It's been an action packed trip so far. We arrived thrusday 6/8 late afternoon and checked in at the Westin. The drive over to Lahaina (Kaanapali) was nice. It is easy to get around here. A rental car is a necessity I think.
A casual evening around the resort merged in to a short sleep followed by a drive to Halaeakala for the sunrise and bike tour on friday 6/9. Definitely do that the first full day here if you dig sunrises and nice views. Breakfast on the way down at the Kula Lodge was fantastic. It was pricey but all food here seems to be that way.
Saturday 6/10 was an early rise and drive to Kihei for diving Molokini. I booked our dive trips more so based on the dive operations schedule than reputation. Although that did play a role of course. For Molokini we used Maui Dive Shop and did the 3 tank trip. The frist dive was the back side. Outstanding! Why? Because 5 minutes into the dive we saw what I was hoping to see the most. A huge Manta ray (see video at link). The rest of the dive was nice too. The current was fast so I was glad I took the video camera instead of the still. My wife saw a white tip shark out in the blue also. I liked the boat, crew, and format of Maui dive shop. I'd definitely use them again. The last two dives were one both ends of the inner crater. Nothing too exciting. Just some interesting fish and other items. See the pics at the link below.
Sunday 6/11: Yet another early morning rise and off to Lahaina harbor. We're not getting much sleep this trip but we don't care. There is too much to see and enjoy. I booked a full days fishing charter on the Ho'okela with captain Steve and Randy. It was a slow days fishing but there were two highights. The first was the pod of dolphins (see video at link). Shortly after that we had a fish on. I let my wife take the first fish of the day. Had I known it would be the only one I might have not done that... ;-) It was a short billed spearfish and is the most rare species of Marlin in the world (so we are told). I'll post the video of the fish at my link some time soon. Take your mask, snorkel, fins, and underwater camera in case you go (ask the boat operator first). If they see a whale shark they will usually stop and play.
Monday 6/12 puts us back on a dive boat. I booked a 2 tank lanai dive with lahaina divers. Another nice operation, fantastic boat. I thought the format a bit restrictive as they described but in practice it worked out just fine. They do dwell on details. Maybe that is good more than bad. The first dive was Cathedral 1. That was cool. It was a shorter dive than I would have liked but definitely worth it. I really would have liked to go through it one by one with decent spacing. We went in and every jammed up so I couldn't get a good broad picture. So, I only got some isolated shots of the "glass panes". The second dive was No name in Paradise. Lots of huge schools of fish, fun swim throughs, and potential to see the resident dolphin's (we did not). The crew was very friendly, funny, and charismatic. Maybe that is why they had to stress the rules so people would take them seriously.
After a late lunch we decided to drive north to see some of the west end sights. Outstanding and a must do. If you look in the book Maui revealed it will lay out the locations for you. I'm very glad a friend borrowed me that book. We first stopped at the "dragon's teeth". That is some interesting lava formations along the ocean side. I recommend it. Second was the "blowhole". What a cool area to begin with. The swells were out of the north and it made a spectacular show for us. Some locals were at the blowhole and they said they had never seen it like this. From what we were told the north swells happen in the winter mostly. So, we lucked out. See the pics at my link below. The last site we visited was the Olivine pools. There was cloud cover so we didn't get to see the colors like you should. But, it was nice anyway. We took a dip in the pools and checked out the primitive blenny's at the site. There are lots of fish in the pools.
The elevation on the north west end was a concern after diving that morning. I think we had off gassed enough and didn't go too high (not sure though). So, keep that in mind if you decide to go. I doubt the elevation got much over 2-3,000 feet. I'd guess 2,000 myself. No issues here but you know the rule....ymmv.
Tuesday 6/13. A lazy morning, breakfast, and some shopping in Wailuku. Then it's off to the road to Hana. Get the Maui revealed book out and hit all the gems at least. We did the whole loop. Start early and expect 2.5 hours to get from the seven sacred pools back to Lahaina (not stopping). It's a slightly rough ride, action packed, and dangerous if you go fast. We did it in the dark and I don't recommend it. The blind corners, shadows, and cows will freak you out..... The south end is gorgeous. So, do it in the day time, stop and enjoy the views, and drive safer. See pics at link.
Wednesday 6/14. Today will be a lazy morning then some more fishing this afternoon. It's my turn so I wanted to give it one more try.... I'll update the link a few more times I expect. Fish video for sure.
Ciao,
BB
http://imageevent.com/rbirchell/maui2006?n=0&z=2&c=4&x=0&m=24&w=0&p=0
A casual evening around the resort merged in to a short sleep followed by a drive to Halaeakala for the sunrise and bike tour on friday 6/9. Definitely do that the first full day here if you dig sunrises and nice views. Breakfast on the way down at the Kula Lodge was fantastic. It was pricey but all food here seems to be that way.
Saturday 6/10 was an early rise and drive to Kihei for diving Molokini. I booked our dive trips more so based on the dive operations schedule than reputation. Although that did play a role of course. For Molokini we used Maui Dive Shop and did the 3 tank trip. The frist dive was the back side. Outstanding! Why? Because 5 minutes into the dive we saw what I was hoping to see the most. A huge Manta ray (see video at link). The rest of the dive was nice too. The current was fast so I was glad I took the video camera instead of the still. My wife saw a white tip shark out in the blue also. I liked the boat, crew, and format of Maui dive shop. I'd definitely use them again. The last two dives were one both ends of the inner crater. Nothing too exciting. Just some interesting fish and other items. See the pics at the link below.
Sunday 6/11: Yet another early morning rise and off to Lahaina harbor. We're not getting much sleep this trip but we don't care. There is too much to see and enjoy. I booked a full days fishing charter on the Ho'okela with captain Steve and Randy. It was a slow days fishing but there were two highights. The first was the pod of dolphins (see video at link). Shortly after that we had a fish on. I let my wife take the first fish of the day. Had I known it would be the only one I might have not done that... ;-) It was a short billed spearfish and is the most rare species of Marlin in the world (so we are told). I'll post the video of the fish at my link some time soon. Take your mask, snorkel, fins, and underwater camera in case you go (ask the boat operator first). If they see a whale shark they will usually stop and play.
Monday 6/12 puts us back on a dive boat. I booked a 2 tank lanai dive with lahaina divers. Another nice operation, fantastic boat. I thought the format a bit restrictive as they described but in practice it worked out just fine. They do dwell on details. Maybe that is good more than bad. The first dive was Cathedral 1. That was cool. It was a shorter dive than I would have liked but definitely worth it. I really would have liked to go through it one by one with decent spacing. We went in and every jammed up so I couldn't get a good broad picture. So, I only got some isolated shots of the "glass panes". The second dive was No name in Paradise. Lots of huge schools of fish, fun swim throughs, and potential to see the resident dolphin's (we did not). The crew was very friendly, funny, and charismatic. Maybe that is why they had to stress the rules so people would take them seriously.
After a late lunch we decided to drive north to see some of the west end sights. Outstanding and a must do. If you look in the book Maui revealed it will lay out the locations for you. I'm very glad a friend borrowed me that book. We first stopped at the "dragon's teeth". That is some interesting lava formations along the ocean side. I recommend it. Second was the "blowhole". What a cool area to begin with. The swells were out of the north and it made a spectacular show for us. Some locals were at the blowhole and they said they had never seen it like this. From what we were told the north swells happen in the winter mostly. So, we lucked out. See the pics at my link below. The last site we visited was the Olivine pools. There was cloud cover so we didn't get to see the colors like you should. But, it was nice anyway. We took a dip in the pools and checked out the primitive blenny's at the site. There are lots of fish in the pools.
The elevation on the north west end was a concern after diving that morning. I think we had off gassed enough and didn't go too high (not sure though). So, keep that in mind if you decide to go. I doubt the elevation got much over 2-3,000 feet. I'd guess 2,000 myself. No issues here but you know the rule....ymmv.
Tuesday 6/13. A lazy morning, breakfast, and some shopping in Wailuku. Then it's off to the road to Hana. Get the Maui revealed book out and hit all the gems at least. We did the whole loop. Start early and expect 2.5 hours to get from the seven sacred pools back to Lahaina (not stopping). It's a slightly rough ride, action packed, and dangerous if you go fast. We did it in the dark and I don't recommend it. The blind corners, shadows, and cows will freak you out..... The south end is gorgeous. So, do it in the day time, stop and enjoy the views, and drive safer. See pics at link.
Wednesday 6/14. Today will be a lazy morning then some more fishing this afternoon. It's my turn so I wanted to give it one more try.... I'll update the link a few more times I expect. Fish video for sure.
Ciao,
BB
http://imageevent.com/rbirchell/maui2006?n=0&z=2&c=4&x=0&m=24&w=0&p=0
