Maui Airpot and Welcome (Aloha!) Sign
Our Condo looking inside. There was a loft too!
Day 1: Beach Day. It took us all day to get to Hawaii (3 flights), so we took the first day as a beach day. Tim found us a condo with an ocean view, and it was perfect. Full kitchen, eating area, and balcony, it was very relaxing for our time there. The first morning we made pancakes for breakfast with items previous vacationers had left there (delicious!). Then we headed to one of the many beaches in Hawaii. Tim played in the waves, trying to ride them back to shore. He succeeded at one point, and crashed onto the sand because he didn't expect it to work! We spent the day there, and then went grocery shopping. Boy, they aren't kidding when they say things in Hawaii are more expensive! We got groceries for the week, made sandwiches for lunch back at the condo, and hung out on our balcony listening to the ocean.
Me at the beach, and Tim jumping in the waves.
That night we went to the Hula Grill, and we each got a fish dinner (big step for both of us). Delicious!
Day 2: Snorkel Cruise. Today we went on an all day snorkel cruise. This meant we had to get up early (which even Tim was able to manage!). We left at 8am, and headed out to Molokini crater, a popular place for snorkeling. We had a continental breakfast and signed up for Snuba (a cross between snorkling and scuba diving, read here). We also rented a really nice digital camera with a waterproof covering so we could take all the pictures we wanted that they then gave to us on a CD. Best deal ever! The snorkling was amazing, and we got some incredible pictures! Then we tried snuba, which was amazing (and Tim's favorite part of our whole trip)! We got to dive deeper than we would from just snorkling, but did not require scuba certification or gear. It was so cool! Then we went to Turtle Town to snorkle some more after our BBQ lunch. It was really wavy at Turtle Town, so it was difficult to see with the sand kicked up from the bottom. It was still tons of fun to swim in the ocean and see all the fish! That night we went out for dinner at Stella Blues, another delicious meal!
Tim in the Snuba gear. Some of the fish we saw.
Turtle town, and Tim and I in our snorkle masks!
Day 3: Parasailing and Aquarium. Parasailing was a blast! They hook you up to a giant parachute and slowly reel you out to the right altitude and drive you around. It's so quiet that high up and so peaceful, and you can see everything! We were up there for almost 10 minutes, and it was really awesome. Unfortunately we thought we would have a chance to put on sunscreen and we did not (the boat bounced around too much), so we were a bit pink by the time we got back! So we decided to go to the aquarium to get out of the sun for a while! I wasn't as excited about the aquarium, because we've been to aquariums, but Tim loves them and honestly, it was a great choice! There were so many unique fish that we had never seen before! It was really cool!
Parasailing. Tons of fun!
The Maui Ocean Center, and the closest we got to sea turtle the entire time we were in Hawaii!
The displays were really cool, and some of the fish were really unique!
Day 4: Road to Hana. The road to Hana is a wonderful way to drive around the entire island. While Hana itself is not very exciting (it is a tiny tiny town), the drive was incredible. We packed a lunch and set out for the day. The first part of the drive takes you across the northern coast of Maui, which is lush, tropical, rainforest like right up against the ocean. It was beautiful. We stopped along the way to take pictures at a few select scenic areas. The road is so famous because every corner is a hairpin corner; no exaggeration. We averaged 24 mph according to our rental car over the 3 hours it took us to get to Hana! We stopped for lunch on a rocky beach outside of Hana, and then headed south to complete the drive. The southern part of the island is completely dry, like a desert right up against the ocean! Sand, dirt, rocks, and cattle farms, right along the ocean. It was an incredible drive, probably my favorite part of the trip! It took us the whole day, but it was tons of fun.
Day 4: Road to Hana. The road to Hana is a wonderful way to drive around the entire island. While Hana itself is not very exciting (it is a tiny tiny town), the drive was incredible. We packed a lunch and set out for the day. The first part of the drive takes you across the northern coast of Maui, which is lush, tropical, rainforest like right up against the ocean. It was beautiful. We stopped along the way to take pictures at a few select scenic areas. The road is so famous because every corner is a hairpin corner; no exaggeration. We averaged 24 mph according to our rental car over the 3 hours it took us to get to Hana! We stopped for lunch on a rocky beach outside of Hana, and then headed south to complete the drive. The southern part of the island is completely dry, like a desert right up against the ocean! Sand, dirt, rocks, and cattle farms, right along the ocean. It was an incredible drive, probably my favorite part of the trip! It took us the whole day, but it was tons of fun.
Hana was only 52 miles away, but it took us 3 hours!
We stopped to eat at the rocky beach, and then the dry side of the island looked like a desert!
Day 5: Helicopter Tour and Sunset Dinner Cruise. We ended our trip with a helicopter tour of Maui. I was not sure this trip would be very exciting, but Tim went ahead and signed us up anyway. It was super cool! We got upgraded to the longer tour that included another island (Moliki), that has a few small towns and cities but a large part of the island is uninhabited. It's know for having the worlds largest seacliffs, and some of the most spectacular waterfalls that start way up in the mountains and run all the way down to the valley floors. It was beautiful. The view from the ocean was amazing. We also flew around Maui seeing a few select spots that we were not able to visit by car. That evening we went on a sunset dinner cruise with lots of other couples. We had a delicious dinner, and watched the sunset from the harbor. It was a wonderful way to end our tour!
The valleys of Moliki, and the fishing areas that they used to use to catch fish.
The worlds steepest sea cliffs, and the waterfalls!
Day 6: Last Day. The next day we had to leave, but not until later in the evening. We decided to spend the day down at the pool of the condo. As we were getting ready, someone was trying to get into our room. We opened the door and found a confused man standing there. Turns out he was with the cleaning crew, and we were supposed to be gone by noon! Luckily they let us stay, because our flight was not until 9pm. We relaxed by the beach, went out to each one last time, and wrapped up one incredible trip to Hawaii!
Day 6: Last Day. The next day we had to leave, but not until later in the evening. We decided to spend the day down at the pool of the condo. As we were getting ready, someone was trying to get into our room. We opened the door and found a confused man standing there. Turns out he was with the cleaning crew, and we were supposed to be gone by noon! Luckily they let us stay, because our flight was not until 9pm. We relaxed by the beach, went out to each one last time, and wrapped up one incredible trip to Hawaii!
No comments:
Post a Comment