Swamp Travel Companion: Maui

[rass]

[A_B]

"...the tantalizing wetness of the blue pacific."

[DaveInSeattle]

Kauai was awesome. Lots of hiking (NaPali coast...Waimea Canyon), snorkeling (although light on fish), paddle boarding, cocktails/beers on the beach (we brought my growler and used it for making mai tais to take down to the beach for sunset), great ahi and poke, and whales!( we did a whale watching/sunset dinner cruise, and then one day a whale started breaching/tail-slapping just off the beach we were at). Just a fantastic experience.

Only downside...of the 12 people on the trip, there was a woman with her 30-ish year old daughter along that I'd never met. The daughter was cool (bartender from LA), but the mom was ANNOYING AS FUCK. She just never shut up, about anything, and was one of those "topper" people...she always thought she had a better/cooler story to add to the mix. She was wearing me out.

When we went to get on the plane yesterday afternoon...yep, you guessed it....the annoying lady had the seat right next to mine. I was just going to slap the headphones on and ignore her for 5+ hours, but my GF took pity on me and traded seats.

Oh, and I've decided that paddle boarding is boring. After about 15 minutes, I was thinking "Ok...what next".

[bfj]

I enjoyed the pictures you shared. It is about as close as I will ever get to Hawaii.

[DaveInSeattle]

I enjoyed the pictures you shared. It is about as close as I will ever get to Hawaii.

Thanks...those were just the pictures from my phone. I've got a ton that I need to download from my camera.

[Giff]

I enjoyed the pictures you shared. It is about as close as I will ever get to Hawaii.

Thanks...those were just the pictures from my phone. I've got a ton that I need to download from my camera.

We're staying in the condos right next to that Lava Lava place.

[DaveInSeattle]

I enjoyed the pictures you shared. It is about as close as I will ever get to Hawaii.

Thanks...those were just the pictures from my phone. I've got a ton that I need to download from my camera.

We're staying in the condos right next to that Lava Lava place.

The happy hour at the Lava Lava club is awesome. $3 apps and drinks (beers and watered down cocktails).

[sancarlos]

I enjoyed the pictures you shared. It is about as close as I will ever get to Hawaii.

Thanks...those were just the pictures from my phone. I've got a ton that I need to download from my camera.

We're staying in the condos right next to that Lava Lava place.

The happy hour at the Lava Lava club is awesome. $3 apps and drinks (beers and watered down cocktails).

We've stayed twice at the Westin condos that are right near the Lava Lava. Fun times. Really great beach.

[DaveInSeattle]

I enjoyed the pictures you shared. It is about as close as I will ever get to Hawaii.

Thanks...those were just the pictures from my phone. I've got a ton that I need to download from my camera.

We're staying in the condos right next to that Lava Lava place.

The happy hour at the Lava Lava club is awesome. $3 apps and drinks (beers and watered down cocktails).

We've stayed twice at the Westin condos that are right near the Lava Lava. Fun times. Really great beach.

We were staying on the south coast, at Poipu. We stopped in at the Lava Lava on the way back from hiking on the Napali coast.

A great beach worth checking out is Tunnels beach, on the north coast. Fantastic.

We also went to a beach on the south side, in Port Allen, after hiking in Weimea canyon and before going on the whale watching cruise, called "Salt Pond Beach", which was nice. Small, but not crowded, and it seemed like very much like a "locals" spot.

[brian]

If I've learned anything from movies, it's not really a locals spot unless you get attacked by some dude with a surfboard chasing you away from the beach.

[govmentchedda]

If I've learned anything from movies, it's not really a locals spot unless you get attacked by some dude with a surfboard chasing you away from the beach.

WE GREW HERE, YOU FLEW HERE!!!!

[brian]

Booked a last-minute (-ish - we leave in six weeks) trip to the Big Island (Kona Coast).

Anyone ever been and have any must-dos? We're definitely going to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and probably to Mauna Kea. Probably not interested in anything over on the Hilo coast since we'll probably only rent a car for two or three days (our resort is walking distance from "downtown" Kailua-Kona).

[Sabo]

Booked a last-minute (-ish - we leave in six weeks) trip to the Big Island (Kona Coast).

Anyone ever been and have any must-dos? We're definitely going to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and probably to Mauna Kea. Probably not interested in anything over on the Hilo coast since we'll probably only rent a car for two or three days (our resort is walking distance from "downtown" Kailua-Kona).

The Big Island is by far my favorite of the Hawaiian islands I've visited. What's cool about it is you'll see all sorts of landscapes as you drive around the island. Some parts on the eastern shore look like Maine; the highland area along Saddle Road looks like Texas. If you want to see the rainforest, go toward Hilo. If you want to see snow, go to Mauna Kea. There's a little bit of everything there.

Mrs. Sabo and I stayed on the Hilo side for a week a few years ago and while we loved it, there's not a ton of must-see things on that side. If you decide to go that way, 'Akaka Falls State Park is definitely worth visiting. There's a beautiful waterfall there, and the walking trails were very nice, too.

Volcanoes NP is a must see, and definitely take the drive down Chain of Craters Road. It might be closed off due to the recent volcanic activity, but drive as much as you can. Off Chain of Craters Road is Hilina Pali Road, which is several miles long and ends at a beautiful overlook. You also can drive up Mauna Loa Road, which will take you through some of the most bizarre landscape you'll ever see. It ends at the Mauna Loa Lookout, where you can get some pretty good views of the surrounding land.

If you like black sand beaches, then you'll want to hit Punalu'u Black Sand Beach, which isn't terribly far from Volcanoes NP.

The only thing we did near Kona was the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park, which has some ancient rock art and some good demonstrations of the technologies ancient Hawaiians used to fish and hunt in that area.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

[GoodKarma]

Booked a last-minute (-ish - we leave in six weeks) trip to the Big Island (Kona Coast).

Anyone ever been and have any must-dos? We're definitely going to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and probably to Mauna Kea. Probably not interested in anything over on the Hilo coast since we'll probably only rent a car for two or three days (our resort is walking distance from "downtown" Kailua-Kona).

Just below the northern tip of the island is the Pololu Valley. You basically drive to the end of the road then walk down into the valley. Not too many people were there and the landscape I thought was great. It's the closest thing I've seen in HI to the Napali Coast on Kauai without the hassle of having to hike for a day or go out on a boat. The beach/ocean one direction then turn 180 degrees and look back into the valley with the river and the mountains.
http://liveinhawaiinow.com/pololu-valley/

If you are into coffee I recommend a coffee farm tour. I don't drink it but my wife does and Kona coffee is her favorite. I don't remember the name of the farm we went to but I'm guessing there are several. There is also a bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer/cacao farm called Original Hawaiian Chocolate that you can tour which is a rarity since cacao only grows a certain distance from the equator.

I also thought the Pu'ukohola National Monument was cool but I like national park/history kind of stuff.

https://www.nps.gov/puhe/index.htm

[sancarlos]

We stayed on the Kona side a few years ago and had a great time. To echo the post above, a coffee farm tour is fun - we went to a place in the hills above Kona called [checks t-shirt] Hula Daddy.

The coolest thing we did on our trip to the Big Island was go out on zodiac boats at dusk and go snorkeling with manta rays. We arranged it through the hotel concierge. The way that worked was you got horizontal in the water, looked down through your mask, and held onto a hula hoop-type ring around a surfboard. They had floodlights streaming up from the bottom, through the water. The light attracts plankton, who swarm in. The plankton, in turn, attract huge manta rays. They do it every night at the same places, so the manta rays have learned where the buffet is. They don't want to touch you, but they aren't afraid, so they do these barrel rolls as they eat the plankton and come within inches of you as you float on the surface. So, talk to your hotel concierge and find a place that does this!

[mister d]

First read about it this AM but either Twitter is so different current events aren’t covered the same or people are just being quiet. It sounds like Lahaina, to an insane degree, is just gone.

[phxgators]

I haven't really wanted to say anything about it because I don't want to make it sound like it impacts me directly but damn I hate to see this. We were just there last month, we went back after being there last year because we had such a good time and the people there are so awesome.

The thought of this happening at this scale in such an isolated place is terrifying. Even if you're ok elsewhere, like in Ka'anapali, there are communications issues, possibly food issues in the near term. Never mind what the residents will have to deal with over the coming years.

Can't imagine trying to rebuild after this.

[Brontoburglar]

the pictures are just devastating. it's just gone

[brian]

Looks like the Maui Classic will be played in Las Vegas for the second time in three years.

[BSF21]

Hurts my heart. I'm not exceptionally well traveled but this was one of my favorite places I've ever been. Pretty gutted tbh

[sancarlos]

Same.