Blogs from Maui, Hawaii, United States, North America - page 9

Geo: 20.9692, -156.68Seriously, can this be only the 2nd full day of our vacation? Island time, slow and laid back, is wonderful. This morning's breakfast was darn good. We saved one of our 2 baked potatoes from last night - shredded it, added some chopped onion and tomato and made hash browns. Accompanied by scrambled eggs with onions, toast and juice (and of course Kona coffee!) it was a nice way to start the day.Today we are going to explore some other places to snorkel. We pack up water bottles and snacks, snorkeling equipment and cameras, put on a boatload of sunscreen and hop in the car. We are heading for Honolua Bay which, according to our book, has excellent snorkeling. Honolua Bay and Slaughterhouse Beach are right next to each other separated by narrow Kalaepiha ... read more

This is our travel day when we leave Maui headed for Kauai. We spent a few last precious hours in our favorite infinity pool, then got packed up and made our way to the airport. On the way, Jeff & Allison stopped at the Big Kahuna Surf Shop and picked up the pictures from our surfing lessons - they will appear in blog entry soon. The short flight was uneventful, and we landed in sunny Kauai around 4pm. During our drive from the airport to the resort, we got a chance to see the different geography of this island... lush and green mountains much closer to us. The small Koa Kea Hotel is modern and elegant. Lots of white and chrome. The rooms are very nicely appointed, including a luxurious bath. After enjoying our new vacation ... read more

Well, 1:30am came pretty darn fast. But we were up and ready for our Haleakala volcano sunrise tour pickup at 2:45am. Things started out great as it turns out the 4 of us had the luxurious 8-passenger van and guide to ourselves. The weather was iffy as we left but we had 3 hours until sunrise. Our guide, Scotty, was very personable and knowledgeable, informing us about all things Hawaiian during the trip to the dormant volcano. We had hopes that the sunrise observation spot, at almost 10,000 feet above sea level, would be above the clouds and rainy weather we were experiencing. Although it was warm and muggy when we left the hotel, it was in the 40s at the observation point/visitor center when we arrived around 4:30am. And cloudy. And very windy. VERY windy. ... read more

12th February Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii This is our first Tender port. Lahaina used to be a former whaling port, and the channel off the coast as you enter the port is one of the best places in the world to spot humpback whales. It didn’t disappoint, I was up on deck early and within a few minutes had spotted whales close by and in the distance. The sea was alive with them; in the end I went back to the stateroom and just watched them from the balcony until we were ready to leave on our trip. Today’s trip was entitled the ‘Maui Pineapple Experience’ and it did what is says on the tin. After tendering into the small harbour (and it was small) we waited to board our bus. Lahaina was a whaling ... read more

Alright! After 4 wonderful days at sea, we pulled into the old whaling port of Lahaina this morning. The town does not have a dock big enough for the Oosterdam, so they've been tendering us to shore on the life boats. It's slower, but we're here until 11:30 pm so we have time. Walt and I came ashore after lunch and made almost directly for the public library to get caught up on our internet chores - including getting the dates on those pesky blogs corrected. That's what happens when you're at sea, relying on satellite internet connection and it just blops out on you. Walt and I were in Lahaina 20 years ago and it has changed much. Still keeps the whaling village traditions alive for the tourists. We are just wandering around today and ... read more