We had a great sunset during our first evening in Maui
Waiting on our first snorkel boat, we spotted this turtle off the docks.
The view from our first snorkeling boat
The food and drinks on our first boat were amazing!
Taking our first dip. This was my first time in the Pacific!
There wasn’t much to see, but it felt good to be in the water
Pictures really don’t do it justice
The Banyan tree in Lahaina takes up an entire block. The birds love it!
They should have had a warning about all the naked people around the corner
This path led to a nude beach, which we didn’t realize.
The sunset during the ride back was amazing
The ride out to the first dive
Dive #1 was supposed to be Molokini crater, but the weather didn’t cooperate. It was still nice to get underwater!
Rainbows were definitely plentiful in Hawaii. Caught this one in between dives
Sunset at Kapalua Bay
Sunset at Kapalua Bay
Lisa’s Instagram pose
What better way to spend a rainy night than at a local brewery?
Coconut porter!
We planned on doing the road to Hana this day, but the forecast called for pouring rain the entire day. We decided to go around the back way on the dry side of the island. It turned out to be the perfect day. The back side is deserted, with very few cars/travelers. The views were amazing, and it felt like we were on a different planet.
It starts out sort of green as you ride around the back side, but quickly turns arid. There’s nobody around as far as you can see.
The road starts out nice and paved, but that doesn’t last
The road doesn’t stay nice and paved long. There are spots where it is gravel/dirt.
The views were amazing. The landscape quickly turns from green and lush to arid and dry. This is an in-between spot along the way.
The back road is on the back side of Haleakala National Park. It’s crazy to think that on the other side of the mountain everything is green and lush.
It’s hard to get a sense of scale from photos
Lisa for scale
Our trusty Jeep. I’m sure we looked like tourists most of the time, but we were both glad to have it going around the back road.
Lisa spotted wild pink peppercorns growing. She ground them up and ate them with dinner, but the rest of us were a little unsure. It turns out she was right.
Things quickly returned to being lush and green as we looped around near Hana.
A black rock beach along the way
We stopped at a small farm/fruit stand before we got to our campsite. They had Jackfruit trees
Near the campsite
Lisa’s friends Christina and Aaron were kind enough to meet up with us to camp and showed us around the park. This was a path headed back to a rocky beach. We never would have found this alone
Looking down on the rocky area
Lisa enjoying the view and company
Sunset on our private rocky beach
Walking back to the campsite
The stars at night were amazing
Camping overnight outside Hana was definitely a highlight of the trip – much different than the typical ride in and out of Hana.
We woke up early for sunrise after camping. What a great view to wake up to!
One of several waterfalls along the hike
This touch-sensitive plant curls up when you touch it
The flowers of this plant are edible and taste like mushrooms. Again, never would have known that if it weren’t for our guide Aaron!
Tarot planted along the hiking trail
We weren’t aware we were hiking towards a waterfall, and definitely not one of this scale. It was amazing!
A banyan tree along the hiking path
We stopped at a red sand beach in Hana before heading back. We didn’t have time to hang out here, but it was nice to see! Lisa camped here on a previous trip to Maui.
The “sand” is actually small red pebbles
It rained the entire ride back from Hana, but that didn’t stop Lisa from getting to the eucalyptus trees!
We drove to the summit of Haleakala for sunset since apparently to do sunrise you have to make a reservation. It was still amazing. It’s really high u and takes a while to drive up
This is near the summit. This road goes up to the summit
It was really cold.
Sunset at Haleakala
The crater at Hleakala
The stars after sunset were unbelievable. We kind of lucked out in a way by not coming for sunrise. The only downside was the bitter cold.
There was a storm in the distance. The light in the left side is lightening over a town. It was pretty cool being up above the cloudline at night while a storm was coming through.
The lights here are a town below the cloudline. We stopped to see this on our way down.
