The Trip:
Who: Myself, Girlfriend, and Her Family
Where: Maui, Hawaii, USA
When: August-September Labor Day Weekend, 2018, 5 Days
Thursday:
- 3:00 PM
- Arrived at Kahului airport after a 14+ hour travel day to go straight to exotic Costco to pick up supplies for our Airbnb condo in Wailea. Aside from some delightful Asian snacks (Ono Shrimp Chips, yum!) Costco is exactly as one on the mainland might expect, save for the clever giant solar panels-turned parking lot shade that seems to be in-fashion around the island.
- We also learned quickly that cities between Maui is pretty spread out, as our trek to the Airbnb was a 35-minute drive across the island. Definitely rent a car.
- 5:30 PM
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| Kingfisher (dubbed He-Who-Didn't-Catch-Any-Fish-After-Seventeen-Full-Minutes) "fishing" at The Mill House pond. |
- We went for an early dinner/happy hour at The Mill House, which is an old plantation farm-turned tourist oasis at the foothills of the Western Maui mountain range. A combination small working farm/restaurant/bar/coffee house/zipline company/family plantation tour, it's very-well kept, not crowded (at the time) and you could easily spend an hour or two eating, drinking, and walking around the beautiful location.
- Catch happy hour if you can and try the food and cocktails. We found the small plates (squash pizza, chickpea fritters, etc.) tastier and more creative than the large ones, so I'd recommend a tapas-style meal.
- After this, we headed back to Wailea for an early night because...
Friday:
- 3:30 AM
- We left the condo (dark and) early for the famed Haleakala Sunrise.
- Because of the time, sleep, and elevatory investments, make sure to do your homework before taking this on :
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| Not a man in a skirt, pre-sunrise at the Haleakala Visitor's Center |
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| Volcano in the foreground, island in the background |
- It takes anywhere from 1 hour to 2.5 hours to get to Visitor's Center, where most people observe the sunrise. The range depends on where you are coming from and how fast you navigate the hairpin turns up 10,000 feet in pitch blackness. Our scheduling from Wailea was perfect, as we got there 30 minutes before sunrise and were among the second "row" of red-eyed tourists.
- Bring warm clothes. It was a windy low 50 degrees Fahrenheit at the top (practically 40) and we would've been miserable under-dressed. I had track pants over my shorts, a hoodie, and a light jacket over that.
- Make your reservations with the National Park. Sunrise is by reservation only and two cars in front of us had to turn back at the gate (after the 1.5 hour drive up from the foot of the volcano). Don't be that guy.
- Speaking of "that guy," be ready for altitude and car-sickness - the combination of both got the better of one of our passengers and we had to make two recovery pit stops during the uphill journey.
- 6:00 AM
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| The sun over the clouds. |
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| The volcano under the sun. |
- After nervous 15 minutes when the clouds threatened to rise and block off the view, the sun finally came up. Two park rangers unexpectedly burst into ceremonial singing, which was somehow was amazingly fitting and awkward at the same time. Think the "Circle of Life," but with gawking tourists in place of the genuflecting gazelles (I loved every second of it).
- Be warned that the sunrise itself is probably not what you'd expect. The spectacular oranges, blues, and reds typically associated with the dawn were not there. Instead, the light show was below, as the canopy of clouds slowly withdrew, revealing the crags and crevices of the Haleakala crater.
- Was it as life-changing as advertised? Was it worth the three hour investment in dark bleakness and car-sickness? I'm not sure, but what I do know is that I would've regretted it had I not been there to make the decision for myself.
- 7:00 AM
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| A silversword plant post-once-in-ninety-years flower (spoiler, it dies). |
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| A wandering chukar that I totally didn't stalk. |
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| Actual stalks, of what class, I totally wonder. |
- After the sunrise, the crowds started to disperse, which allowed us to explore the summit more peacefully. The quick shifts in the clouds revealed a constantly-changing landscape, which was probably as interesting as the sunrise itself.
- 9:00 AM
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| Upward-facing downward dog. |
- We recovered from the altitude in downtown Makawao, a rustic mountain town with mix of touristy boutiques and genuine long-standing family establishments. We visited:
- 10:30 AM
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| Kids napping. |
- We intended to do the tour at Surfing Goat Dairy, but it was hot and we couldn't be bothered at this point that we ended up just doing a cheese flight under the shade.
- I preferred the fresh cheeses over the aged cheeses, but I was the exception in my group. Both are worth ordering.
- I also bought two boxes of their goat cheese truffle, anticipating a unique-tasting, tangy treat, to be slightly disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the truffles were great, but I wouldn't be able to tell them apart from the bovine version.
- Trip Up:
- In hindsight, skip this. I put it in the itinerary because of online reviews and its relative location to Haleakala, but is it really that different from other farms? Didn't seem like it. So unless you're passionate about goat cheese or kid-petting, maybe skip this stop.
- 12:00 PM
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| That's a size small. |
- We headed back to Kahului to eat take-out at Tin Roof. We were looking forward to this all trip, having been fans of Sheldon on Top Chef and this didn't disappoint. My favorite was the Mochiko Chicken among our five dish-orders, but I have to mention, there was a salty misstep with the octopus poke (the daily special). Not sure if it was the entire batch or just our octopus portion, but we had to throw this out after a few bites.
- A few more snacks in Kihei tided us over before dinner, along with an amusing detour at a quirky antique store.
- 6:00 PM
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| Banyan Tree Park at sunset. |
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| Apparently an everyday sight. |
- After hearing that Lahaina was the more popular resort area, we drove over to see what the fuss was about. In hindsight, sunset was the perfect time: the surf and boat traffic was gone, and the night crowd hadn't come in yet.
- What remained was a serene little town with gorgeous views of the ocean, wrapped around an enrapturing Banyan Tree Park in the center.
- 7:30 PM
- We headed back to Kahului to dine at a former Denny's-turned neighborhood Hawaiian favorite, Poi By the Pound, for our first taste of local Hawaiian food. I'd had traditional in Oahu before, so I had some reference and here's my verdict: get the loco moco and squid luau, skip the poke, and maybe you'll like poi (in general) better than I do.
Saturday:
- 5:30 AM
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| Beach-loading the Kai Kanani II. |
- A full two hours later than yesterday, we had our second sunrise activity of the trip: snorkeling with Kai Kanani for their Sunrise Deluxe Molokini Crater tour.
- I didn't realize it while booking, but these guys really know how to differentiate themselves: they employ beach-loading vessels, allowing them load people without a harbor. What this means for us is a mere 45 minute travel time to get to the crater, compared to 1.5 hours for everyone else.
- Another pleasant surprise was the food service.While the food was "only" alright (it was pre-prepped, as the catamaran didn't have a galley with a stove), they had a lot of variety and even had multiple "courses" in between snorkel outings. We ate everything from pastries to french toast, breakfast tacos to frittatas.
- 7:00 AM
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| Molokini Crater. |
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| In hindsight, it was like Nirvana, baby. |
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| With the shallower reef area being so close to the jagged wall and the ear-popping pressure that comes with depth, this range was the closest I could safely get to. |
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| J.J. Abrams artistic lens-flare, here I come. |
- The first snorkeling stop was Molokini Crater, which was pleasantly deserted at the time. That was part reason I picked Kai Kanini and it was a great decision. I can't imagine having dozens of boats and hundreds of snorkelers in the same area later in that day.
- That said, the crater was a bit disappointing - while Molokini itself is beautiful, the novelty wears off rather quickly when in the water and facing jagged rocks, rocky waves, and way-hard-to-get-close-to sea creatures. It became a balancing act of getting close to the shallower reefs without risking getting bashed up against the shore and even when managing to get up close, there wasn't a guarantee that the fish wouldn't just hide, anyway (how dare they not display themselves for human amusement).
- 8:30 AM
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| Turtle #1, going up for a breath. |
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| Turtle #2, sleeping. |
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| Turtle #2, eating. |
- Turtle Town, was our next stop and a very pleasant surprise. Apparently, "Turtle Town" is a generic term describing where turtles have recently been spotted, and these tend to be along the rocky areas of the shore with lots of algae. This particular spot was close to a public beach where other people were paddle boarding and snorkeling.
- I definitely underestimated how cool it is to observe sea turtles nonchalantly going about their day. This was my the consensus highlight of our sunrise tour.
- Trip Up?:
- While I wouldn't necessary call this a trip-up, definitely vet this out:
- If you're into seeing Molokini Crater and sailing, just take a (cheaper) boat tour.
- If you're into seeing fish and turtles up-close, just snorkel yourself (for free) by the beaches.
- Only do this option if you really want to do both, otherwise, the cost probably isn't worth it.
- 11:00 PM
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| Wild chickens are everywhere on the island. Moana makes a lot more sense now. |
- After resting up, we had a very welcome lunch at Paia Fish Market in Kihei. They boasted a great variety of local seafood, and they delivered. I liked the grilled and blackened styles the best, and am pretty sure that's independent of the type of fish (but I was not able to test this theory).
- Make sure to try the Tiger Sauce (thanks, Kai Kainani Dan!). It's spicy and flavorful and, although not from Hawaii (hello, Louisiana), I have not seen it anywhere else.
- After lunch, we walked around Kihei, looking through the various tourist markets along the beach. We didn't end up buying anything, but I thought one ukulele stall was particularly interesting, not really having those in the mainland.
- 4:00 PM
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| Looks great! Tastes... okay. |
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| Gorgeous sunset (again). |
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| Audience participation! |
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| No participation. |
- The luau was the toughest choice of this trip. Do we go for the old traditional one that everyone online recommends? The fancy luxury one, featuring multi-course plates? Or the one that made most logistical sense? We ended up deciding going to Te Au Moana, due to its convenience to our Wailea Airbnb.
- Trip Up?:
- Not sure. Here's the breakdown:
- Food: decent - about what to expect from a good buffet. Flavorful food, some meats were dry, but overall, passable. The desserts were particularly good and the highlight, for sure.
- Drinks: full open bar with a few signature cocktails. Again, can't complain.
- Venue: great! It's a beautiful resort, the sunset views were magnificent, the scene was isolated enough from the rest of the hotel. The AstroTurf maybe was a bit of a turnoff, but completely understandable, given that this happens essentially every day.
- Performance: incredible! The troupe of dancers were very impressive, given the range of performances, the length of time, and the sheer athletic ability needed to perform the full three-ish hours!
- So why is this a potential trip up? I don't know what the other luaus have to offer. Better food? A funnier host? A more stunning sunset? I would love to hear feedback from people who have been to multiple.
- We had a great night, all in all, and got home at a reasonable time to rest up for the next day's Road to Hana.
To Be Continued in Part 2...
The Trip-Ups:
- Skip Surfing Goat Dairy.
- Vet out if you really need to do the combination crater and snorkeling tour.
- Find the right luau for your trip. It seems like it's hard to go wrong.
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