Midway along the loop road to Hana we stopped at Division of State Parks | Waiʻānapanapa State Park (hawaii.gov). We purchased tickets in advance. The highlight there were the Brown Noddies. The Hawaiian cemetery there is private.
I was looked at other tours on YouTube. Most people only go to the beaches. There are so many beaches, many are almost empty. I found the gardens and other places mostly empty too. Very serene.
We set out before dawn to drive the Road to Hana. Marc did well taking the curves in the dark. The views were spectacular and the drive was an adventure. It was lovely to catch the sunrise with the clouds.
We use the Loop Road to Hana Audio Driving Tour | Self-Guided Audio Tours (shakaguide.com). I learned a lot about historyof Maui from the tour. The stops were all described well and in advance. The car’s connection to GPS is used to regulate the tour. The music was a little kitsch and the narrator over exuberant, but I enjoyed it. From Pai to Hana is ~64 miles. It took us about 16 hours to do the whole loop with stops. I left out the garden of Eden for another day. The Hana Highway (HI-360) has 620 curves and 59 bridges. After that the 38 mile long Piilani Highway is a road with bad reputation in HI (dangerousroads.org). The sharp hairpin curves of the 2 roads often terminated at a one lane bridge by a waterfall (on the wet side of Maui). Check it out on Google maps or Google Earth Pro to see all the curves. Hana Highway changes name to Piilani Highway in a gulch just before on the Alelele Falls on the southern tip of Maui. The ruler Pi’ilani began building a roadway to encircle the entire island Piʻilani – Wikipedia
The waves at the Ke’anae Peninsula were spectacular. The colors blue, aqua, black, and green are stunning.
The Ke’anae Peninsula was created from an immense lava flow originating from Haleakala Crater. Legend has it that a Maui chief ordered the building of Ke’anae peninsula into farmable land. Workers hauled, by hand, soil from the valley above to fill in the entire area. On April 1st, 1946 a tsunami wiped out the entire village. There was an 8.6 earthquake that originated in the Aleutian Islands chain off the coast of Alaska that caused a 100 ft. high tsunami near the epicenter in the Aleutians, but it had lost most of its energy and was 35 feet by the time it hit the Ke’anae Peninsula. In 1946 and there wasn’t any such thing as a tsunami warning system in the Pacific at the time. Tragically, 20 children and 4 teachers were pulled out to sea. A positive outcome from this tragedy was the development and implementation of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. (from Visit Keanae Peninsula | Take Hana Tours to Keanae Maui (tourmaui.com)). Also see Visit Keanae Peninsula | Take Hana Tours to Keanae Maui (tourmaui.com)
The Old Lahaina Luau (check out this link – lots of information) is the most authentic and traditional one in Maui. I loved that they covered the history of the dance and more. It was educational as well as entertaining. The excellent servers were gorgeous and the food top notch. It just kept coming…
Scenes along the coast of Maui. This is a continuation of our drive on day three. Some of the drive was a little hairy – no Armco next to drop-offs down to the sea. The scenery is spectacular. There were lots of tourists at the Nakalele Blowhole.
I saw the same butterflies I see in the US: Monarchs, Painted Ladies, Orange and Yellow Sulphur’s, and little Blues.
It was raining off and on the third day. The Maui Nui Botanical Garden was a small native plant garden and a bit disappointing. We stopped for lunch at one of the many excellent food trucks, the Ula’Ula Cafe. Then we started an adventurous drive around the Central and Western coast of Maui. Starting with the Kahekili Hwy later becoming the Honoapiilani Hwy. Some of it is a dirt road.
Early on the third day we wen tot bird at Kanaha pond. I saw a couple of Hawaiian Nene geese there. After that we drove to the kite Beach along the central Coast of Maui. Red Junglefowl are everywhere – in restaurants, at the beach, in the parks, and along the roadside.
We stayed at the Schooner Resort in Lahaina. The suite was lovely and the pool and other amenities where nice. Everything was prefect except of one small incident. The cleaning staff lost my swimsuit during our room change mid stay (we were there for two weeks). Management kindly refunded me. I had to swim in my shorts. It all worked out OK.
On the first morning after a walk to along the beach by the resort in Waipuilani Park. Then we drove to Kealia Pond to look for indigenous birds. I got two of them there. I didn’t notice any Hawaiian ducks there.
We enjoyed the old buildings and history in Lahaina on our second day in Maui. See Flag of Hawaii – Wikipedia. We met Marc’s cousin Margaret and her mate there for lunch. Most of the shops along Front Street are tacky.
