5 Days in Paradise

After a long month of moving and visiting parents and grandparents, we are finally on our way to Japan! We decided that on our way, we would take a brief stop in Maui for a long overdue honeymoon. We rented a condo in Kihei from old family friends, Tina and Steve Smith. The condo was right on the beach and the perfect size for the two of us. Kihei is a great central location from which to get to different places all around Maui.

Our first day consisted of getting situated and grabbing supplies for the next few days. If you know Sarah at all, you know she loves fruit, especially of the tropical variety, so we needed to buy some fresh fruit grown on the island. We ended up at a farmers market in North Kihei where we ran across Ululanis Hawaiian Shave Ice. I enjoyed my first shave ice, and I am definitely a fan. We spent the rest of the day looking at beaches and hopping into the water for quick dips to cool off. We enjoyed poke for lunch at South Maui Fish Company, a small food truck in Kihei which has fresh, locally caught fish daily and closes when they run out of fish for the day — something I support as the son of a commercial fisherman. Their poke blew both of our socks off and was far and away the best quality fish that we had during our time on Maui. We ended our first day attending the Feast at Lele, which is a five course, upscale luau that features cuisine and dance performances from four different Polynesian cultures. My personal favorite dish was the Palusami from Samoa, a braised coconut cream corned beef.

Day two started off really early in the morning, as we had reservations to go whale watching. After researching tour companies on the internet, we booked a three hour whale watching tour with Pac Whale Eco-Adventures, a branch of the Pacific Whale Foundation, a local non profit that has a mission to protect the ocean through science and advocacy and conducts local research, education and conservation programs. We felt that it was important to support this non profit as their mission was aligned with our views on conservation. We were ecstatic with our choice. The tour was onboard a large sailing catamaran that had two certified marine naturalists who answered all the questions that Sarah peppered them with! We also lucked out with our timing of this trip, as February is the time of year that Humpback whales migrate to Hawaii to mate or give birth to calves. It is estimated that 11,000 humpbacks migrate to Hawai’i every year — half the North Pacific population.

The first whale we saw on the tour was beyond all expectations. It was a full breach, the whale was completely out of the water, tail and all, about 100 yards away from the vessel. It was spectacular and I was dumbfounded for the next five minutes after that. I never expected to see that happen in my life and it happened within the first 20 minutes of the tour. Of course, I didn’t have my camera ready, so I will have to cherish the memory of it. Throughout the three hour trip, we saw over 50 different whales breaching, diving, logging (floating at the surface) and just swimming around. We saw mothers and calfs, males trying to impress females, and whales just playing around. The rest of the second day we spent snorkeling in Lahaina and Kihei, where we heard whales singing while we dove.

On the third day we drove the road to Hana, the eastern-most town on Maui. It is an all day drive along a twisty, turny two lane highway through dense rainforest on the north-side of the island and volcanic sloping plains along the south-side of the trip. I love driving roads like this: numerous switchbacks, blind corners, parts so narrow that there is only room for one car with only yield signs to guide both directions, bridges with no guard rails, and sections of road buttressed between sheer cliff sides and crashing surf. The weather was ever changing while we drove, switching from torrential downpours with gusting winds to clear and calm beautiful sunshine. Needless to say, I enjoyed myself behind the wheel. One of the highlights for me was going to the Kipahulu section of Haleakala National Park. Anyone who knows me knows that I love National Parks and the National Park system, so anytime I visit one it fills my soul with happiness. Unfortunately, the road to this national park was a long one so we didn’t have as much time to explore the Kipahulu section as I would have liked. We were able to do a quick 1.5 mile hike to view some waterfalls and the Pools of ‘Ohe’o. The pools were beautiful and it is easy to see why places like this were revered by the early Polynesians who settled Maui.

We woke up to some pretty powerful wind on Day Four and we hoped that it would settle down so we could go out and snorkel some more. Alas, Mother Nature did not cooperate with our plans. We attempted to swim at two separate beaches, but the visibility and surf made conditions subpar, so we just chilled out at the condo for the rest of the day.

On our last day on Maui, we went snorkeling at Molokini Crater with the Pac Whale Eco-Adventures again. This six hour trip was amazing and is the main reason why I would recommend booking a trip through this non profit. Not only were the crew incredibly knowledgable, the customer service that they showed during the cruise was superb. We were fed breakfast before the trip and were provided snacks and lunch (with beer) on board. The crew were always asking if we needed anything drink or eat and were genuinely happy to be there. I would be too if I had their job!

We dove at three different places on the cruise: inside Molokini Crater, outside along the “wild side” of the crater that had a sharp drop off to deep water, and just off Makena Beach. All three places had fish and coral to view, but my favorite was Makena Beach because I got to swim with turtles! In the video below, I was just floating and watching this turtle swim around, then it swam up to me and was less than 4 feet away from me, I could have just reached out and touched it, but of course I didn’t.

This trip was amazing and a great way to recharge and relax before we hit Japan. Sarah and I were grateful to be able to spend time alone and just be together.

Some other highlights:

• Haili’imalie General Store – Great place for a nice dinner. Sarah enjoyed the best green curry she has had outside of Thailand, where she once lived for a year. I trust her judgment.
• Hula Pie at the Hula Grill – incredible dessert made with chocolate cookie crust, macadamia nut ice cream, hot fudge, toasted macadamia nuts, whipped cream. It was almost half the size of my head.

Next time you hear from me, I’ll be in Tokyo! Saraba da (See you soon in Japanese).