One Week in Maui – Day 4 & 5

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Snorkeling and Beaching

December 10

Molokini Crater and Makenna Snorkel Tour

Up at 6:00 a.m. to head out at 6:20 a.m. for our 7:00 a.m. snorkel tour. We booked via the GetYourGuide app a 3-hour snorkeling tour at Molokini Crater and Turtle Town with Blue Water Rafting. We were pleasantly surprised upon arrival for the 6:30 check-in that there were only 4 other people on the tour. We met up in the parking lot of a public boat launch. Our boat captain was fun and outgoing, and the boat was a large zodiac with two 225 HP outboard motors.

With just 6 people on the tour it didn’t take long for our captain to get us out of the boat launch area. First stop was Molokini Crater.  This is a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater that is a very popular snorkeling spot.

Turtles, fish, and colorful coral are abundant. After about 20 minutes we arrived, and we were just the second boat at the crater. The water was a little choppy but not too bad. We saw a variety of colorful fish and beautiful, colorful coral. But we saw no sea turtles here. We snorkeled for about 45 minutes along the entire inside curve of the crater. By now there were several more boats full of tourists snorkeling.

Captain Charlie then took us to the other, outer side of the crater, but the water was rougher on that side, so he decided to take us to see turtles at a different spot. We’re glad he did that because it gave us more time to see and swim with turtles near Makena beaches off Maui proper (not turtle town as expected). We saw three sea turtles while snorkeling. Two were swimming around (one of which came up right underneath Emilie), and one on the ocean floor. It was about 25 feet deep here, and we could see clear to the bottom. We snorkeled here for another 45 minutes, then had a tour-provided sandwich in the boat, and headed back to the boat launch. Along the way, Captain Charlie gave us a tour of celebrity homes along the Maui coast.

We got back to the hotel around 11:00 a.m. A nap was in order considering our 6:00 a.m. morning, and another early morning coming the next day.

Big Beach

At around 2:30 p.m. we grabbed beach towels from the hotel pool attendant station and drove about 30 minutes to Big Beach, a place recommended by our snorkel tour captain. Along the way on a narrow, rustic stretch of Makena Road, which parallels several beaches, we pulled over for a quick late lunch at Jawz Tacos food truck.

We got a large hot dog, root beer float, and an iced tea. A perfect late lunch. We then parked about 100 yards further on and hit the beach.  Big Beach is very big, but it apparently is usually sparsely populated. The water was a bit rough so we got some advice on where to swim from the lifeguards who were closing shop for the day as we arrived. We swam and hung out for about an hour on this large, beautiful, mostly empty beach….a classic Hawaiian beach experience.

Sunset on Kama’ole Beach across from our hotel was the next order of pleasure. With sunset at 5:45 p.m. we made it just in time.

After sunset we grabbed some great local take-out food a few miles down the road at Da Kitchen, as recommended by a few people, and brought it back to our hotel balcony for dinner with a view.

Off to bed.

Road to Hana and Wai’ānapanapa State Park

December 11

Twin Falls

The day began with cereal and hotel coffee on our balcony…why go out?

At around 9:00 a.m. we started the drive to the famed “Road to Hana”.  The first stop was Twin Falls, a privately owned farm amongst jungle-like land, and containing several waterfalls.  This was open only for Hawaiian residents the other day when we drove part of the Road to Hana after arriving on Maui. We knew there were waterfalls to see here, but we hadn’t actually done much research.  Turns out, this is a very popular place for tourists because it’s an early stop on the Road to Hana, and it’s easy to walk the packed dirt roads through the tropical woods to three waterfalls… and there is swimming in the pools under the falls.  We aren’t sure why it’s called Twin Falls when there are more than two waterfalls to see.

After changing into my swimsuit (Em changed in a porta john along the trail), and paying the $10 parking fee we asked a staffer about the falls and she said that the first and third falls are the best for swimming. So, we started the half-mile walk to the “third” waterfall, figuring correctly that it would be less busy with people.

Though there were plenty of people around, it really didn’t seem crowded at all.  In fact, as we got within eye shot of the third waterfall, it became more difficult and very wet to access.  There were wet stepping stones, and streams to walk through.  Many people just looked at the falls from a short distance instead of venturing to the falls.  These falls, called the “Caveman” falls were just great, with a perfect swimming hole underneath, and only about 5 or 6 people in the water. These falls fall about 40’ in front of a dug out portion of land looking like a cave, and the edges of the overhang were enveloped in dripping grass and vines…looked rather prehistoric.  Em and I took turns swimming in the pool and under and behind the waterfall.  This was the quintessential tropical island experience.

 

After our swim we headed back down the path and visited the first waterfall, very near the parking area.  We got some beautiful shots of the falls here, but we didn’t need to swim, especially now that we are nearer the car and starting to dry off.

We bought some awesome, fresh pineapple pieces from the farmstand at the parking lot before heading out along the Road to Hana once again.

Wai’ānapanapa State Park & Black Sand Beach

Our target destination in Hana is the Black Sand Beach (Honokalani Beach) which is part of Wai’ānapanapa State Park.  Entry to the park requires advanced online reservations, and entry is confined to a two and a half hour time slot.  Our slot is for 12:30-3:00 p.m.  Our stop at Twin Falls was a bit longer than expected (voluntarily of course) so now our ETA for the State Park is about 1:00 p.m.  But who knows how long the ride along the notoriously winding Road to Hana, and its many one-lane-wide sections and bridges would be.

Turns out it took us 2 hours to drive from Twin Falls to the State Park, so we did arrive around 1:00 p.m. Upon arrival at the gate, the car in front of us was told to turn around as they must not have had a reservation…they are very serious about their reservations and time entry.  We held our breath as we showed our reservation on our phone.  No issues…on to the parking lot.

For the next two hours we tooled around the park. The focal point of the park is the small Black Sand Beach, and the lava cliffs and lush tropical landscape surrounding it.

We found our way along the rocky coast for magnificent scenery and several blow holes, one of which surprised me and completely soaked me as I was recording on my iPhone. I wasn’t able to charge my phone due to it being wet for the next 12 hours.

We then descended the stairs onto the beach, but decided to explore more to the north of the beach first, and then ending our stay on the beach and at the water.  So, we climbed out of the beach via a beaten path, and hiked  ½-mile of the North Coastal Trail above and adjacent to the beach. Not far along we came across the biggest blow hole here and watched it for a bit.

Then we descended back via the same route on to the beach itself, which is actually called Honokalani Beach.  There were perhaps 40 other people there on the beach at any given time.  A few people laid out blankets, but most were there to explore and test their bravery by entering the rough and wavy water. Emilie ventured up to  her knees, but the water had its way with her and easily tumbled her down.  She was fortunate that I saw her glasses get knocked off her head, and I was able to keep my eye on them in the surf and recover them!  A couple of other people attempted to swim, but they too fell victim to the surf and didn’t last long.  It was very fun.

The color and feel of the sand are unlike any we had seen or felt before…really unique.  The sand is truly black, and of a very fine grade, with larger smooth stones mixed in.  The dark sand contrasting starkly with the gorgeous blue ocean made them both appear even more vibrant. It’s just stunning to look at. Water shoes are highly recommended if venturing into the water due to the mix of stone and sand.

I had read somewhere that there was a sea cave at the south end of the beach, so before heading back to the car we looked for, and found the sea cave.  It’s more like a sea tunnel.  There is an opening in the rocks at the end of the beach that appears to be a cave, but then once inside, the ocean can be seen at the other end.  Very cool…and only two other people were there to explore it.  It helped that neither of us is too tall, there were several opportunities for banging our heads into the low, lava rock ceiling of the sea tunnel…fortunately, no blood.

It was exactly 3:00 by now so into the car and out of the park.  The town of Hana is a couple of miles further down the road, so we drove through the town.  It is easily the most rustic, and authentically Hawaiian town we had seen on Maui.  Next time in Maui we will stay in Hana for a couple of nights to do what we didn’t have time for here.  We needed to head back up the Road to Hana toward Wailea before it got dark, as the Road to Hana is not something to be driven at night.

The ride back included a stop at a self-serve roadside kiosk selling coconut brittle!  We passed the brittle stand on the way down but it was too dangerous to stop, so we kept an eye out for it on the way back.  We got the last baggie-full of homemade coconut brittle, for $2.00.  It was very yummy!

About 20 minutes further we stopped at another roadside waterfall, the Pua’a Ka’a State Wayside and Falls for me to swim in.

After the brief swim, we made a bee-line to get off the Road to Hana before it got dark.

We ordered pizza to-go, and picked it up for another dinner on our hotel balcony.  It was to be an early night since we would be getting up at 3:45 a.m. the next day to catch sunrise at Haleakala National Park.

Off to bed.

Next: One Week in Maui – Day 6 & 7