Travel: Majestic Maui – Part 2

The continuation of last month’s TRAVEL column…

Winter is the best time to see the humpback whales that come here every year. They stay from December through April to give birth to their calves in the shallow water between Maui and the islands of Lana’i and Moloka’i. The sight of these majestic animals breaching out of the ocean and slapping the water with their fins and tails is incredibly awesome.

Whale watching is only part of the wonders of the ocean that you can see in Maui. Snorkeling and SCUBA are both fabulous here. With so many spots and so many tour companies to take you, it is impossible to name them all.

I will name one though – the Pacific Whale Foundation snorkeling tour to Molokini Crater. The men and women of the Pacific Whale Foundation are very professional and really care about the environment and protecting sea-life. These people are real oceanographers and marine biologists who know what they are doing and can teach you some things along the way.

The Molokini Crater tour is great because it is a mostly submerged volcano crater that has become a haven for all kinds of exotic fish, sea turtles and coral which makes for a fabulous snorkeling experience. If you would prefer to see Maui’s diverse ocean life without getting wet, you owe it to yourself to go to the Maui Ocean Center near the harbor in Ma’alaea, it may be small compared to some aquariums on the mainland but it packs a lot in there. One hint for the snorkeling tours is to book a morning tour. It may be more expensive but you will have much calmer waters and better sights.

If you prefer to ride the waves instead of swimming below them, Maui won’t disappoint in that area either. Known as the windsurfing capital of the world, you will be hard pressed to find a better location to throw down a board and a sail.

Maui is an island made up of two volcano cones forming a valley in between. This makes for a prime windsurfing spot since it makes the relatively constant trade winds speed up as they are funneled through the valley.

The north side of Maui is practically dirty with windsurfers after 11 a.m. every day (before 11 is reserved for surfers). Speaking of surfing, Maui has its fair share of fine places to surf as well. Though not as famous as O’ahu’s North Shore, Maui sports a wide range of areas suitable for beginners (Lahaina) and deranged surfers looking to tackle monster waves (all along Maui’s North Shore).

If you are not a seaworthy person and get seasick easily, Maui has just as many ways to entertain you on land as it does on the sea.

Golf is a favorite here and some of the courses around Makena and Wailea will put to shame many of the courses back on the mainland. The Makena South course, as well as Wailea’s Gold or Emerald courses, make for some fabulous golf with even more fabulous views.

One tip though, you should try to get an early tee time since later in the day the winds can really pick up and wreak havoc with your scorecard.

Hiking is also an incredibly rewarding experience in Maui. I won’t even bother naming all the hikes you can take because I would like to finish this article before I have to board the plane to go home. Suffice-it-to-say, even jaunts of just a few miles off main roads can reveal sights of wondrous beauty.

A review of Maui would be incomplete without mentioning the Road to Hana. Okay, I mentioned it, now I can go on. No, really, people all have different opinions of the Road to Hana. Some people feel that it’s not a trip to Maui without driving the Road. Some did it once and learned their lesson, and the rest heard enough from others to not even bother.

You can count me in the second group. Don’t get me wrong, the Road is 34 miles of some of the most fabulous scenery you could ever want to see on an island. Some even say it is like driving through Eden. You are literally surrounded by greenery and waterfalls (if they are turned on, more on that in a bit) for much of the way. You are also traveling on some of the most winding two lane roads with one lane bridges you will ever find. You will be extremely glad for power steering after you are done with this drive!

One of the most spectacular things about the drive are the dozens of waterfalls you can see along the way, though how many, and in what condition, can vary greatly. The falls are typically more pronounced in the winter because it is the rainy season. However, even then they can be just a trickle. This is because the East Maui Irrigation company actually has the ability to divert water from the falls to the sugarcane fields on the other side of the volcano (which they did on my drive). While the drive can still be spectacular when there are no waterfalls, it does change the equation as to whether it’s worth the trouble.

One point to note is that some of the more spectacular waterfalls are not visible from the road and require you to park and hike to them. Good luck. Most of the parking stops have enough room for five or six cars, but about 1,500 to 2,000 cars drive to Hana every day. This heavily congested drive can make it truly difficult to enjoy all the views.

While Hana itself might not be much to see when you get there, I suppose everyone should probably drive the Road to Hana for the phenomenal scenery and to say they did it.

The final activity I’m going to cover is the sunrise over Haleakala tour. Haleakala is the youngest, and largest, of the two volcanoes on Maui rising 10,000 feet above the sea. From the top you see incredible views of several other islands as well as all of Maui. It is THE place to catch a sunrise or sunset and is high enough to give you a pristine stargazing environment. It is also the home to several observatories. It is a bit of a drive, and due to the elevation, it can be very cold up there – especially at sunrise or sunset.

Many companies offer the sunrise tours and will pick you up at your hotel at about 3 a.m., (yes, I did say 3 a.m.), or you meet them at their store about that time. They will drive you to the top of the volcano to view the 6 a.m. sunrise.

After a breakfast and watching the sun rise, they put you on a mountain bike, give you a helmet and lead you down the volcano. You descend from 10,000 feet to sea-level all on bike. While a relatively easy ride physically, since you let gravity do most of the work, it can still be a dangerous ride because you are sharing the winding road with cars traveling both directions.

The reward all of this is the awe-inspiring sunrise and fantastic views all the way down. (Hint: schedule this adventure early in your trip since your body will still be on Eastern Standard Time and you will most likely wake up around that time anyway).

I could go on and on about Maui – where to stay and where to eat (Maui Tacos!) – but I will leave that up to you and your own tastes. There are a wide variety of nice places to stay that aren’t any more expensive than places on the mainland. Your biggest expense is going to be the airfare from Michigan which is generally high.

Everyone says it is so much more expensive to eat in Hawaii, but I haven’t found that to be true. At most of the chain restaurants, the price is about the same as home. What is more expensive are groceries (though you can still save money if you stay in a condo and buy breakfast and lunch items), and gasoline. Other than that, Maui can be darn-right cheap. Especially, if you are going to spend most of your time lying by the pool or on the beach – and those are both free!

I hope this has given you a little glimpse of what Maui has to offer. If you have any questions about Maui or would like us to do a review of somewhere else (I really need an excuse to go to Europe), please feel free to email me at: jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.

Until next time, Aloha!

Destination: Maui

Humuhumunukunukuapua’a.  If you are asking yourself, ‘What did he just write?’  This article is for you.  If you said to yourself, ‘Why did he just name Hawai’i’s state fish?’  Then you are probably already familiar with that corner of paradise that is the 50th state, and can continue to read the rest of the magazine.

This article isn’t so much about the state of Hawai’i as it is about one island, Maui.  Arguably the crown jewel of the island chain, its beaches have been named the best in the world and its beauty is rivaled by only a few other spots on the planet (mostly on the other islands in the chain).

As I’m writing this, I’m looking out across the beautiful golden beaches of Ka’anapali and watching the sun sparkle over the azure waters stretching between Maui and the island of Lana’i (man, sometimes this job really stinks).  Sitting here, you can’t help but let the worries of home and work slip away.  The roar of the surf, the laughter of children playing in the ocean, the faint sounds of music in the air and the incredibly crisp, fragrant air about you, wash away all the cares in the world. That is, other than wondering when you are going to get your next pina colada.  I’m a frequent visitor to the islands and actually lived on the island of O’ahu for several years courtesy of Uncle Sam.  I don’t think I could ever get tired of this place, though I sure would like to give it a try.

OK, enough rubbing it in that I’m here and you are freezing back there in Michigan, what exactly is the point of this article?  It is to give you a little glimpse of what the island of Maui has to offer you, and give you more than one excuse to pack your bags and catch the next flight out.

The Hawaiian Islands each have a character of their own.  The Big Island is full of lava fields and coffee and is still rough with the new growth that is being added to it every day.  O’ahu is much older and is much softer and far more lush, though it is also the most populated and has all hotels and nightlife to show for it.  Kaua’i is the oldest of the bigger islands and is by far the most verdant with greenery and has so few people as to make it actually seem very sleepy and some may say, boring (as if paradise can ever really be boring).

Maui is the best of both worlds.  You get the stark beauty of an island that not too long ago in the geologic past was an active volcano, and you get the soft sand beaches and vibrant green forests that the surf, wind, and rain have left in their wake.  Also, with less population than O’ahu and significantly more than Kaua’i, you get a pleasant in between with not too many people but enough to provide you with many of the amenities of the mainland.  If O’ahu is like Troy, and Kaua’i is like the U.P., then Maui is like Traverse City.

So what is there to do in Maui other than lie on the beach, play in the surf, and drink fruity drinks with umbrellas in them?  OK, that may be enough for most people but for those of us who like a little more active of a vacation, Maui has a ton of things to do.  Winter is the best time to see the humpback whales that come here every year and stay from December through about April to give birth to their calves in the shallow water between Maui and the islands of Lana’i and Moloka’i.  The sight of these majestic animals breaching out of the ocean and slapping the water with their fins and tails is incredibly awesome.

Whale watching is only part of the wonders of the ocean that you can see in Maui.  Snorkeling and SCUBA are both fabulous here with so many spots and so many different tour companies to take you, that it is impossible to name them all.  I will name one though, and that would be the Pacific Whale Foundation snorkeling tour to Molokini Crater.  First off, the men and women of the Pacific Whale Foundation are very professional and really care about the ocean and protecting sea-life.  They aren’t some fly-by-night company with a boat and a reasonably sober captain just parking their boat where everyone else does.  These people are real oceanographers and marine biologists who know what they are doing and can teach you some things along the way.  The Molokini Crater tour is great because it is a mostly submerged volcano crater that has become a haven for all kinds of exotic fish, sea turtles and coral which makes for a fabulous snorkeling experience.  If you would prefer to see Maui’s diverse ocean life without getting wet, you owe it to yourself to go to the Maui Ocean Center near the harbor in Ma’alaea, it may be small compared to some aquariums on the mainland but it packs a lot in there.  One hint for the snorkeling tours though is to go for the morning tours, they may be more expensive but you will get much calmer waters and better sights.

If you prefer to ride the waves instead of swimming below them, Maui won’t disappoint in that area either.  Known as the windsurfing capital of the world, you will be hard pressed to find a better location to throw down a board and a sail.  The fact that Maui is an island made up of two volcano cones with a valley in between makes for a prime windsurfing spot since it makes the relatively constant trade winds speed up as they are funneled through the valley.  The north side of Maui is practically dirty with windsurfers after 11 AM every day (before 11 is reserved for surfers).  Speaking of surfing, Maui has its fair share of fine places to surf as well.  Though not as famous as O’ahu’s North Shore, Maui sports a wide range of areas suitable for beginners (Lahaina) and deranged surfers looking to tackle monster waves (all along Maui’s North Shore).

What is that you asked?  You get seasick easily and were wondering if there is anything you can do on land?  Maui has just as many ways to entertain you on land as it does on the sea.  Golf is a favorite here and some of the courses around Makena and Wailea will put to shame many of the courses back on the mainland.  The Makena South course as well as Wailea’s Gold or Emerald courses make for some fabulous golf with even more fabulous views.  One tip though, you should try to get an early tee time since later in the day the winds can really pick up and wreak havoc with your scorecard.  Hiking is also an incredibly rewarding experience in Maui and I won’t even bother naming all the hikes you can take because I would like to finish this article before I have to board the plane to go home.  Suffice it to say that even jaunts of just a few miles off main roads can reveal sights of wondrous beauty.

No review of Maui would be complete without mentioning the Road to Hana.  OK, I mentioned it now I can go on.  No, really, people all have different opinions of the Road to Hell, ahem, I mean Hana.  Some people just think that it’s not a trip to Maui without driving the Road, some did it once and learned their lesson, and the rest heard enough from others to not even bother.  You can count me in the second group.  Don’t get me wrong, the Road is 34 miles of some of the most fabulous scenery you could ever want to see on an island.  Some even say it is like driving through Eden.  You are literally surrounded by greenery and waterfalls (if they are turned on, more on that in a bit) for much of the way.  You are also traveling on some of the most winding two lane road with one lane bridges you will ever find.  You will be extremely glad for power steering after you are done with this drive!  One of the most spectacular things about the drive are the dozens of waterfalls you can see along the way, though how many and in what condition can vary greatly.  The falls are typically more pronounced in the winter since it is the rainy season but sometimes they can be just a trickle since the East Maui Irrigation company actually has the ability to divert water from the falls to the sugarcane fields in the valley on the other side of the volcano (which they did on my drive).  While the drive can still be spectacular when they do this, it does change the equation a bit for some people on whether it’s worth the trouble.  Also, some of the most spectacular waterfalls are a ways off the road and you have to park and hike to them.  Good luck with that because most of the stops have enough room for maybe five or six cars but about 1,500 to 2,000 cars do the drive to Hana every day.  Only a fraction of those people will bother to actually hike to the falls, most will just stop because they see other cars stop and will slow everyone else down behind them.  That is what I hated the most out of the drive.  It is already a demanding drive as it is, but if the road ahead of you is free of cars, you can at least glance around an catch some of the sites, but if you end up following a bunch of cars, you are going to spend your time looking at the rear end of the guy in front of you.  While Hana might not be much to see when you get there, I suppose everyone should probably try the Road to Hana for no other reason than to say they did it but also for the possibility of seeing some truly phenomenal scenery.  Just hope the sugarcane has gotten enough water already.

The final activity I’m going to cover is the sunrise over Haleakala tour.  Haleakala is the youngest and largest of the two volcanoes on Maui and rises to about 10,000 feet above the sea.  From up top you get incredible views of several other islands (including the Big Island) as well as all of Maui.  It is THE place to catch a sunrise or sunset and is high enough to get above a lot of the turbulent atmosphere and give you a pristine stargazing environment (hence the observatories up there).  It is a bit of a drive and it can be very cold up there, especially to catch those sunrises and sunsets (you don’t often pack a parka when going to Maui, but you could use it up there at night).  Many companies offer the sunrise tours and will either pick you up at your hotel at about 3 AM, yes I did say 3 AM, or you meet them at their store about that time and they drive you to the top of the volcano so that you can be up there a little bit before the sunrise at about 6 AM.  After breakfast up there watching the sun come up, they put you on a mountain bike, give you a helmet and then lead you down the volcano.  You go from 10,000 feet to sea-level all on bike, though some tours drive you down to about 6,500 feet which is just outside of the national park and you ride down from there.  While a relatively easy ride physically since you let gravity do most of the work, it can still be a dangerous ride since you are sharing the road with cars coming up and down, and the road is just as winding as you would expect (the road can also get rather obscured as you are coming down through thick clouds).  You are rewarded for putting up with all this by not only an awe-inspiring sunrise, but by fantastic views all the way down.  Your hint here is to set this up for very early in your stay since your body will still be on Eastern Time and you will most likely wake up around that time anyway.

I could go on and on about Maui and where to stay and where to eat (Maui Tacos!), but I will leave that up to you and your own tastes.  There are a wide variety of nice places to stay that aren’t any more expensive than places on the mainland, your biggest cost is going to be the airfare which is almost always pretty high from Michigan.  Everyone always says how it is so much more expensive to eat in Hawai’i but I haven’t found that to be true.  At most of the chain restaurants, the price is about the same as home.  What is more expensive are groceries (though you can still save money if you stay in a condo and buy breakfast and lunch items), and gasoline.  Other than that Maui can be darn-right cheap since mostly you are going to be lying by the pool or on the beach and those are both free.

I hope this has given you a little glimpse of what you can do and look forward to on a trip to Maui.  If you have any questions about Maui or would like us to do a review of somewhere else (I really need an excuse to go to Europe), please feel free to email me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.   Until next time, Aloha!