If you can dream it, you can find it and experience it on the island’s exotic and fun destination, Maui. Lush hiking trails in the wooded highlands or along the lower edges of the waterfalls will envelop you in the sweet scent of red ginger and plumeria. Your eyes will be dazzled by greens, yellows, bright oranges and lush reds; colors you can’t reproduce on a printed page or even online. All you have to do is experience it! What’s your pleasure? Surfing, hang-gliding, fishing, jet skiing, scuba diving, golf, whale watching, swimming in the ocean or in the clear pools of the waterfalls? The activities offered in Maui are adapted to each personality, each budget and each level of adventure.
Dinner cruises, sailing, snorkeling or whale watching are the most popular activities people pay for on the island. And with good reason. The clear and peaceful waters surrounding Maui are unsurpassed anywhere else in the world.
Haleakala
Did you know that the entire island of Manhattan could easily fit into the Holeakala crater? Not that we would send it there, but what a prospect! For centuries, the climb at three o’clock in the morning, in anticipation of sunrise, to the top of the Holeakala volcano has been at the top of Maui’s list of “must” activities for visitors from all over the world. Mark Twain has called it “…the most sublime sight I have ever witnessed.”
The best campground on the island is in Haleakala National Park. With a maximum of three nights, you could confuse it with stays at one or more of the chic beach resorts in Maui. Since 1946, Hotel Hana Maui has maintained its reputation as an exclusive resort. It is just steps away from Kaihalulu, the only volcanic red sand beach in the Pacific.
Snorkeling on the coast of Maui
If you enjoy snorkeling and traveling with a diving friend, Maui offers great experiences that you can do together. Snorkeling cruises include dive sites where you can snorkel on the surface of the water, paddling gently with your fins, and be surrounded by colorful fish, corals and marine life, watching divers exploring the sea below.
Some of the best snorkeling destinations in Maui are right across the street from a beautiful hotel. When this is the case, the hotel can cooperate with a dive store to provide equipment and local snorkeling guides. Three of these destinations are Kapalua Beach, opposite the Kapalua Bay Hotel, Napili Bay Beach and Wailea Beach, which overlooks the Four Seasons. Snorkeling is especially enjoyable in the clear waters near the lava rocks that form the bays of Wailea and Kapalua. The beaches of Mokapu and Ulna in Wailea are also popular for snorkeling adventures.
Hard to find destinations for snorkeling
Black Rock, on Kaanapali beach, is considered by the locals as the best place on the island for snorkeling. West Maui, a highly valued marine life conservation area, is another not-to-be-missed destination for scuba diving enthusiasts in Maui. Another not very well known place is the Olowalu site, near Kilometer marker 14; it offers a diving experience you will not forget. But the best-kept secret might well be the snorkeling destination of the Ahihi Kinau nature reserve. Ahihi Bay is difficult to access, but it is worth it. This 2,000-acre state nature reserve is a rich panorama of colors and marine life.
I keep reading that the days of traveling for pleasure are over. Adventure travel is what we are all looking for now. We want to experience the landscape and terrain of our travel destination. Maybe it’s because we all work so hard, spend long hours in gray offices, looking at computer screens and printed materials, and some of us don’t even go out to explore the beauty of our area. So when we think of “vacation” now, we think of “extreme possibilities for fun and adventure”. Well, the activities and opportunities for freediving adventures in Maui will not disappoint you. Have a good trip, my friend.
