My West Maui Adventure
Posted to OHE on 3 July 2007 by Dave Webb
I hadn't been over to west Maui in some years so I decided to go check it out. Arrived early and set up camp at Camp Pecusa in Olowalu. Anybody smell smoke? More about that later...
Monday: Snorkeling Paradise
Nice people at the campground. $10 per night for tent camping. Right on the beach but rocky and shallow and not good for swimming. Nice and quiet at night though and not too close to the road. Watch out for kiawe thorns everywhere.
On Monday I went swimming at Honolua Bay, checked out the blowhole a few miles further down the road and went to the tidepools called Olovine Pools. Honolua Bay is awesome in summer for snorkeling, definitely one of the best spots in Hawaii and way better than anything on Oahu. If you go out on the right side of the bay you will find the best area. Continue out on the right side following the sand channel and you will come upon a turtle cleaning station where the turtles rest on a coral shelf and get cleaned by small fish. LOTS of turtles in the bay.
The blowhole is really nice too. This one was going off unlike any other that I have seen in Hawaii. Jets of water shooting 50 feet in the air. The Olovine Pools were OK but not great. Similar to Makapuu tidepools on Oahu and Queens Bath on Kauai. Seems like every island has a Queens Bath someplace, huh? The drive around Kahakuloa was cool. Nice village down there with good scenery and narrow road.
Tuesday: Haleakala Crater Hike
Spent the day hiking in Haleakala with Matt, my friend who lives upcountry. We had a sweet day in the crater, nice sunny weather all day. We did a big loop down Sliding Sands to Kapaloa cabin and then across and up to a viewpoint and over to Holua cabin and up the switchbacks. We took a lot of pictures and enjoyed the nice day.
The crater viewpoint was a highlight as I had never been up there before. I also enjoyed going through the lava tube near Holua cabin. We saw a few Nene and an apapane as well. On our way up the Halemaumau switchbacks to the rental car we got the chance to witness a phenomenon called the Brocken Spectre. It's where you get to see a circular rainbow with your shadow on the inside. Absolutely amazing and something that I never thought I would see in my lifetime.
The crater viewpoint was a highlight as I had never been up there before. I also enjoyed going through the lava tube near Holua cabin. We saw a few Nene and an apapane as well. On our way up the Halemaumau switchbacks to the rental car we got the chance to witness a phenomenon called the Brocken Spectre. It's where you get to see a circular rainbow with your shadow on the inside. Absolutely amazing and something that I never thought I would see in my lifetime.
Wednesday: Fire on the Mountain
The beginning of a very eventful day on Maui. Left the campsite around 8am and headed off to do a couple of hikes. First I went back on the swinging bridges trail into Waihee Valley. Now there is a ticket booth and they charge money to go back there. $3 for locals. At least now you don't have to worry about the car getting broken into. Nice trail back to the dam and great swimming hole there. Tree with the rope swing has fallen down - too bad. My original plan was to continue further up the valley to the base of a huge waterfall in the back but it looked pretty rainy back there and I didn't feel like getting all scratched up.
My next stop was at a spot another 4 miles up the road at Makamakaole gulch. I headed up the stream and took the right fork and climbed up 3 waterfalls to a big one that would allow no further progress. Really nice spot back there and no crowds like in Waihee valley.
Afterwards I headed back to Kihei to hit the beach and get some lunch. When I got down there I saw a huge cloud of smoke off in the distance. It looked like it was coming from just about where I camped and later on I would learn that I was right. Turns out that the fire was huge and burned about halfway up the west Maui mountains just mauka from Olowalu village in the area called split mountain (Olowalu gorge). The highway was closed from about noon on Wednesday until 7am Thursday morning. I drove to the parking lot at Maalea Bay and waited until 11pm listening to the radio and reading. I eventually slept on the gym floor at Maui High which had been opened up as a Red Cross emergency shelter. I think I got to sleep around 1am and woke up at 4:30.
My next stop was at a spot another 4 miles up the road at Makamakaole gulch. I headed up the stream and took the right fork and climbed up 3 waterfalls to a big one that would allow no further progress. Really nice spot back there and no crowds like in Waihee valley.
Afterwards I headed back to Kihei to hit the beach and get some lunch. When I got down there I saw a huge cloud of smoke off in the distance. It looked like it was coming from just about where I camped and later on I would learn that I was right. Turns out that the fire was huge and burned about halfway up the west Maui mountains just mauka from Olowalu village in the area called split mountain (Olowalu gorge). The highway was closed from about noon on Wednesday until 7am Thursday morning. I drove to the parking lot at Maalea Bay and waited until 11pm listening to the radio and reading. I eventually slept on the gym floor at Maui High which had been opened up as a Red Cross emergency shelter. I think I got to sleep around 1am and woke up at 4:30.
Thursday: Scuba Diving
Scuba diving today. Went with ProDiver Maui and had a great time. We dove the backwall of Molokini first and then Puu Olai after that. Nice diving and a really good company. Saw lots of fish and coral and turtles. Both were drift dives so not much swimming was necessary. Went to Big Beach in the afternoon.
Friday: Swimming with Dolphins
Back to Honolua Bay to snorkel. Around noon I was swimming far out by the mouth of the bay and I heard dolphins. They were coming into the bay on the wake of a catamaran full of tourists. Once the boat passed they hung around and I got to swim with the entire pod for about half an hour. It was quite an experience. I was the only one around and the dolphins seemed to be everywhere.
Saturday: Final Day
My last day on Maui. I did a short hike across the lava down at La Perouse Bay to an inlet called the Aquarium. It was alright but not anything amazing. Nice place to snorkel but nothing compared to Honolua. In the afternoon I checked out the stream in Iao Valley. Nice swimming holes down there but nothing out of this world.
Hope everybody is having a great summer.
— Dave
— Dave
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