Ms_T

Aloha fellow Fodorites!
I'm interested in hearing about your favorite experiences on Maui. Does anyone have a special memory of Maui's magic they'd like to share?

Dorothy01

February 11, 2005 - being in a 28 foot boat (Ultimate Whale Watch) and having a 45 foot long female humpback whale surface three feet from our side of the boat, exhale, and create a rainbow in her spray - best birthday present my daughter had!

michaelcrane

Arriving at Sansei for dinner in Kapalua on the first night of our honeymoon after flying all day from the east coast of the U.S. and unexpectedly stumbling upon the freshest, most creatively prepared sushi that we have ever tasted.

iamq

Ten years ago I found Blue Pool and spent the entire morning there before I saw another person. Apparently those days are gone.
-Bill

regalada

Went to Haleakala two days in a row, first day the clouds didn't let us see anything. Driving up on day two, the clouds were already covering the parking lot of the lookout we were aiming for. We parked and hiked down to the lookout in the hopes of at least a peek at the crater. There was no one else at the lookout and the clouds were covering the view. We sat and waited. The clouds started to break here and there, letting us see different parts of the crater at a time. It was like a game of peek-a-boo with the clouds and the crater, amidst the quietest quiet, interrupted only by our gasps when the clouds broke. It was amazing.

CajunStorm

Hiking to Waimoku Falls while listening to that magical sound of the bamboo trees in the wind.

yale

Mine is the same as CajunStorm. We also enjoyed our snorkel trip to Molokini.

logandog

Hearing the whales sing as I snorkeled.

JohnD

Agree with logan((&)), about snorkeling with whales

Ms_T

I haven't been to see the whales yet- hopefully next season, they sound so amazing. 45 feet Dorothy01! Were you scared at all? Or are they somehow not intimidating despite their size?

I think my favorite Maui moment was sitting on a black sand beach out near Hana very early one morning. No one was there except for me and a couple of surfers gliding about among the waves. It was so peaceful, so beautiful, I could see why people often refer to Maui as a "magical" place.

Anyone else have a favorite spot on the road to Hana or along the eastern shore?

LZB

Eating with a view of the beach each night - Pacific O's, Nick's, you name it, we had a wonderful time! That and the black sand beach on the Road to Hana, beautiful!

makai1

Aloha Ms T,

I have so many wonderful memories of our time on Maui... a few of my favs...

We packed an overnight bag at our condo in Kaanapali and headed out early toward Hana at a leisurely pace... we had one night reserved in a cottage on Hana Bay for the evening. We had no problem pulling over and letting those in a hurry pass us. We thoroughly enjoyed every nook and cranny of the drive... windsurfers in Pai'a... any side roads that looked interesting... small neighborhood chapels... waterfalls... overlooks... parks... until we landed at our cottage on the bay.

I had spotted a flower shop a few miles before our destination in Hana, so once we settled in, I jumped into the jeep and headed back to Nahiku Tropicals for a fresh bouquet for our cottage. The dirt drive up to the tropicals stand was stunningly beautiful... I've never seen such landscaping... it took my breath away.

The owner met me at the flower stand. We talked story for awhile as he gathered up a bunch of torch ginger, anthirium and protea for me. I expressed interest in his expansive greenhouse, and he offered to let me explore his orchids. Oh my goodness. I have never seen such variety and so many beautiful orchids before. It was breathtaking. He ships them all over the world. I must've spent an hour there just taking it all in. I'll never forget it.

That night we had a tremendous storm and the winds over the bay had our huge plate windows in the cottage shaking all night long! It was wild!

The next day as we stopped at Wailua Falls, we met a lovely lady, Sharon, a huge Elivs fan, who was stringing seed leis at the base of the falls. She had a number of leis on a table for sale that were just beautiful. I asked her about the one she was stringing and she explained to me the significance of each seed and what they represented. The green ones were for the lush vegetation on Maui, the yellow were for the warm rays of the sun, the white were for the spray of the surf, the black were for the lava rock, the black and white seeds that were cut in halves represented the waterfall over the rocks, and the brown were for the rich soil in which everything grows.

I asked her if I could wait for her to finish the one she was working on... to her delight! That was the one I wanted. It is a memory I'll always cherish... and I wear my lovely seed lei on special occasions... no one here in Chicago will ever understand the beautiful lei, but when I travel to Hawaii, I always bring it. Every time I wear it in the islands, I am always complimented about it's beauty. I proudly display it in our home.

Many mahalos for asking... it's heartwarming to recall the memories.

Cleo13

What about all the Maui sunsets breathtaking every one!!!!

beach_dweller

Whales again.

On our visit last month, we saw, in order:

a huge whale tail very close to shore on our first day driving from the airport to the hotel.

From our hotel balcony in Kaanapali, we saw several whales very near shore (probably pilot or some other smaller whales) early one morning.

at dusk the night before our a.m. whale watching trip, we saw so many spouts, it was like watching a meteor shower; really neat the way they hang on the breeze and catch the fading light.

on our whale watching trip with Trilogy (great trip; 40 foot catamaran), we had three encounters with a mother and calve. The best thing was hearing them call through the underwater microphone as we were watching them; really enhanced the experience.

Lastly, on our way to the airport the last day, we a very large humpback in the same area we had seen the one on our first day. Aloha Whales--saying hello and goodbye.

marshall531

let me preface this to say that Maui was not my favorite island by a long shot. Kauai was but there were two things that we did in maui that were really very special and we both enjoyed them. The first was on the road to hana. We were about five minutes outside of hana and there was a very small roadside stand that sold coconuts. We stopped and this woman that worked there put a hole in the top of the coconuts and my wife and I sat at the table all by ourselves with no one else around sipping the juice from the coconuts. After that this woman took a machete and cut the coconut in half and we started to eat the coconut. It was so peaceful just looking out at the view with banana trees around us and nothing but silence.
The other event was our drive up to Hakelea volcano. We left at about 7AM from Kanapali and arrived at the base by about 8;30. Surprisingly we were one of the only cars on the road. I thoughtt there would be a line of cars going up. It was a beautiful clear day and as we drove up you could see the thin layer of clouds slowing getting lower and lower as we got higher and higher. When we reached the summit there were only two other people there and you could see the big island of hawaii in the distance with snow covering the top of a mountain. There was even ice at the bottom of our feet with a few of these silver type shrubs all around. It was so peaceful and it wasn't even cold. I would say it was about 55 degrees. this was the highlight of our maui trip. I guess I just hated the fact the the Kanapali and lahaina areas were just so so congested with people and kauai wasn't like that. We probably should have stayed in south maui which maybe we will do next time. Any other questions feel free to email me. We were there from March 4 through the 19th. Take care

stellaluna

would have to be the horseback ride with Makena Stables on a misty, rainy afternoon over the lava fields. so quiet, so peaceful....the only time i didn't feel like a complete and total tourist..there were just the three of us including the guide.

jacketwatch

This one is easy. Our first morning there I was up early due to jet lag, around 0430. I went for a jog around 0500 and as there were few people up then (I saw just one other person, another jogger) I sort of felt like I had paradise all to myself. On the way back to our hotel I took a different route and starting past the Sheraton. Much to my delight there was a mango tree there and its fruit was so ripe many had fallen to the ground. Well it seemed like manna from heaven so I picked up as many as I could and darted back knowing how surprised and delighted my wife would be. All in all its a memory I will always smile about.

turn_it_on

We did an awesome half day kayak trip through the La Perouse area. We snorkeled with the spinner dolphins...the best is when you have your face in the water you can hear their echolocation sounds! I also loved the Aquarium cove, which I think remains the clearest water I have ever seen snorkeling...you could REALLY just look around without putting your face in the water and see everything! We stopped at a lookout by the Fishbowl area where we could see each of the neighbor islands and the Big Island all in one shot. Our last stop was snorkeling with the turtles...we watched one for a long time as he floated from the bottom to the top, covered in colorful cleaner wrasse. And when the wind picks up and you start surfing the waves in the kayak, oh, that's the best!

My other favorite memory is the drive from Hana around the backside of Haleakala on a brilliant blue-sky-puffy-white-cloud day. The volcano is stunning, like someone created it from broad strokes of paint. We could see all the way to the Big Island, and as you start to round north, the entire south Maui coast opens up before your eyes. Truly a breathtaking drive!

And on any island, nothing beats falling asleep with the lanai door open, waking up to ocean breezes, and stepping onto the lanai with pineapple juice in one hand and your honey in the other, gazing out at paradise.

love
roxy

dolciani

When we arrived in Maui, it was early evening and we were exhausted from our plane ride from D.C...We stayed at the Kanaapali Marriott Ocean Club and wandered up the beach walk looking for a place to dine. We found the Hula Grill right on the ocean with a tiki bar and the perfect mai tai! We dined on coconut shrip and lobster wonton appetizers and couldn't believe that we had stumbled upon this place on our first night. The next day we got up early for our drive to Hana using our new "bible" - Maui Revealed. It guided us to the first "private" waterfall where we were the only 2 people swimming in a setting fit for a movie! To this day we have a blown up picture poster of that waterfall near our shower so we can begin each morning pretending we are back there again.

ksoza

Biking Down Haleakala

With my three young sons and wife and a cousin, we took an overfilled van up to the peak one morning duing a great visit to Maui several years ago.

Starting out wearing the supplied rain gear and in fairly cold weather, we began the trip downhill and the next several hours passed by quickly. The danger and craziness of the excursion were covered up by the euphoria of sights, smells and vistas as we sped downhill. Stopped halfway down and ate at a lovely restaurant whch overlooked the stunning valleys below. Took one costly wrong turn at one point, which resulted in an uphill walk that I remember seeming so difficult, probably due to the altitude.

Once at the bottom, we waited for the slower riders (wife and youngest) to return and marveled at the trip we just took and the memories that were now etched in our minds forever.