Back in July of 2018 we took Andrew the eldest of the El Dorado Hills Buus on a Tom Sawyer adventure down the Mississippi River from Minnesota all the way to New Orleans. The trip was exhausting, silly, and full of adventure and is easily one of our favorite trips. Since then it’s been in the back of our minds to plan another trip involving another Buu kid. Our criteria when choosing anyone to travel with us is fairly simple. They need to be flexible, somewhat fearless, able to wake up and operate at extremely early hours, physically fit, and most importantly, be genuinely interested in the people and world around them. We decided that as Sky got to be Andrew’s age at the time of our Mississippi trip (13) she would be the perfect candidate to travel with us. She has proven herself to be fun, adventurous, physically capable, and in general a joy to be around and she would be a great addition to our trip. After a failed attempt at a winter adventure trip to Minnesota, we decided to take Sky to Maui. We knew that she was excited about visiting Minnesota to play in the snow, but was clearly more interested in water-based activities. Choosing Maui was easy since not only does it have plenty of water, but it also has Haleakalā Volcano which would allow us to take Sky on her first backpacking trip. After several months of planning, applying for permits, and coordinating Sky’s transportation to and from SFO, we hopped on a plane to begin our Hawaiian adventure!
Waiʻānapanapa State Park
Immediately upon arriving in Maui we changed into swimming clothes, picked up the car rental, dropped off our non-essential luggage, and bought some groceries for the day. Adventure number one...the Road to Hana. Typically this 50 mile, two hour(one way) trip is completed in one day so it gets crowded if you travel with the pack. We decided to drive straight to Hana, stay overnight, then make the return trip on day two and avoid the crowds.
It was a long, beautiful drive that Thu and Sky slept through. No worries though, we would be doing the same drive in reverse the following day and stopping to see all the sights. After checking into our hotel, we backtracked a little and arrived at our first destination, Pa‘Iloa Beach.
Pa‘Iloa Beach is one of Maui’s only black-sand beaches. Created from the erosion of a centuries-old basalt lava flow, Pa‘Iloa Beach is still relatively young so it appeared as more of a black-pebble and stone beach. It probably will take a few more centuries before the stones turn into fine black sand.
Since we arrived late in the day and the temperature was starting to fall as the sun dropped lower in the sky, we decided not to go swimming in the turbulent water. Instead, we wandered around the beach admiring the smooth rocky shore and found a small lava cave that leads straight into the water. Because this beach requires a reservation, there are very few people so it felt calm and relaxed despite the waves crashing loudly on the rocky beach. Looking around at the beautiful scenery, we saw a trail leading up to the cliffs on the north end of the beach and just knew we had to go for a little hike.
What an incredible view! Off in the distance we could see Haleakalā volcano covered in clouds.
As we climbed the trail up to the cliffs above the beach, the views of the gorgeous Hawaiin coastline began to open up in both directions. The vibrant blue water framed by the black lava and green plants made for one of the most unique and striking coastlines we’ve ever seen.
The ocean on the north shore of Maui is much more turbulent than the south and the waves crashed violently into the cliffs below sending up enormous columns of spray. What should have been a 20 minute hike turned into over an hour and we enjoyed every minute of it.
Pīpīwai Trail
After a restful night in Hana sleeping with the soothing sound of the waves crashing on the nearby beach, we got our first early start and drove to one of Maui’s most popular trails, the Pīpīwai Trail. This four-mile roundtrip hike passes through a tropical rainforest, a bamboo forest, and past several beautiful waterfalls. We were a little worried about muddy and wet conditions on the trails in Hawaii, but this trail was well-maintained and didn’t pose any real challenges for our traction. This side of Maui heats up quickly once the sun comes out, so we didn’t waste any time and began our hike from the well-manicured visitor center around 9am.
The first lookout gave us a panoramic view of the lush green valley ending in a nice waterfall.
Around a mile into the hike we rounded a bend in the trail and stood face-to-face with the most magnificent banyan tree I’ve ever seen. This tree is over one hundred years old and has a footprint spanning over 60 feet in diameter. The aerial roots were solid and offered Sky the perfect place to climb up for some pictures.
It was hard to believe we were in a spot like this and there were no other hikers to be seen. From what we were told, most of the people arrive later in the day after driving the entire Road to Hana.
Shortly after leaving the banyan tree we entered the next section of the Pīpīwai Trail, the bamboo forest. Nothing we had read online prepared us for how enormous and beautiful the forest would be, and we thoroughly enjoyed walking along the boardwalks listening to the tall trees creaking and swaying in the wind. What a magical place this was, but none of us could have predicted the violence that would soon occur in this seemingly peaceful forest.
The trail came to an end at the spectacular Waimoku Falls. Although hikers have recently been blocked from getting too close to the base of the falls, it was still an impressive sight from our spot down in the valley. Since swimming is not allowed, we just took a few pictures and turned around, happy that we decided to hike all the way to the viewpoint.
Making our way back down through the bamboo forest, Sky claimed to be the best sword fighter in all the land while brandishing her newly found sword/walking stick. I took offense, found the biggest stick I could yield, and began my attack to prove her wrong. Sky successfully fended off my initial attack. I shattered my mega-sword and continued attacking with the small blunt handle. Still not able to beat Sky’s defense with my more maneuverable weapon, I decided to change tactics. I grabbed two smaller blades and chased her down. She smartly retreated, but regained her courage and with a quick and nimble move delivered a death-blow and ended my rage-filled rampage. Well done Sky, until our next battle!
During the hike we started to notice the abundance of signs warning of various forms of death and disaster...apparently Hawaii is pretty dangerous!
The Seven Sacred Pools
Another highly recommended spot just across the visitor center from the Pīpīwai trailhead is the Pools of Oheo, or Seven Sacred Pools. This is another beautiful stretch of coastline with waterfall-filled pools cascading their way into the ocean.
This used to be a popular swimming spot but is now closed to visitors. So instead of taking a refreshing swim in the beautiful pools, we just strolled along the rocky cliffs and enjoyed the wonderful views.
The Road To Hana
What looked to us like some sort of installation art exhibit is actually a big problem that Maui is currently trying to deal with, abandoned cars. As a way of avoiding fees to dispose of a vehicle, some residents destroy the vin number and leave their car on the side of the road in isolated areas, especially on the Road to Hana. They then burn the car, or sometimes vandals take care of it for them, to remove all traces of ownership. It is a sad and ugly reminder of the financial hardships that many people on the island are dealing with.
There are many stops on the Road to Hana and it was sometimes hard to choose when and when not to stop. The Banyan Cave was on my list of things we must stop and see, but I didn’t know where it was and it can be very easy to miss. Luckily we were listening to the trusty Shaka Guide app and the kind narrator pointed out the cave entrance as we passed by. We quickly turned around, pulled over and crossed the road to check it out.
The Banyan Cave isn’t an offical attraction, but it is a fun little cave that goes completely under an enormous banyan tree. The deepest part of the cave is completely dark so you need lights to find your way, and the exit was gorgeously lit and covered in vines...straight out of a movie set.
Pua’a Ka’a Falls
We really wanted to stop and swim at a waterfall on the Road to Hana and we found the perfect spot, Pua’a Ka’a Falls. This small waterfall drops about 20 feet into a clear, deep pool. It wasn’t too crowded, and we did a little rock jumping and even swam underneath the falls. This refreshing swim was the perfect ending to our drive on the Road to Hana.
Molokini Crater
The next day, once again, we had to get up early and be ready for the next adventure. After researching several spots to go snorkeling we decided Molokini Crater would be the most interesting.
Molokini is a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater which forms a small, uninhabited islet located between the islands of Maui and Kaho’olawe. Because of its unique setting, Molokini is a very popular snorkeling spot so in order to avoid the crowds and the bigger boats, we booked the early morning tour. We spotted the small red boat in the harbor and were soon on board crossing the Alalākeiki Channel.
The water was choppy, but it only took us about 25 minutes to reach the crater. The people operating the tour were very friendly. On they trip over they taught us a bit about the crater and went over all of the safety precautions. After testing our gear and making sure we knew how to communicate with each other, we dropped into the warm, clear water and began our first snorkeling excursion in Maui.
We were instructed to stay clear of the waves crashing into the crater and not stray too far from the area near the boat. Other than that, we were free to roam around the crater and explore the coral reefs and rocky sea bottom.
The visibility was pretty good, and we saw enough fish to keep us happy. The highlight of the snorkeling was the eel that slithered along the bottom among the colorful coral and spiny sea urchins.
Since we had just spent two days above 7,000 feet at Haleakalā, our ears weren’t ready for diving under the water. It felt like our heads would explode every time we went a couple feet under, but it was still so much fun.
What felt like maybe 20 minutes underwater was actually over an hour, so we finally exited the water with the other members of our tour and dried off. The water was still pretty rough, but they decided it was safe enough for us to take a quick lap around Molokini Crater so we could see the outer wall. According to Hawaiian legend, Molokini was once a beautiful woman and rival of Pele. They were in love with the same man, so Pele turned Molokini into a crater as an act of vengeance. It in no way resembled a woman, beautiful or otherwise, but it was fun to see Molokini from all angles. Once we had circled the crater we headed back to shore, drove to the condo, and enjoyed another wonderful nap.
Makena Beach
We were determined to do some swimming that evening. The rain was mainly to the south so we pulled over at Makena Beach hoping we could get in the water. This beach stretches almost a mile from end to end and doesn’t see the crowds like many of the other beaches because of its isolated location. With almost a private section of the beach just for us, we jumped in and enjoyed the warm water and fast moving waves.
We had a fun time jumping over, diving through, and getting thrown around by the unpredictable waves that crashed close to the shore. Sky did some underwater acrobatics, and all three of us got dragged along the sandy bottom at least once, leading to some cuts and bruises.
Even with the rain falling this was a blast and we could see the heavy rainfall off in the distance. From Makena beach we could even see Molokini Crater where we had been snorkeling that morning.
The view from our condo in Wailea.
Black Rock Beach
Our final day would be spent on a road trip around the west end of Maui. One of the most popular spots to go snorkeling is Black Rock Beach which was our first stop on a long and exhausting day.
The water was clear and we spent about an hour snorkeling along the rocky cliffs that jutted out from the sandy beach. We saw several curious needlefish, a parrotfish, and even a reef triggerfish, also known as humuhumunukunukuāpua’a, the state fish of Hawaii.
As we were heading back to the beach a sea turtle swam underneath us. It must have been in a hurry to escape the crowds because we only saw it for a few seconds as it made its way out to the deeper ocean.
Honolua Bay
The second stop on our final day in Maui was Honolua Bay for some more snorkeling. To reach the bay we had to complete a short hike through the Enchanted Forest. This trail captured the beauty of Maui with tall trees adorned with draping vines and stunning aerial roots, tropical flowering plants, and lush rainforest greenery.
Although beautiful, this forest is also dangerous with all the falling coconuts and spirits residing in the trailside graves.
Snorkeling in Honolua Bay was much better than at Black Rock Beach. The sheltered bay was calm and we had to swim a long distance from the rocky shore which meant it was just the three of us, free to explore the reefs without bumping into other snorkelers.
We saw a ton of fish including a beautiful butterfly fish, different types of triggerfish, and several others that we didn’t recognize. Despite being so far from land, we felt safe since there were no strong currents and with flippers we could easily glide through the water with little effort.
The sky was mostly cloudy so we were starting to get cold after an hour or so in the water. As we were ready to head back in, Sky spotted an absolutely perfect parrotfish. It had the bright, vibrant rainbow colors and friendly face that parrotfish are famous for.
After admiring this beautiful fish, the normal thing to do would be to let it go about its business and find other fish to look at. Not us! Sky and I decided to give chase and followed the poor fish for at least 20 minutes. Zig-zagging in and out of the coral, the parrotfish didn’t seem too disturbed by the two giants following close behind, but if we got too close it would make a move and try to lose us. It was so much fun, but we finally had enough and swam our way back to shore.
On the way out Sky got a little taste of vine-swinging. We were a little rushed so it was only one short swing, but in the process she got a thorn in her foot, so two Hawaiian bucket list items complete!
West Maui Route 30
Now that we had driven the Road to Hana earlier in our trip, we wanted to see the highly recommended alternative, the drive around West Maui on Route 30. This winding and scenic road is a great way to see a less visited portion of Maui’s coastline and has a few natural attractions.
Our first stop on Route 30 was Nakalele Blowhole. Unfortunately we arrived at the wrong time of day so the blowhole wasn’t really blowing. We were pretty tired from all that time in the water and it was getting hot out, so we only walked down to the viewpoint and that was enough. Back into the nice air-conditioned car!
Continuing along Route 30 we passed a few small towns, drove through some sketchy sections of crumbling and narrow roads, and saw some of Maui’s most rugged and beautiful coastline that most visitors don’t get to see. Sky missed it all...she was passed out in the back seat with her neck twisted in an awfully painful looking position, exhausted from the long day of fun activities. She was probably dreaming of Pinchy.
When we arrived back in civilization at the town of Kahului, we found a small Vietnamese section of town where we stopped for lunch. The food was excellent, especially after a long day, and we made it back to the condo with time to spare for once again, another long, well-deserved nap.
Finally, to wrap up our trip to Maui, we went to Sky’s dream store, the ABC Store where we bought dinner and souvenirs for her to take home to the El Dorado Hills Buus. The next morning we had to get up early for our flight, so we ended with a quiet night at the condo.
And just like that, our trip to Maui was over. We could have used a couple more days for some extra cliff-jumping and surfing, but overall we were extremely happy with how everything turned out. The weather was perfect for both backpacking and all the water-based activities, the food was good, the scenery was beautiful, and everyone got along except for our little incident in the bamboo forest. As we had predicted, Sky was a perfect addition to our trip. She didn’t complain, got up early in the mornings, and had a blast with everything we had planned. We often find it difficult to travel with other people because of our pace and the physical nature of our activites, and Sky did a great job of making the most of it and having fun while maintaining a positive attitude, even when she was tired. We’ll happily consider asking her to join us on future trips, unless she becomes one of “those” teenagers. Good job Sky!