0
Slowfaller

Hawaii Travel Tips (cont.)

Recommended Posts

This past summer I posted that my wife and I want to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon and everything has finally been planned.

We'll be going to Maui and staying in Kahana which is an hour west from the airport from what I understand. A rental car is reserved for us so if anyone knows some inside tips on what to do there I'd appreciate it. The dates we're there are Mar 24th - Apr 1st.


I'm not current so there won't be any jumping in those crazy winds.

Thanks!
Chris


--"Someday you will die and somehow somethings going to steal your carbon" -MM

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A few things my wife and I did there:

World's Longest Downhill Bike Ride - If you can get up at say 3:30 AM, you can get the sunrise group to start at the top of Haleakala at near 10,000 feet and ride I believe 38 miles to the shore. There is only about 200 yards of that which require a little pedaling, the rest is all coasting and braking. Before you start the ride, you'll get to take a look at the crater of the world's largest dormant volcano. It's big enough to fit the island of Manhattan inside! Look at the horizon off to the east from the top and you can see the twin peaks of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on a clear day! :)
Road To Hana - A must! Take a whole day to drive this winding twisting two-lane road over one-lane bridges to the sights down there. I don't remember how far it goes, but I think it's maybe 25 miles to Hana from the airport, however, it doesn't take 30 minutes to get there. Try more like 2 to 3 hours. You'll want to stop by the Garden of Eden along the way. Also bring your swimsuits and go swimming and dunking in one of the world famous Seven Pools, which is a series of basins fed by ice-cold waterfalls within view of the ocean. Hana is a sleepy fishing town with a harbor, so there's not a whole lot to see there. But go a few miles past to where the paved road ends and there's a black sand beach. Play on it and grab handfuls of it and stare in wonder. Just don't take any of it with you. Trust me on that - old Hawaiian curse. If we'd had had enough time in the day, we would have gone looking for Charles Lindberg's grave further out.

Blackhawk helicopter air tours - Just do it. You won't regret it. B|

Iao Valley - It's beautiful and the site of an old battleground, I don't remember the participants of both sides but it involved native Hawaiians under a king.

Don't forget a kayaking/snorkeling excursion where you can check out some sea turtles underwater. Bring a waterproof camera.

These are just some of the things we did over there. One week was not enough time. My wife cried the day we had to leave. One day we'll return. :)
If you have Google Earth, check the cool stuff and terrain out there. If you don't have it, download it.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Couldn't agree more with Billy's post. One small add; if you're doing the Road to Seven Pools, either DO tell the car rental place you're doing it, and expect an extra fee, or DON'T tel them, and hope you don't damage the car. It's a rough road.

This is one place I know very well, visited at least twice a year. You can go and do nothing and feel great, or go and have a full day and feel great.
Halekalea is a "gotta do" thing, IMO. They'll have cold beer and softdrinks at the bottom. There is a great luau to be found at all the hotels, and there is often some great entertainment at the MACC.
Walk the beaches at night, you'll often see manta rays right up near the shoreline.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Couldn't agree more with Billy's post. One small add; if you're doing the Road to Seven Pools, either DO tell the car rental place you're doing it, and expect an extra fee, or DON'T tel them, and hope you don't damage the car. It's a rough road.



This is why I said plan a whole day for that trip. You gotta drive SLOW! :D:D:D
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Couldn't agree more with Billy's post. One small add; if you're doing the Road to Seven Pools, either DO tell the car rental place you're doing it, and expect an extra fee, or DON'T tel them, and hope you don't damage the car. It's a rough road.



This is why I said plan a whole day for that trip. You gotta drive SLOW! :D:D:D


Pffft, it doesn't take an entire day. Lightweights. :P

Don't listen to them. It's an easy drive. Be sure to stop at all of the waterfalls on the way up, they are beautiful. :)
The road to Hana is quite an experience.
Be yourself!
MooOOooOoo

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I just got back from Maui last week, it was great. The road to Hana really isn't that bad, but I would make a full day trip out of it. If you do take the trip to Hana be sure to rent a GPS unit from GEo Trek (located next to the Maui Ocean Center - which is also a great place to visit). You can't get lost on the road to Hana, however the GPS is loaded with all sorts of information that automatically plays as you approach certain sites, it tells you when and where to pull over to see all that there is along the road. You can also get a road to Hana CD to play or a guide book, but the GPS was really nice (for $40) to listen to without fumbling through a guide book or constantly looking for mile markers.

Other things to do...

Go surfing or take a lesson (there are lots of surf schools, I took a 3 hour lesson for $60 including gear from Maui Wave Riders, they have locations in Lahaina, and Kihei)

Spend a night or two walking around front street in Lahaina, there isn't much for real night life, but there are lots of cool shops and art galleries to visit, and you don't miss anything if you go in the evening

Go whale watching, there was a ton of whale activity while we were there its only cost $25 for our whale watch through Pacific Whale Foundation, and we had whales along side the boat the entire time.

There is suppose to be a real good zipline tour with Skyline Eco Adventures (zipline.com) but they were already booked for our entire stay (you may want to book now, before you leave)

go snorkeling,snuba or scuba diving.

Take the drive around the Northwest side of the island (I mean all the way around from Lahaina to the north to Waiehu, the stop in at Iao Valley state park to see the Iao Needle, then continue on back to Lahaina. You can see the real surfers on the north shore, we stopped to watch for a while, I couldn't belive how big the waves were. There is an 8 mile strech of road that isn't a very comfortable drive (it makes the road to hana feel like a huge freeway!) in fact after we took it I noticed that it was a breech of my rental car contract, however it was well worth it. This whole loop took us about 1/2 a day. This would be a good day to go to the Maui Ocean center.

Maui Ocean center is a big aquarium where you can see all sorts of sea life, from starfish to Tiger sharks and Rays, they have a huge glass viewing area that is about 30' X 15' and 40' long glass tube that you walk through as the sharks and rays swim around you.

That is only the tip of the iceberg, there is a ton to do there, but don't forget some beach time.

Have fun

__________________________________________________
Don't take life too seriously. You'll never get out alive.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I forgot to mention, we booked alot of our activities through a little expedia location (I saw lots of them while I was there). It was nice because it only took us half an hour to book our activities for entire stay.

Also don't forget to spend one night at a Luau, the food is good, and you get a little entertainment, we went to the one at the Hyatt, it was a great feast.

__________________________________________________
Don't take life too seriously. You'll never get out alive.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Will be looking into these things mentioned but my wife has expressed concern on the bike ride. It'll take some convincing...

Thanks Billy, DSE and Lisa.



It really is something not to be missed. The views are exemplary. The tour leaders are very safety-oriented. There are rules you have to follow, and there is a lunch break about half-way down the mountain. Oh by the way, dress in layers. It gets cold up there early in the morning and you may even encounter some misting rain when you pass through the cloud layer. However, I didn't take the sunrise ride, I took the next one, starting at 9 am, though I still had to get up at damn near sunrise anyway.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0