Trip Report Maui - May 2022 (Scuba, Shoreside Activities and Foooood)

[Redfoot]

Yeah, the trouble with whale season can be that it is also the windy season- in February we got blown out of 3 days of diving, so I did not get to do any! Snorkeled a lot though, and we also did kayak whale watching, which was awesome. You can definitely hear the whales, even while swimming and even more so if you drop down a little.

Let me know if you need any Kona tips, we did 9 days driving around the entire island. I really enjoyed the eastern and southern points, especially Volcanoes National Park and the northeast corner. Pahoa is pretty cool too, if you don't mind going off grid a little and hanging with some crunchy granola types

 

[sea_ledford]

The best way to do Haleakala is to go up for sunset instead. No 2 am wake up call, no bumper to bumper traffic on the way up, and you'll already know how good the sunset will be before going up. If it is a cloudless sky, it's not a whole lot different than anywhere else on the island!

Spend the day touring around upcountry, have some time to hike around the peak if you want. Then wait for sunset. There will be 1/3rd of the people, and they all leave right after sunset. Hang out for another 30 minutes and you'll have the place mostly to yourself with amazing star viewing.

Bring a warm hat and jacket.

 

[Marquito]

The best way to do Haleakala is to go up for sunset instead. No 2 am wake up call, no bumper to bumper traffic on the way up, and you'll already know how good the sunset will be before going up. If it is a cloudless sky, it's not a whole lot different than anywhere else on the island!

Spend the day touring around upcountry, have some time to hike around the peak if you want. Then wait for sunset. There will be 1/3rd of the people, and they all leave right after sunset. Hang out for another 30 minutes and you'll have the place mostly to yourself with amazing star viewing.

Bring a warm hat and jacket.

That's a good tip on an alternative itinerary. We must have lucked out as we did not really have any traffic on the way up or down (or it was moving fast enough for me not to be concerned about it). Also, a tip I found was to walk ~10 minutes on the Pā Ka'oao Trail from the Haleakalā Visitor Center (bring a torch). You end up at an overlook above the visitor center (where the vast majority of people are stationed for the sunrise). We had maybe six other people around us. And watching the sun rise and light up the crater was pretty epic. I bet the star gazing after a sunset is phenomenal though

And as you said, definitely bring something warm. We didn't plan for that when packing so borrowed a blanket from the place we were staying at and it worked out well enough.

 

[Marquito]

Yeah, the trouble with whale season can be that it is also the windy season- in February we got blown out of 3 days of diving, so I did not get to do any! Snorkeled a lot though, and we also did kayak whale watching, which was awesome. You can definitely hear the whales, even while swimming and even more so if you drop down a little.

Let me know if you need any Kona tips, we did 9 days driving around the entire island. I really enjoyed the eastern and southern points, especially Volcanoes National Park and the northeast corner. Pahoa is pretty cool too, if you don't mind going off grid a little and hanging with some crunchy granola types

Thanks! I'll definitely reach out for some tips whenever I'm next able to get Kona in the lineup. And I've certainly no problem going off grid and getting crunchy I took about a year long sabbatical a lifetime ago to backpack and dive South East Asia.

 

[poseident]

I just spent a great week in Maui as well, with similar stops save for the dives (unfortunately). I've been to Oahu a bunch of times and REALLY enjoyed how different Maui feels. Highly recommended to all... Here are a couple of other experiences that might help others:

There can be really long lines in and around the airport, and it isn't always clear what they are for--people IN them don't always know, and there won't be helpful signage. Two examples that caught us:
1) Picking up rental car - Avis/Preferred/and maybe Alamo are grouped together at the end of the center and there was a massive line full of very grumpy people. After being in it for about 30 minutes (without having moved), we learned that Avis customers had a different (mercifully shorter) line inside.
2) Departures: On the tram-ride from the Rental Car center there is an announcement that everyone has to go through Agriculture screening. Right at the tram stop for Departures there was another huge line that everyone joined. The person in front of us said "this is for Agriculture" which made sense. It wasn't. There are multiple stations along the departure area for Agriculture, which turned out to be a painless process. That line ended up being the security screening line for the Hawaiian Airlines inter-island gates.

Having a Jeep Wrangler for a rental was fun, but every one of us who did had dead remote batteries. Take a CR2450 with you if that's your plan. You can open the remote and change the battery with almost any tool (I used fingernail clippers). Sadly a battery swap didn't fix mine, so the alarm would go off (horn) every time I manually unlocked it. Pro Tip: If you lock the doors of a Wrangler using the manual/mechanical switches on each door (NOT the electronic lock button) the alarm issue doesn't happen.

Many of the beaches are very rocky at the surf-line. If you aren't REALLY sure you are at one of the "mostly sand" beaches, wear booties. My 10-year old ripped a gash in the bottom of his foot before I'd even managed to get my shirt off to go into the water on our first day. Luckily a took a well-stocked first aid kit and had a good supply of steri-strips, liquid skin, and waterproof band aids (taking one is a pro-tip I received from someone else before we went).

Aloha!

 

[poseident]

Seems I'm not the only one who was impacted by the airport lines!

Maui TSA

 

[Regulated]

Fabulous post, thanks OP and contributors!

Here is my shore diving report from August 2022:

Trip Report - West Maui Shore Diving August 2022

My first trip report. That is because I just concluded a 26-year surface interval! Reactivated my PADI AOW cert in preparation for a family vacation to West Maui. All new gear including SW Peregrine, SP reg and SP BCD. We flew Southwest nonstop from Long Beach to Kahului on points. Smooth...

scubaboard.com

 

[kinoons]

Another fun day off activity (but not off gassing safe) is Maui wine and the ranch on Haleakalā (Ulupalakua) The ranch has a small general store that grills up fresh venison, beef, lamb, and elk. Good eating. Winery tour is okay if you’re into that sort of thing.