Marquito
Registered
This is for a seven day trip I took at the end of May to Maui (first and seventh days being travel days). This go-round my dive buddy and I stayed in the Nāpili area and it worked out pretty well with the activities we had in mind to do. Across six days, we spent the first three diving. My buddy being a new diver, we opted for a Molokini Crater dive on day one with Maui Dreams, which continues to have an awesome crew aboard the Maui Diamond boat. It was a morning dive, so the drive down to Ma’alaea Harbor was easy. Afterwards on the drive back up we stopped into Maui Diving in Lahaina for a 10 tank punch card and a couple of rental items as we intended to shore dive the rest of our trip. Maui Diving was excellent and perfectly located to drop off used tanks and pick up fresh ones between dives (also, Koholā Brewery is situated right behind it so a perfect place to grab a pint after exchanging tanks 
. Oh oh, and an Ono Tacos food truck is also right next door 
). Our shore dives included Mala Wharf (twice), Honolua Bay, Airport Beach, Kapalua Bay, and a night dive at Black Rock (guided by In2Scuba). Mala Wharf remains a magical experience, with honu as far as the eye can see and a handful of white tip reef sharks. The other dive sites were fun to explore, some teaming with more aquatic life than others (e.g., octopus, eels, nudis, lobsters, crabs, etc.), but any day I get to be wet is a great day. Here's a very amateur dive video I took.
Between and after dives, we had some fun pulling off to the side of the road to eat poke and watch some surfers, or bask at some of my favorite beaches and watch the sunset (Slaughterhouse Beach and Honolua Bay).
Our fourth day we decided to drive down and then hike La Perouse Bay. This was a great idea as you are never above safe elevation zones while off-gassing, and it was an otherworldly hike through the lava fields and out to the turquoise tide pools. Some pretty majestic scenery I managed to snag in this video. Quick tip... if you look up directions on Google Maps and select the bicycle option, it shows you a graph of the elevation you will encounter along the journey, so you can check to see if you'll be in the safe zone post-diving.
For the fifth day we tortured ourselves and woke up at 2:30AM to catch the sunrise at Haleakalā Crater. It's a looong drive there from Nāpili, but then it was a pretty magical sunrise. I would say that was the only downside of staying in Nāpili. Coincidentally, Nāpili was the perfect area to be leaving from on our departure day (a Saturday) as it just so happened that all the northerly beaches had better conditions than the southerly beaches so southbound traffic was nil while northbound traffic was gridlocked the whooole way up. We also decided not to do the Road to Hana given the long drive over and the fact that we agreed the next time we try the Road to Hana it would be more fun to stay overnight in Hana and not rush ourselves.
Sixth day was departure day and we managed to snag a late lunch at Mama's Fish House in Paia. This was an off-the-cuff decision and unbeknownst to us, Mama's Fish House is world renowned. We were lucky to walk-in, but I highly suggest folks make a reservation. We capped the day off with the last tour at the Ocean Vodka Farm & Distillery. Definitely a great way to close out the trip and I recommend others check it out on their own departure day since you'll be heading to that side of Maui already. Beautiful grounds where you can relax with a bevvy of very tasty vodka, rum or gin (all distilled from sugar cane, so gluten free if that matters to you). They also have food options if you work up an appetite.
Shout out to all the restaurants we ate or took out from, including:
. Oh oh, and an Ono Tacos food truck is also right next door ). Our shore dives included Mala Wharf (twice), Honolua Bay, Airport Beach, Kapalua Bay, and a night dive at Black Rock (guided by In2Scuba). Mala Wharf remains a magical experience, with honu as far as the eye can see and a handful of white tip reef sharks. The other dive sites were fun to explore, some teaming with more aquatic life than others (e.g., octopus, eels, nudis, lobsters, crabs, etc.), but any day I get to be wet is a great day. Here's a very amateur dive video I took.Between and after dives, we had some fun pulling off to the side of the road to eat poke and watch some surfers, or bask at some of my favorite beaches and watch the sunset (Slaughterhouse Beach and Honolua Bay).
Our fourth day we decided to drive down and then hike La Perouse Bay. This was a great idea as you are never above safe elevation zones while off-gassing, and it was an otherworldly hike through the lava fields and out to the turquoise tide pools. Some pretty majestic scenery I managed to snag in this video. Quick tip... if you look up directions on Google Maps and select the bicycle option, it shows you a graph of the elevation you will encounter along the journey, so you can check to see if you'll be in the safe zone post-diving.
For the fifth day we tortured ourselves and woke up at 2:30AM to catch the sunrise at Haleakalā Crater. It's a looong drive there from Nāpili, but then it was a pretty magical sunrise. I would say that was the only downside of staying in Nāpili. Coincidentally, Nāpili was the perfect area to be leaving from on our departure day (a Saturday) as it just so happened that all the northerly beaches had better conditions than the southerly beaches so southbound traffic was nil while northbound traffic was gridlocked the whooole way up. We also decided not to do the Road to Hana given the long drive over and the fact that we agreed the next time we try the Road to Hana it would be more fun to stay overnight in Hana and not rush ourselves.
Sixth day was departure day and we managed to snag a late lunch at Mama's Fish House in Paia. This was an off-the-cuff decision and unbeknownst to us, Mama's Fish House is world renowned. We were lucky to walk-in, but I highly suggest folks make a reservation. We capped the day off with the last tour at the Ocean Vodka Farm & Distillery. Definitely a great way to close out the trip and I recommend others check it out on their own departure day since you'll be heading to that side of Maui already. Beautiful grounds where you can relax with a bevvy of very tasty vodka, rum or gin (all distilled from sugar cane, so gluten free if that matters to you). They also have food options if you work up an appetite.
Shout out to all the restaurants we ate or took out from, including:
- FOND (both the Sunday Chef's Counter experience as well as the Sunday KFC take-away);
- Tamura's (great poke to take to the beach and multiple locations);
- Star Noodle (the food and cocktails are what dreams are made of);
- 808 Deli (when you want a really freaking good sandwich - we took out on our way down to La Perouse Bay to eat along the hike);
- The Gazebo (excellent mac nut pancakes and fried rice - go to the back where you can order take out and skip the very loooong dine-in line);
- Sugar Beach Bake Shop (can't resist those malasadas and a Bee's Nuts latte);
- Tin Roof (delicious bowls), and Havens (awesome noods and burgers). Hot take... if your flight is really late, grab a bite from Tin Roof and take it over to Hang Loose Lounge to pair it with a pint (enjoy).
(Note for others: it's not a sheer cliff). The drive down was much easier. Like you, not something I 'need' to do again, but would do if with folks who haven't seen it before. Enjoy your next trip out there in March!
