Maui, Hawaii!

November 25, 2023

Having never been to Maui, we took a friend’s recommendation and went north of Lahaina and stayed near Napili Beach. Our 6am flight was exciting!

We made it!

We rented a condo (a LOVELY one) in Honokeana Cove (https://www.vrbo.com/579718?rm1=a4%3Ac8%3Ac9&expediaPropertyId=33498980) and it was absolutely perfect. We had three generations in our group and the grandparents had the upstairs bathroom and bedroom, while the kids and we had the main level bathroom and 2 bedrooms. It was dreamy. A picture from our balcony, overlooking the pool and the very quiet and private-feeling cove.

We arrived and started seeing turtles in our cove immediately, as they'd come up to breath with great regularity. We came to learn that approximately 20 turtles are in the cove at any given time, and we saw them constantly!

We got to walk, bare-footed, from our condo, put our masks on and stick our faces in the water: voila, a turtle. It is against state and federal law to touch turtles, and we never ever did, but we regularly got close to them as they'd pop up right next to us. The turtles around this cove are Green Turtles.

Most afternoons, especially the sunny ones, they'd climb up onto the rocks for a nap. Most days, we'd seen upwards of 10 at a time, and one afternoon, we counted 13 sleeping turtles. The giant ones would take naps for hours upon hours sometimes long into the dark night, while the younger ones napped for just a couple of hours. Then they'd haul themselves back into the water and slip away gracefully.

Our condo was a small complex, only 2 stories, with only about 30 condos in a U-shape. The pool was fantastic and there were grills for us to use, which the manager cleaned regularly. It was absolutely perfect for kids and adults alike.

We took an adventure each and every day, this one to what is commonly referred to as "mile marker 14" or Olowalu. It is nothing elaborate, just a sandy beach on the side of a main highway, but the sand is soft and the water clear and quiet. We snorkeled and boogie boarded there on three different occasions, it being only about 20 minutes from our condo (just south of Ka'anapali).

When the beaches south of us had bigger waves, we ventured north to a spectacular, quite secretive beach called Honolua Bay. It was a windy drive about 20 minutes north of us and then a 10 minute "hike" into the beach. But it was absolutely worth it. There are hundreds of wild chickens and roosters living in the lush woods and the trees were ancient and magical. The snorkeling was some of the best we did and we felt lucky to be there.

We took two snorkel trips with local companies. The first was with SeaMaui (https://seamaui.com/) and we took the half day West Maui snorkel trip, leaving from the harbor at Ka'anapali, only about 15 minutes south of us. The catamaran took us further south, direction Olowalu (mile marker 14) but stayed further out, further than we could easily have snorkeled to from shore. They had an on-board professional photographer who snapped some terrific photos for us.

The other trip was to Molokini, commonly referred to as a crater, but we were told is in fact not a crater. We went with Trilogy (https://sailtrilogy.com) and had another fantastic trip. This one left from a harbor about 45 minutes south of us (Maalaea Harbor) but was worth the early morning and drive down. The water was breathtaking - absolutely the clearest water we have ever snorkeled in. Trilogy also offered a local professional photographer, and buying his photos felt important (after the devastation of Lahaina) and also fortunate that we got these beautiful photos of us.

Maui flowers are so beautiful.

We are in our second year of the National Parks 4th grade pass (https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/every-kid-outdoors-program-provides-fourth-grade-students-with-free-entrance-to-public-lands.htm) and so of course we planned a day trip to Haleakala National Park. It was about a 2 hour drive one way and worth every second of it. It is like a different world up there, above 10,000 feet. We got lucky and it was sunny and not terribly cold (only about 55).

We explored up top, then took a hike lower down called Hosmer Grove, which was a eucalyptus grove and the polar opposite of the top of the mountain. There were hundreds of birds and a lush forest of eucalypts and other trees.

We stopped at the visitor's center on the way back down to do the Junior Ranger program and to get NPS passport stamps.

The sign to the entrance was quite far away from the actual pass entrance, but we snapped a commemorative photo on the way back to the condo.

Another of our snorkel adventures took us to Black Rock beach at Ka'anapali. The snorkeling there was a lot of fun, but the kids opted to body surf in the waves for what felt like a lifetime. There are a lot of very large resorts at Ka'anapali so the beach was much more crowded than the others we visited.