HAWAII
Maui Day 3-4
Aloha! This blog post will cover Monday and Tuesday of our Hawaii trip. We did our first snorkeling, saw whales, went to a luau and did some hiking!
Monday
We started off bright and early with a kayaking and snorkeling tour. We chose Kayak Olowalu which started at 8 AM. We were given the advice to do this kind of tour early in the week for two reasons: First, we were still on California time so we could wake up early, and second if it rained we’d have time to reschedule.
The start of the tour was kayaking in the bay and basically hunting down whales. Whenever we saw a spout, we’d paddle as fast as we could to get closer to them. It was pretty insane because we could hear the whale singing from the surface as we got closer.
We paid extra to get a GoPro for our tour, which ended up being 100% worth it because we paddled directly over some whales and were able to see them from the kayaks.
Here’s a snippet of footage we got.
I will say that paddling a kayak is hard work! And definitely make sure to wear a ton of sunscreen.
Finally we were able to do a bit of snorkeling. I thought the snorkeling gear was of low quality, but we did see a turtle and a shark resting on the bottom of the water so that was really cool. However, I will say that there was just as good snorkeling on the beach by our resort.
We got done back to the car around 11 AM so we had plenty of time in the afternoon for lunch and relaxing at the resort. Our next stop was the Old Lahaina Lu’au – touted as Maui’s most authentic luau.
Due to COVID the luau now serves a multi course meal of traditional Hawaiian dishes like poi, pineapple, pork wrapped in taro leaf, and much much more. I actually thought the food was really good but there is a lot of it so you’ll need to pace yourself.
Complimentary first mai thai (I sadly still don’t like mai thais but this was still a nice gesture)
The luau is right on the water so the sunset behind the stage was INSANE. We also had seating right in front. Our table was on the ground and we sat on cushions.
The main course and dessert:
The dancing and history of Hawaii we learned were also awesome. Those dancers can really move their hips! I definitely think is a worthwhile experience.
We were stuffed and happy at the end of the night to return to our hotel to pass out.
Tuesday
We had a leisurely start to our Tuesday before heading out to Dragon’s Teeth for a short hike. The appeal of this hike is that it’s very short, has some amazing rock formations and tidepools, and a great view of the ocean.
I had the misfortune of getting an infection on my foot that caused it to be a little painful to walk but I still wanted to get out of the hotel and do a little exploring so I was grateful for the short jaunt.
The tidepools were really cool, we saw a ton of crabs, little fish and anenome. Plus the volcanic rock formations were incredibly cool and variable.
We spent about an hour here before heading to Napili Plaza for lunch at Maui Tacos. I hadn’t eaten breakfast so I got three tacos: fish, shrimp and BBQ pork Maui Taco. I thought the seafood was delectable and the BBQ pork was just okay.
From there we headed to Nakalele Point to view the blowhole. This hike is pretty steep down and really rocky.
It was really cool to see the water blowing up and covering everyone in a fine mist. There’s also a sign at the top of the trail that warns of the danger of the blowhole. I definitely didn’t get too close.
I think that if you’re staying near Lahaina or Napili that these two are definitely worth the trip but I wouldn’t drive really far out of your way to come here.
We had just about enough adventuring after that and headed back to the resort. We had to get to bed early for our adventures for the next day.
For dinner we got L&L delivery! I know, not our most authentic dining experience in Hawaii!