Maui, Hawaii: 4 Interesting Things Not to Be Missed
Enjoy Maui, Hawaii through our family’s favourite experiences.
Family Favourites
What was your favourite thing to do on Maui?
Emma: All of the beaches were incredible. From the beautiful sunsets on the first night to our very crowded sunset at the not-so-secret, Secret Beach. The best part of the beach was getting to swim in the ocean. Exploring the sea life with my snorkel I saw a huge puffer fish, which I didn’t realize was a puffer fish at the time thankfully. I swam with several turtles, again one surprised me as I was boogie boarding. While snorkeling, I was able to hear the whales singing as the sound echoed off the sea floor. This was similar to what we heard on our whale watching trip when they used a hydrophone to listen to the whales miles away. Watching the whales close up as they jostled for position was different than when I have seen orcas where I live.
Jack: I enjoyed driving up Haleakal? coming up through the clouds and stopping part way up where we could walk on what felt like the top of clouds. When we reached the summit, I was happy to see the sun and it was unusually warm. I liked looking into the crater as we couldn’t see very much the last time we visited. We hiked down into the crater and it was a cool walk through the sand and rock to a lookout where we turned around and headed back up to watch the sunset with our picnic. I was surprised at how fast it got cold once the sun began to set. The best views of the sunset above the clouds were later once people started to leave. The sky was clear and filled with the most stars I have ever seen. It surprised me once we got down from the volcano how warm it still was near our place by the beach.
Shelley: My favourite experience from our trip to Maui was exploring Haleakal?. By visiting in the late afternoon, the park wasn’t as busy and because of the fantastic weather we were able to enjoy an afternoon hike into the crater of the dormant volcano on the Sliding Sands Trail. The scenery and views were fantastic, and it was quiet and peaceful. Given our time constraints with sunset, we walked to one of the switchback lookouts before heading back up. You can choose to explore as little or as much as you want as the views are with you right from the start of the trail. If I get the chance I would love to do the full day hike through the crater. Robin said the trail reminded him of hiking Mount Kilimanjaro with his brother and father. Shortly after making this observation, Emma was planning her own epic mountain climbing experience. She decided she would wait until she was 19 before tackling her first mountain climb?.
Shortly after our walk we found a spot to watch the sun go down high above the clouds and enjoyed a picnic dinner. As soon as the sun set most people started the drive down the mountain. After warming up a little, we waited and took in the stars. Without any light pollution, it was the most amazing thing to see the night sky lit up with thousands of stars. As we drove down, we stopped again to catch the sky in full darkness before making our way back to Kihei and warming up. Glad we packed the toques to watch the sunset.
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Robin: I enjoyed driving and exploring around the Island. Getting to see the different landscapes and eco-systems along the road was fascinating. We drove the Road to Hana with our guided audio tour pointing out various points of interest along the way, which added depth to the stunning beauty along the road. I especially liked the experience of continuing past Hana to Ohe’o Gulch. Just when I thought the road couldn’t get any worse, I was surprised to find the road past Hana to be even more challenging. We were able to stop and walk down to our favorite waterfall, Wailua Falls. Ohe’o Gulch was a part of Haleakala National Park and had its own beauty with cascading pools that led to the ocean after a short walk through the forest. We didn’t have time for the longer, muddier hike to Waimoku Falls but I would like to try it on my next visit.
