What to do on Maui (other than relax)
Written: Feb 13 '03 (Updated Feb 14 '03)
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Pros: Sun, ocean, mountains
Cons: dangers intrinsic in the pros, traffic, and some very stupid drivers on narrow roads
The Bottom Line: Let cars get around you!
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| Jiahong's Full Review: Maui |
Mau'i is a popular destination for refugees from winter: human refugees from North America and Japan, birds like the Pacific golden plover flying from Alaska, and humpback whales swimming from Alaska to flirt, couple, and give birth. During the summer the whales and migrant birds aren't there, but I'm told that even more human visitors swarm there. The ocean waters are warmer and chances of storms lower during the summer, but for me the point of going to Hawai'i is to escape winter (even the relatively mild ones of coastal northern California) and the second most compelling reason is to see the whales. The whales arrive in December and leave by May. (The spinner dolphins are permanent residents of the coastal waters of Lana'i and there's another pod that sticks around Maui.
What I consider the essentials of a Maui visit are
(1) going up Haleakala (see my epinion on trails in the national park at http://www.epinions.com/content_89735401092) and looking around; bicycling down is very popular, which means it's difficult to drive down until afternoon)
(2) looking at whales (with binoculars, this can be done from the McGregor/Papaluau overlook between Maalae'a and Lahaina; there are also many whale-watching boat trips, the most politically correct of which are those of the Pacific Whale Foundation (www.pacificwhale.org)
(3) toasting on the beach and going into the water. I think that the best beaches for swimming are the Makena Big Beach and Wailea Beach Park, both on the west side of Haleakala. The nude beach, Makena Little Beach is just north of the Big Beach. I was surprised by the abundance of tropical fish I saw through my swimming goggles at Waihikuli Beach Park (between Lahaina and Kaanapali). There were scuba divers and snorkelers there and at the bay at the end of the paved road across the lava flow south of Makena, at the Ahihi-Kina'u Natural Area Preserve. at the end of Makena Alanui Road, seven miles south of Wailea. (The water there and elsewhere tends to get choppier in the late afternoon, so morning is better for snorkeling.)
(4) looking at dolphins off Lana'i (and snorkeling Lana'i: see http://www.epinions.com/content_89531911812) or Molokini
and (5) eating (see http://www.epinions.com/content_89876434564). (Sleeping is optional and I haven't comparison shopped condos or hotels, both of which are numerous.)
If you have more time, you should consider a walking tour of Lahaina colonial (19th century) history, with a self-guiding map obtained at the Lahaina Restoration Foundation on the corner of Front and Dickenson Streets. Jo.com has described what you'll see in Lahaina at http://www.epinions.com/content_76102602372. (Permit me to scoff again at the claim that the Jodo Buddhist Mission's Buddha is the largest one outside Japan!).
Jo.com has supplied a comprehensive review of points of interest on the highway to Hana (though I disagree with her about the
Ke'anae Arboretum, a good spot to see birds and mongeese, as well as trees). Her survey is at http://www.epinions.com/content_74311306884. It takes two hours of driving to get to Hana (from the vicinity of the airport) and another even more harrowing half hour of driving to get to the Kipahulu visitor center that is the parking lot for hiking up or down the Ohe'o Gulch (pools up and down, waterfalls up). Unless you make plans to stay the night in Hana, it is necessary to return on the same narrow roads. Especially if you have never been in a rain forest before, the way is interesting, but if you're driving, you need to concentrate on the road--not least because oncoming drivers cannot be counted on to be doing so! (Also permit me to suggest letting any cars that get behind you to get around you either at pullouts or motioning them to go when you are stopped at a one-way bridge for traffic -- after the oncoming traffic has gone on.)
I don't know about the unpaved road beyond Kipahulu... or even the paved road that goes to Charles Lindbergh's grave a few miles further west of the Ohe'o pools. Tiffy0380 presents an optimistic account at http://www.epinions.com/content_73318698628 Official advice is 4-wheel-drive vehicles.
BTW, the black sand beach at Hana is blacker than the Makena Black Sand Beach (which is reached by a well-maintained and short dirt road a bit north of the Makena Little and Big Beaches.
Inland from the southwest coast beaches it seems there is about 20 miles of golf courses, and there are some other major ones on the northwest part of the island (north of Lahaina).
I loathe the noise of helicopters in wilderness areas, so don't want to encourage such business... and I don't know anywhere one can see Maui wowie on the stem...
Other activities include kayaking, fishing, riding horses, wind-surfing, and surfing. Surfing is obviously better on the north shore (Waimea) of Oahu. The waves crashing against the mouth of Ohe'o Gulch were impressive, but the only place I saw significant waves being surfed was at Honalu Bay, northeast of Kapalua.
Having written about hiking in Haleakala National Park, I meant this epinion to be about the part of Maui not made by Haleakala. Haleakala rises above 10,000 feet and made somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of the island. The geologically older northwestern part of the island was made by another shield volcano, Pu'u Kukui, the highest elevation of which is 6060 feet. (The isthmus between the two is about 9 miles in width and contains the airport.)
The town of Lahaina and its harbor that is the point of embarking on boats to watch whales or go to Lana'i is on the smaller piece of Maui, as are golf courses, and many condos.
There is one easily accessible site that Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, and Korean tour groups all hit, but relatively few mainland US visitors go to: 'Iao Valley State Park, called by Mark Twain "the Yosemite of the Pacific." It is located at the end of highway 32 (which turns into 320 before expiring in the parking lot) east of Wailuku. The valley has a very pleasant, temperate climate. Commoners were forbidden entrance to it in pre-contact times. It was favored by Kamehameha the Great after he conquered Maui (in a very bloody 1790 battle fought in the 'Iao Valley, called Kepaniwai, meaning damming of the stream with the corpses of fallen warriors). A short walk up provides views of the 'Iao Needle, a 2250-foot stone pillar that was a lookout post. One may also walk on a paved trail along the stream. Plus there is a taro garden below the parking lot. (I didn't see trailheads to further up the valley and was told that they are dangerous and washed out at many junctures.)
Just east of the park is a Heritage Park with edifices and gardens in Polynesian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, and Yankee styles and many picnic pavilions. There is no entrance charge either to the state park or to Heritage Park.
Driving around the northwest island is also scenic. Most maps claim that the road between Honolua Bay and Kahakuloa is not paved. We were planning to go as far as the paving continued on our last day and were surprised to reach Kahakuloa. I thought the rock looming ever closer was familiar (Kahakuloa Head) and it was. Visitors cannot get down to the water at Kahakuloa, though the overlook is fairly spectacular. At the southern end of the village, at the crossroad to the 1856 Catholic mission church, there is a stand advertising "the best banana bread on the planet." I can't vouch that the claim is justified, but it is good (and was warm).
The road is paved, but there are even longer stretches that are one-lane than on the Hana:Kipahulu Road. There is no particularly good reason to be on the road. There is a place one may clamber down to a rocky beach south of Kahakuloa and a two-part waterfall visible to the east around mile 8 of 340 and a distant glimpse of the Make'ehia Islet Seabird Sanctuary across a fenced ranch, but the place to hike Pu'u Kikui can be reached going north from Waihee, near the 7-mile marker. There is a small sign for Waihee Ridge Trail. More easily recognized is Mendes Ranch on the other (east) side of 340. The road (west) ends after a quarter of a mile with parking lots on both sides of the road.
The trail is steep. The footing was generally good (mud a few places, many exposed roots, the lowest part paved and exposed to full tropical sun), but could be slippery if wet. There is not a lot of shade on the trail, but there are panoramic views (240-270 degree vistas). Northern cardinals were easily visible. Some native birds were very audible but invisible, though I think I saw a Maui parrot-bill. (The best place for seeing native birds is Hosmer Grove, just past the fee collection booth as one drives 377 up Haleakala (going southeast). Shorebirds can be glimpsed through binoculars along highway 31 in the Kealia Waterfowl Refuge, but there is no provision for viewing.)
'Iao Valley can be seen in an hour (on the way to the airport if you have an extra hour); the Waihee Ridge seems to go on and on, though it is only 2.5 miles and rises only to 3000 feet.
There are many things to do on Maui. Some people even relax!
That alien notion ends what I have to say about Maui (and its neighbor Lana'i in a separate epinion). I don't think it is "overrun," but there are many visitors. Most of the island is inaccessible, especially the south shore. If you go, take reasonable precautions about sun, altitude, rocks in the water, and stupid drivers who don't know how to drive narrow, winding roads. Mahalo for your attention to this and my preceding epinions on Kaua'i and Maui.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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