiful ukuleles with intricate perl inlays. Check them out at Moore Bettah Ukuleles
From here we went to the coast to look for the warm pools and tide pools. We couldn’t find the warm pools which was okay as we were plenty hot. We found the tide pools which were pretty cool. It’s a bed of lava rock with pools all through it. The pools have coral and lot’s of fish. We only had my goggles so didn’t get the full experience, but still saw lots of fish.
A wave crashing against lava cliffs on the puna coast at Mackenzie State Park.
Later that evening, after dark, we drove to the active lava flow viewing area however they were turning people away due to toxic fumes blowing in from the big vent at the top of the volcano. So we went to Kalapana at the end of the road (which closed when the lava flowed over it) for a cup of kava and some dinner.
Volcano National Park
The next day we drove in to Volcano National Park to see the caldera and the vent.
A steam vent.
Punaluu Beach Park
There were turtles on the beach.
Ho’okena Beach Park
No pictures but this was a great beach and a great place t camp.
South Kona Coast
We went snorkeling at . Linda got brave enough to take her camera underwater and got some great snorkeling videos.
Linda’s snorkel cam.
The lava “beach” where we snorkeled.
Kohala Coast
Today we went to three very different beaches. Kiholo bay, Waialea bay, and Hapuna beach.
To get to Kiholo bay we drove a few miles down a dirt road and then walked a half mile over beach, lava, rocks and gravel to get to this protected blue lagoon. The snorkeling was not so good as the bottom was sand and the water was murkey. However Linda did get to see a turtle swimming beside her which was very exciting.
Kihoho Bay
Waialea bay a.k.a. beach 69 was the next stop. This beach had good snorkeling and, for small kids, boogy boarding. We called it baby beach because there were so many moms with small babies in the water.
Most of the shoreline on the Big Island is lava rocks or cliffs. There are very few beaches but those are very nice and well used. No miles of deserted beaches here like the Oregon coast.
Our last stop of the day was the biggest and most popular. Hapuna beach is what you think of when you imagine a Hawaiian white sand beach.
Sunset at Hapuna Beach. The colors were enhanced by smoke from a wildfire combined with the usual vog.
Heavy Rain
We sent the night in Hawi on the northern tip of the Big Island. This is a small town with good food and an artsy feel to it. It rained that night and was the coldest place we experienced in Hawaii. Must have dropped to 65 with a good wind. It was drizzling in the morning.
Our road took us back south but inland a bit until we were back in the sun and overlooking the whole Kona coast.
Soon after we passed through Waimea in the north central part of the island. It started raining again as we approached the east coast. We had planned to stop at the Waipio valley viewpoint but the whole coast was shrouded in clouds and the rain was getting heavier.
We stopped at Kolekole park where we had been a few days before to see how high the creek was. Here is a video that I posted on YouTube.
Here is a picture Linda took of me taking the video.
Akaka Falls
We decided to stop at Akaka falls as the rain would swell the rivers even more. We waited at the parking lot in the car for the rain to let up a bit but it didn’t. We ended up go out in our bathing suits and jackets. We were not disappointing even though we got soaked.
The falls at a distance when entering the park. Unfortunately the falls was creating so much mist that it was hard to get a good shot up close.
The rain continued all the way to Hilo. This gave us the true feel for Hilo as it rains most of the time here. We spent the night in an old hotel run by a Hawaiian family. They had a restaurant that was very popular with the locals. The next morning we caught our flight to Honolulu.
The North Shore
The final stop on our trip was the North Shore of O’ahu, the big surf capitol of the world. When I was a kid learning to surf in New York I got Surfer magazine and saw these awesome pictures of far off Waimea Bay, Sunset Beach, and Banzai Pipeline. I dreamed that someday I would see these places so it was really amazing to finally do so.
Awesome sunset on the North Shore.
The surf was not huge, we missed the really big swell that hit the day we got to Maui, but it was big enough to get a feel for it, and way bigger than anything I’ve ever ridden.
The beaches on the North Shore were all spectacular.
Sunset Beach is one of the most photographed waves and a world class beach. The waves were 8 to 12 feet with maybe a few even bigger. They are pretty far out so it is hard to tell. I was using binoculars to see them. There is no mistaking this wave. I’ve seen it in pictures so many times and even though it was not at it’s best this day you could tell it was Sunset Beach.
Surfer contemplating the waves at Sunset Beach. You can’t tell by the picture but this wave is over ten feet.
Banzai Pipeline was our next stop. These waves break much closer to shore so you could get a great view. They were a little smaller than at Sunset and not that many were makeable. Mostly it was the knee boarders getting great rides but a few stand up surfers did as well. Meanwhile Linda was really enjoying the sun and beach. It had been cool the day before but now it was nice and hot.
Knee boarded dropping in at Pipeline.
Big set at Pipeline. You can barely make out the surfers on the right scrambling to get out over the wave.
Another beautiful wave at Pipeline. Most of the bigger waves were not getting ridden.
It’s amazing how close these breaks are t each other. It’s only a few miles between Sunset Beach and Waimea Bay. We took a short break from the beach to see Waimea Valley. They’ve made a park and botanical gardens on what was a revered site for the Hawaiians. Now they charge to get in but it was worth it to see the waterfalls. It was about a half hour walk though some nice greenery to the falls.
That’s Linda swimming across the pool.
After Waimea valley we went in to Haleiwa for lunch. The town was very crowded. Way too many cars and tourists like us. We had lunch at this place but it wasn’t very good.
Waimea Bay was not breaking except for the shore break which was being ridden by a lot of knee boarders and a few stand up surfers. There were three surfers on the outside waiting of the occasional set that did come through. I did see them get a few rides on waves that must have been 12 feet. Even at that size the wave is unmistakable as Waimea Bay.
Waimea Bay. When it breaks the waves are way out at the point.
That was it. We headed back to Honolulu and stayed in a hotel near the airport. We had to get up early the next day to fly home.
Here is the Google Map of all of the places we visited.
View Hawaii in a larger map