We had a rough start to our trip as our plane had to turn around shortly after departure and we had to switch planes. We got in at 3am and we eventually made it to our Airbnb.
Day 1
After sleeping in, we woke up and had a coffee on our balcony. From the balcony we could watch several huge sea turtles! They were so funny – you could see them sticking their heads up for air and sometimes being tossed around by a rogue wave.
We headed out to pick up our rental car (since it was closed by the time we got in last night) and did a grocery run. Our Airbnb was in a sleepy, quiet area, but centrally located with most places being within a 20 min drive.
After running around we made an epic lunch and spent the afternoon at our Airbnb, swimming with the sea turtles.
Day 2
Today we took a tour to the Molokini crater – a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater in the middle of the ocean! We snorkelled at the crater which was absolutely stunning. The visibility was excellent and we saw a lot of fish and coral we had never seen before. After the crater we went to another snorkel spot to snorkel with sea turtles and dolphins chased our boat along the way! The boat also had a huge inflatable slide that was actually really fun to go down. Since we were visiting after school had started, we barely saw any kids on our trip and none were on the tour. But we definitely made sure the slide was put to good use and were killing ourselves laughing the whole time. We really enjoyed the snorkeling tour and had a great day. The only thing we weren’t loving (and had discovered the previous day), was the mineral sunscreen. Omg it does not rub in! You’re just wildly white while wearing it and it gets everywhere! But it helps protect the reef so we begrudgingly wore it all the days we went into the ocean 🤣
Day 3
Today we hiked in the Ioa Valley state park – we saw the Ioa Needle and then hiked the “secret trail” for an incredible 360 view of the valley. The hike was beautiful and we picked guava from the trees along the way – to say they were delicious is an understatement. After the hike I had a quick swim in the river to cool off and then we were off to spend the afternoon at Kaanapali Beach to swim, relax and do a bit of snorkeling.
Day 4
Today we golfed the Wailea Emerald Golf Course to celebrate Steven’s birthday in August. The course was stunning and we had a great round! We could see the Molokini Crater from some of the holes which was really cool. And we didn’t get paired with anyone – bonus!!
Day 5
Today we did the famous road to Hana! We loved it!! It was so incredibly lush, the drive was just stunning. We had downloaded an audio tour and had a good time poking fun of our narrator we had nick-named “Henry”. We stopped at several waterfalls, beaches, did some hiking, and had Aunty Sandy’s banana bread which was the BOMBBB!!! Super long day, I think we were on the road for 10 or 12 hours, but really fun and absolutely worth doing.
Day 6
Today we had big plans to hike and explore Haleakala Crater but it was a far drive and significantly colder up there (feeling like 2c for sunset!!!!). We did not bring the right clothes and couldn’t imagine leaving the glorious heat so we had a lazy day at the beach and pool at our Airbnb. No regrets. We had another great food truck dinner out, followed by another ice cream cookie sandwich 🤣
Day 7
Our flight didn’t depart until late evening so we snuck another round of golf in at a municipal course we found. For a municipal course it was awesome! It was right along the ocean, with an incredible mountain range in the background as well. We really enjoyed it and golfed with some nice locals.
Overall, we had an amazing time in Maui and can’t wait to come back one day. We were really unsure about even going on this trip after the devastating fires in Lahaina but decided we’d still go after reading that Maui was encouraging visitors to continue with their travel plans outside of West Maui. When we got there it had been a month since the fire and you could really see that tourism was struggling – it was a ghost town. But everywhere we went we were greeted warmly and thanked for being there and the support. We even had a random guy stop us at a traffic light to say thanks for visiting. Of course not all Hawaiians may be feeling this way, but we felt very welcomed and were really glad that we came.