Hawaii is a destination that most people consider
their dream vacation, and the eight of us are no exception. When it came time for Dauster, Karabeener, Butchwacker (BW), Kat, Cupcake,
and Berg to pick the one place in the world that they wanted to visit after
graduating from college, the choice was unanimous---The Hawaiian Islands. Pick,
Cupcake, and I (Weisey) had been to Hawaii in 1999, but we had no qualms about
going back! Plans were set in motion to make this dream a reality. The hard part
was juggling the schedules of eight people into a timeframe we could all agree
upon. Dates were chosen, islands were agreed upon, hotels and flights were
booked, and in the end Kat and Cupcake were, unfortunately, unable to commit to
this journey. But for the rest of us it was full steam ahead!
Choosing what islands to visit out of this magnificent
chain is no easy task, but after much debating we agreed to explore just two
islands…The Big Island and Maui. We booked through Pleasant Hawaii and were very
pleased with their services. Our package included airfare from the mainland, two
hotel rooms on each island, a rental van on each island, and the inter-island
flight. The hotels we chose on each island were outstanding! On The Big Island
we stayed at the
Ohana Keauhou Beach Resort, and on Maui our home was the
Maui
Prince Hotel. Both facilities were absolutely incredible, each had beautiful
rooms and grounds, and prime snorkeling right off the beach in front of the
resort. We couldn’t have chosen better places to stay.
The Big Island of Hawaii was our first destination and
when we landed at the Kona airport we were welcomed with a traditional lei
greeting. The fragrant blooms held promise of tropical adventures and embodied
the spirit of Aloha. Our trip was off to a great start! Pick and BW shuttled off
to pick up our van, while the rest of us stood guard over a mountain of luggage.
The logistics of traveling with six people can be a bit daunting, but we had no
doubts that we could make everything work. Our confidence was not unfounded, and
when the van rolled up we expertly loaded the bags into the back. The third seat
was not a place you wanted to be while transporting the luggage, Karabeener and
Dauster can attest to that fact, but that leg of the trip was short and we were
soon at our hotel. John the bellman, our favorite person at the Ohana, whisked
our bags off to our rooms and kindly filled us in on all the great places to
explore on the island. We couldn’t wait to visit some of Hawaii’s wonders, but
first we needed food! We headed for our favorite restaurant, Outback Steakhouse,
where we had a great meal. Now it was time to crash. The flight from the Midwest
to Hawaii is always a tiring one, but this time the flight was even more
stressful…let me tell you a little story. Our flight was scheduled to depart at
7:30am on June 21st; everyone knew this many months in advance. As
always, the night before the flight we were all excitedly phoning each other
making sure we had all the times and schedules planned out just right.
Everything was going according to schedule until we received a frantic phone
call from BW…Beener was nowhere to be found, in fact she was lost in the
Caribbean! None of us had any idea that she had moved up an August trip to Grand
Cayman to the week before our Hawaii trip! This would have been no problem at
all, except that her flight home to NYC was cancelled. The two day leeway she
had given herself to arrive home and leave for Hawaii was now down to hours.
There was no way she was going to make it to NYC, drive back to Ohio, and make
it to the airport in time to depart. She had to ditch the flight to NYC and
re-route to Columbus from Grand Cayman. This would put her in Columbus at around
midnight on the day of our flight. Not much time for rest, especially after Pick
discovered that our 7:30am flight had been CANCELLED and rescheduled for
5:50am…thank God she checked the airline’s website late that night! Frantic
calls were put out to everyone to get them the new flight info, and at this late
hour (around 11:30pm) it was determined that we might as well not even sleep. We
would have to be at the airport at 4am to check in for the flight, and most of
us live an hour away! But more pressing than the sleep issue was the question as
to whether or not Beener was going to make the flight! Turns out we all made it
to the airport in time, but Beener had no clean clothes. Her luggage from Grand
Cayman was now her luggage for Hawaii! That was one crazy day!! But enough about
that mess lets get on to exploring Hawaii.
We woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to
explore. Our first priority was to check out the snorkeling at our resort;
especially since Berg had never even been to the ocean before! He couldn’t have
picked a better initiation into the world of water sports than Hawaii. Kahaluu
Bay Beach Park, with an easy beach entry for snorkelers, adjoins the Ohana
resort, and on the other side of the hotel you will find ocean tide pools that
shelter reef fish and sea turtles. Pick, BW, and I awoke early to a beautiful
vista outside our lanai (balcony). Below us in the tide pools we could see
several large sea turtles sunning themselves on rocks. We quickly showered and
headed down to investigate the tide pools. The pools were full of life; we
discovered sea cucumbers, Moorish idols, crabs, tang, and of course the sea
turtles. After wading around for awhile we decided to head back to the resort to
join the others for breakfast, then it was off to snorkel. Pick and I were the
only ones who had snorkeled before, so it took some getting used to for everyone
else. Berg picked up on it quite quickly, but Dauster was a little freaked out,
which surprised us because she is normally such a daredevil…too much of shark
week maybe? BW, despite her fear of water, did amazingly well, and so did
Beener…once they finally got in the water they stayed together and encouraged
each other. I think everyone was mesmerized by the beauty of the underwater
world. The coral, even at this popular beach park, was in excellent condition,
and the fish were abundant and tame. I think we saw just about every fish on the
fish chart that morning, including the unofficial state fish the
Humuhumunukunukuapua’a…trigger fish to us haoles. We spent about an hour
floating in the crystal clear, azure waters enjoying the marine life, but our
day of exploring was just getting started. Next on our list was Hawaii Volcanoes
National Park.
According to the
Eruption Update,
Madame Pele was
putting on quite a show at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and we wanted to get
there before the fireworks stopped. But along the way we couldn’t pass up an
opportunity to visit The Place of Refuge where ancient heiaus, and tiki statues
dot the landscape. This is also an excellent place to view basking Hawaiian
Green Sea Turtles; you can even snorkel with the turtles at this location. We
decided to save that for another day, and continued on towards the volcano. The
sky was starting to look like rain, and soon it was misting, not what we wanted
to see before setting off to hike to a lava flow. Luckily, the rain was
short-lived and our hike was fantastic. To see the lava entering the ocean was
quite a thrill, you can’t imagine how powerful of a force it actually is until
you see it for yourself. The trek over jagged lava rock, across steaming ground
and oozing lava flows, is one spectacular hike! If you would like to read a
detailed description of our adventure please visit
Natural Born Hikers
and look
for the Banana Flow
entry.
Wednesday was a lounge day. We spent our time shopping
in Kona and sight seeing around the town. We had lunch at a most excellent
restaurant called Dirty Jake’s where they have awesome burgers and great
atmosphere, definitely stop by if you are in Kona. Later that night we stopped
in the Kona Brewery for some pizza and brews. Dauster and BW ordered the beer
sampler and they recommend trying as many of the micro-brews as possible!
No trip to The Big Island is complete without a visit
to the Captain Cook monument. This is without a doubt the most fantastic
snorkeling anywhere! The coral formations are huge and colorful, and the marine
life is diverse and thriving, and getting there is half the fun! All you need is
a sense of adventure and you will be ready to create some unforgettable
memories. There are several ways to get to the monument; you can hike (this
means carrying all of your snorkel gear-so we said no thanks), or you can take a
guided tour on a boat (this means snorkeling off a cattle boat with tons of
other people- so we said no thanks), for us there was only one choice, and that
was to rent kayaks and cruise Kealakekua Bay ourselves. To do this we needed to
rent three double kayaks and attach them to the top of the van. We stopped by
Kealakekua Kayak & Dive and got just what we needed, plus they were super
friendly and great at loading all the gear. Now all we had to do was unload the
kayaks and successfully launch them into the bay. Thank goodness we had stopped
at Daylight Donuts for a healthy breakfast! The breakfast sandwiches they serve
and their to-die-for donuts gave us the energy we needed to hoist those kayaks
off the van’s roof and down into the bay. Once again, most of our group had no
experience kayaking (only Pick and I had kayaked before), but that didn’t stop
us from achieving our goal. We paired up into teams (Berg and Dauster, Pick and
BW, Weisey and Beener) and set out in our kayaks. Everyone took to the sport
very quickly, especially BW! Together with Pick the two of them glided
effortlessly across the bay, they even dubbed themselves Team Mahi Mahi. When we
were half way across Kealakekua Bay we spotted some resident Spinner Dolphins.
We energetically discussed the possibility of swimming with wild dolphins, and
with little time to waste Berg decided to jump in. Unfortunately, the dolphins
had disappeared. He climbed back into the kayak and we headed on over to the
monument, all the while keeping an eye out for the return of the pod. Once at
the monument it takes a little maneuvering and skill to land the kayak without
dumping. Each of our teams managed to get their kayak up onto the beach with no
trouble. We tied the boats to some trees, grabbed our snorkel gear, and hiked to
the white obelisk that marks the site of Captain Cook’s death (FYI this is
actually British soil) and prepared to enter the ocean. This is not as easy as
you might think, the entry and exit at this particular spot can be quite
difficult, the shore consists of jagged lava rock and exposed coral. The waves,
as waves are known to do, consistently crash onto the rocks making your timing
very important. We found that the easiest way to get in the water is to drop off
of the sea wall in front of the monument; the drop is about 3 feet but much
easier than fighting the waves from shore. If only you could exit via this route
as well, but all worries are soon forgotten when you put your head under the
water. Beautiful tropical fish swim about everywhere and the coral formations
are spectacular.
As mentioned before, exiting Captain Cook can be
dangerous if your timing isn’t just right, and unfortunately Karabeener was just
a few seconds off. Before she could manage to get herself prepared to exit the
water, a wave caught her and slammed her into the rough shoreline. Fortunately,
she was able to swim back out to the outside of the sea wall where some people
helped pull her out of the water. Luckily, she only scraped up her hip from the
accident, but it was nonetheless a very scary experience.
On our way back across the bay we once again spotted
the spinner dolphins. This time Pick, myself, and Berg wasted no time jumping
into the water. As soon as we put on our snorkel and mask and lowered our heads
into the ocean we could hear the dolphins! Then it wasn’t long until they were
all around us! You could see them swimming below you, turning over on their
backs and exposing their white bellies while they looked up at you, it was
amazing! The entire pod stayed around for several minutes, and a couple of the
dolphins would swim right along with us only an arm’s length away. It was just
incredible to see them looking right into your eyes! A few even performed some
acrobatics by jumping right out of the water and executing some great spin
maneuvers…now we know where they got their name! One even jumped out of the
water just a few feet in front of Berg. I simply can’t explain how awesome this
experience was, it is one that we will never forget!
We rounded out our day in the ocean with a stop at The
Place of Refuge for some more snorkeling. As mentioned before, this is a great
place to swim with turtles. As soon as we entered the water, and I am talking
just wading off the shore, there were at least five huge turtles swimming along
without a care in the world. After we side-stepped around the curious turtles to
an area where it was deep enough to get into the water, we swam out to the
deeper part of the lagoon into some better visibility. Well, at least three of
us did. Dauster, Beener, and BW were a little freaked by the huge, friendly sea
turtles. Every time they attempted to snorkel a turtle would swim up and say
hello by meeting them face to face, and when you aren’t used to snorkeling this
can be a little unnerving. For us it was just plain hilarious! We could hear
them screaming and laughing from clear out in the lagoon. Finally Dauster was
able to evade her new reptilian friends long enough to swim into the deeper
water. While out in the lagoon we swam with sea turtles, Moorish idols, yellow
tang, rectangular triggerfish, orange-spined tang, and even a Picasso
triggerfish. There were also wicked coral gardens and canyons that looked
perfect for sleeping sharks…shhhh, don’t tell Dauster! We ended our adventurous
day with a huge meal at; you guessed it, Outback Steakhouse.
The next morning we woke up early for our one
pre-booked trip. Today we would be joining the crew of Dolphin TLC for an
excursion with wild dolphins. We booked with a company called
Dolphin Journeys,
and our hopes were high that this encounter would be just as spectacular as our
Kealakekua Bay adventure. Our crew for the trip was Captain Nancy Sweatt (Nancy
has an amazing life story and you can read about her on their Dolphin Journeys
website), first mate Alicia, and videographer Jim. Our trip started off with
quite a show. The dolphins were once again performing their phenomenal
acrobatics, and everyone was eager to get in and swim with them, except for BW.
Butchwacker has quite a fear of the ocean, but to her credit she wanted to try
and overcome her phobia. Once we all got in the water, BW started to panic a
little, but Alicia was great. She stayed with her and helped calm her down.
Unfortunately, the dolphins only briefly visited with us, swimming far below us
in the deep blue water. At least everyone did get to see them, and we can now
all say we swam with wild dolphins. The absence of dolphins put a slight damper
on the trip, but we had a good day lying in the sun out on a beautiful boat with
a friendly and energetic crew. We were of course very thankful for our encounter
the day before, and it made us realize just how lucky we were to have had the
dolphins swim with us in the bay.
Later that evening Pick and I drove to Waipio and
Polulu Valley for a short hike into the canyons. The cliffs of Waipio are
stunning, and from the lookout you can see towering waterfalls cascading over
the precipice straight into the ocean below. From Polulu we watched the sunset
turn the sky and water a beautiful shade of lavender. It was a beautiful way to
end the day.
Saturday morning we spent our final hours on The Big
Island at Ohana snorkeling in the bay. Later that afternoon we caught our flight
to Maui. We were all ready to begin the second leg of our Hawaii adventure on
Maui. We arrived at the Maui Prince Hotel and could not believe our eyes! This
hotel is outstanding! The grounds are remarkable, and there is an atrium in the
center that just makes you say “Wow!” The atrium is complete with a tropical
garden, waterfall, tulip trees, a koi pond, and even some resident night herons.
We chose the Maui Prince due to its proximity to a famed snorkel spot called
turtle town, but we never expected such luxury. That night we settled into our
rooms after an Italian feast at Antonio’s.
The beach, Maluaka Beach, in front of the Maui Prince
was perfect. The sand is soft and the ocean is gorgeous. Turtle town is indeed
right off their beach, and it is an easy swim from shore. Just look for the
numerous boats anchored off the beach and you will know right where to go.
Turtle town is so named because of the many sea turtles that gather in the area
to be cleaned by fish, hence the term “cleaning station”. The coral is also
fantastic, and there is even an arch that you can swim under. We spent the
morning exploring the area, working up an appetite for lunch. When we were good
and hungry we drove to Lahaina to cruise the area for a restaurant. We ended up
at “Cheeseburger in Paradise” where
I had one of the most incredible burgers I
have ever tasted. If you are a burger aficionado you have got to try this place!
After lunch we walked around town shopping in the gift shops and galleries. That
evening we headed to The Hyatt for a luau called “Drums of the Pacific”, we were
all ready for some Kailua pork and never ending mai-tais. The luau was pretty
good, but not near as good as the one we attended on Kauai in 1999. The
entertainment at “Drums of the Pacific” was much better, since it incorporated
fire, but the food was not nearly as good and I didn’t like the fact that you
couldn’t go up and get food or beverages easily. A waiter took orders for
drinks, as opposed to an open bar, and the food was served table by table,
rather than buffet style. Nevertheless, it was an amazing evening. Everyone who
goes to Hawaii should go to at least one luau.
Back at the Maui Prince we stopped at the bar before
heading to our rooms for the night. BW bought me a Blue Hawaiian, since I was
the DD (Designated Driver) for the luau, and Dauster and I had a race to see who
could finish our drink the fastest. Being that I am a total lightweight she had
no problem kicking my ass, but I did give her a pretty good run for her money.
Watching the competitive side of Dauster emerge, even in an inebriated state,
was one of the most hilarious things I have seen! When I pointed out that I was
actually drinking my cocktail faster then she was, well, you have never seen
someone drink so fast! I laughed so hard that I cried…good times.
Early Monday morning Pick and I walked from the hotel
past Maluaka Beach to Oneuli “Black Sand” Beach in order to hike a trail called
Puu Olai “Red Hill” where you can access tide pools and great views of the
ocean, and the crescent shaped crater of Molikini. Detailed trail descriptions
and photos can be found on our hiking website
Natural Born Hikers. We also
stopped at Makena State Park for a stroll along Oneloa “Big” Beach. This wide
stretch of sand is a great place for a morning walk.
Later that morning we all jumped in the van and headed
for Haleakala National Park. Our first stop was at Leleiwi Lookout where you can
get great views of the massive crater, and where it is possible to witness a
phenomenon called The Brocken Specter. A Brocken Specter, or Glory, happens when
the clouds are low, just below you, and the sun is behind you at just the right
angle, casting your shadow onto the clouds. The glory is official when that
shadow is ringed by a rainbow. Our timing was almost perfect on this one, but
not quite. We could see a partial rainbow ring, but no projection of our shadows
onto the clouds…so close! Our next stop was the summit of Haleakala, Red Hill,
at 10,023 feet. On our way there we performed a little experiment. While down in
Kihei we stopped and bought a bag of chips so that we could watch the air
pressure increase as we drove up to the high altitude summit, and sure enough
the bag kept getting bigger and bigger the higher we drove, until finally it
exploded! Try it for yourself; it was pretty cool to watch. Another thing to
watch for while on the summit is the native silversword. This plant is unique to
Hawaii and its striking silver color is a real contrast to the multi-hued dark
sands of the crater.
On our way down from the summit we stopped to hike a
portion of Sliding Sands Trail. If you only do one hike at Haleakala choose this
fantastic trail. The trail takes the hiker deep into the painter’s palette of
the crater. The colors of the landscape within the crater are astounding. Red,
orange, brown, rust, yellow, green, gray, and black are just a sampling of the
colors you will encounter in this landscape. Just remember, the further you hike
into the crater, the harder it will be to hike back out. Don’t let those
beautiful colors lure you too deep into the crater! In addition to the
magnificent scenery along this trail you might also see some pretty amazing
wildlife. Keep an eye out for nene geese, chukar, and pheasants. On our hike we
encountered a chukar with a brood of chicks. The further we hiked into the
crater the more Dauster started to get a strong sense of Grand Canyon deja-vu,
so we decided we had better not push our luck by hiking too far!
No trip to Maui is complete without driving The Road
to Hana. We got up early and set out on the long and winding road, our thoughts
focused on some of the many highlights we would see along the way. At the top of
our priority list was to hike as many trails as possible on our journey,
especially the beautiful Pipiwai Trail. As mentioned before, you can visit our
hiking website
for detailed descriptions of each trail including: The Four Falls
of Na’ili’ili-haele, Waikani Falls (the 3 bears), Red Sand Beach, Lower
Puohokamoa Falls, Wai’anapanapa Black Sand Beach, and, of course, The Pipiwai
Trail. The scenery and adventure found along this incredible road are unmatched,
we spent the entire day exploring all that The Road to Hana has to offer.
A word of advice; don’t be scared into turning around at Hana,
in our experience any car can easily make the entire
drive along the windswept side of Haleakala.
Our final full day on Maui was spent exploring the
southern part of the island, in particular the La Perouse Bay area. This windy,
jagged coastline has fantastic scenery. Deep blue ocean waves capped in white go
on for as far as the eye can see, and treacherous trails lead through jagged aa
lava flows out to the shoreline. In addition to hiking, kayaking and dolphin
watching are also popular pastimes in La Perouse. The area that we decided to
hike is encompassed by the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve on Cape Kinau. The
Southern Trail offers an up close and personal experience with the extremely
rough hiking conditions created by the1790 lava flow, and it also affords
spectacular views of the Maui coast. Check it out if you can, but be very
careful while hiking…one misstep here and you will be torn to shreds. After an
enjoyable morning exploring the area we headed up to Maalaea Bay for some
surfing. Berg, Dauster, and Pick hit the waves with confidence after being
schooled by the great surfer, Mango Manny. They were each able to get right up
on the board and ride the waves into shore. They looked like pros! I was very
proud of all of them for being so brave and for performing so well.
July 1st was our last
day on the island and we spent it totally lounging on the beach. We scooped up a
few beach chairs and baked ourselves in the sun, a little too much I might add,
until it was time to leave for the airport. We couldn’t have had a better
vacation. Hawaii is indeed a dream destination, and I am sure that we will all
return someday, but until then we have our memories of ten fun-filled days with
great friends. Each adventure that we embark upon together brings us closer to
each other, and Hawaii was no exception. I know we will all treasure the
experience for the rest of our lives. Enjoy our photo gallery!
