Maui Day 7: Final Day.. Pool and Ho’okipa beach

Sadly our final day on Maui.. We rallied the troops for a family photo on the beach and were pleasantly suprised to find a monk seal on the beach hanging out on it’s back for a little morning nap.. (they are endangered so volunteers are pretty good to put signs around to keep people from getting too close - we actually 2 while were there - very cool!)... Family photos down, we snuck in an hour at the pool then headed up to shower and pack up.

Out by 11:00 we drove up to Ho’okipa beach (just past Paia) for a final go at showing the girls some sea turtles.. This time, it did not disappoint! We found about 14 sea turtles taking a little rest on the sand.. so awesome (look close, they look like rocks!) They call it Turtle beach for good reason.. not sure why they choose this spot, but apparently it’s not uncommon to see lots of turtles hanging’ out here.

The waves and local surf scene was also impressive here.. would have loved to spend more time hanging out here.. but alas time to go.

A few things on the list for the next time we come!
… spend more time Paia town and Ho’okipa beach…
… Jaws beach - BIG waves if you can time it right!
… Snorkel/Dolphin boat tour (maybe on the Alii Nui!)
… rent (or bring) a paddle board (808 boards)
... cliff Jump from the rocks at Black Rock
.... suck it up and pay for a Luau!

Maui Day 6: Road trip to Le Perouse Bay

Our last full day on the island, we wanted to get out and explore a bit more.. trying to decide between heading north (to Jaws) or south to La Perouse Bay.. we opted to La Perouse Bay to do a little hiking/exploring.

You basically drive to the very end of the road below Kihie and Wailea to access the hike.. The area is surrounded with fields of lava rocks that have been there for 200+ years and have formed the coast line which you can hike along… We didn’t make it too far in as Caitlyn was done and ready to head back (I think Brad and I could have hiked it for another hour!). But even the short portion we did was super interesting and beautiful.



The bay was also nice and calm and had some bright yellow fish right along the coast line which was fun for the girls to see. Brad jumped in to some snorkeling but the water (while very refreshing) was a bit cloudy.

We hit up the Coconuts Fish Co. for lunch which has crazy good (and huge!) fish tacos. Hit the spot after our little hiking adventure and then topped it off with some shaved ice from Ululani’s (the best shaved ice in town IMO - use really fruit puree for their flavors.. yum!).

We made it back just in time for a dip in the pool before heading over the Sheraton to watch the nightly cliff diving ceremony at sunset. It had rained on and off on our way there which scared off most the people (which made it quite enjoyable for us :). Weather cooperated and girls loved watching the guy (who we convinced the kids was "Maui" from Moana) dive off the cliff.. pretty sweet sunset tonight as well with all the storm clouds moving through!

Given it was our last night there was decided to head over to the Hula Grill and treat ourselves to some drinks and pupus (which were delicious-especially the Spicy Margarita).

Maui Day 5: Snorkling explorations at Kahekili and Napili beach.

We had rented some snorkel gear and wanted to put it to use at some recommended “family friendly” snorkeling beaches. 

First stop was Kahekili beach park… while this was a fun beach to play in the waves, the girls weren’t feeling quite ready to try to snorkel in it.

Brad did get some good snorkel time in though (although wasn’t super impressed with the snorkeling).. and also got in some good boogie board rides..!!

Girls and I did a walk up to Black Rock to see if we could see some turtles hanging out (on my never ending quest to show them some sea turtles!)… but no luck.. was nice to walk on the beach for a bit though…


We packed up there and headed to the hotel to refuel (i.e. get some lunch).. then made our way up to Napili beach..

The beach is beautiful and had a calmer area to the right that was a good spot for the girls to play and Soph to give her snorkel gear a bit of a go.. she did get out and swim a bit but didn’t feel comfortable swimming out far enough to see the fish.. I think a snorkel tour from a boat might be a better way to go for the kids..

Brad and I got some snorkling in though which was fun. Wasn't a huge amount of fish at the reef but I was treated to a surprise visit from a sea turtle.. (yeah!) Love watching them swim underwater - felt pretty lucky to stumble across one. 

Surprise, surprise, we all hit the pool for a little swim time when we got back ... and Zoe got some time at her favorite grassy patch to chase balls..(while I watched the sun go down :)



Dinner = Fish market tacos.. can’t get enough!

Maui Day 4: Whale Watching and pool time

(photo credit: @jbself20)

We headed out with Pacific Whale Foundation to see some whales.. (yeah!).

We took the 9:00 tour (which was good, because the 11:30 would be been too hot I think). Other then Caitlyn getting a bit seasick (poor girl), the trip was great. We saw a ton of whales and at one point was “mugged” by 2 of them…!! (which basically means they were circling us on the boat so we couldn't move any where for a while - no complaints here :). I think Sophia counted 7 whale tail sightings (3-4 of which were about 10 feet away from us!) Super cool and the Jr. Naturalist program on board was a nice touch for the kids. 

In Lahaina we hit up the Paia fish market for lunch (which was great) and then cooled off a bit with some Local Boys shaved ice… Next stop: pool.

For dinner tonight we hit up the Fish Market for some fish tacos, kailua pork tacos and ceviche (and after we finished decided to eat that every night until we left.. so delicious!)

Maui Day 3: Nakalele Blowhole and Olivine Pools

This was one of my favorite days on Maui… 

Zoe was up early so we snuck out for a nice walk up the beach path to Black Rock and were treated to some sea turtles playing surf along the rocks.

Once everyone was up and fed, we headed up the northern coast to the Nakalele blowhole. Beautiful coast line drive and I loved the hike down to the blowhole … it wasn’t putting on too much of a show, but did provide some good entertainment for the girls…
 

From there we headed up to the Olivine pools.. These pools are amazing, naturally protected from the ocean, clear, and deep! After some good cannonballs, we were treated to a front row view of a pod a whales making their way up north.. so amazing!! Even saw one flapping it’s tail on the water over and over again. This was my first time witnessing whales - they are such amazing animals.. couldn’t get enough of them!

And a beautiful sunset to round out the day (this time we wore bathing suits!)

Maui Day 2: Pool and Caitlyn’s 7th birthday!

Sleeping in would have been nice this morning, but we weren't so lucky...  Soph was up bright and early so we went to go explore the grounds.. great pools (3 of them actually + a slide :). We also scoped out all the good baby/Zoe friendly spots. … and the beach just steps away!



After enjoying some coffee on the lanai it was time to get the festivities rolling for Caitlyn's birthday. We kicked it off with some fish shaped pancakes and a scavenger hunt for bday presents then headed to the pool... (and stayed at the pool pretty much all day thanks to poolside drinks and food from Duke’s :) We retreated from the pool finally late afternoon and Soph and Z took some much needed naps while Caits and I did some shopping. (stocked up at the local Farmer’s market store, fish market and Times grocery store).

 
Once everyone was up and back, we wondered down to the beach to catch the sunset… girls had changed out of their bathing suits but couldn’t resist the lure of the waves… By the time the sun had set both girls were soaked head to toe, but having a blast jumping in the ocean.

We enjoyed some music from the “Wild Hawaiian” at Dukes before heading up to make Caitlyn’s bday dinner!

Caitlyn’s dinner request: Spaghetti, Apple sausage and asparagus. So, while not very “Hawaiian” we rolled with it. And somehow managed to bake and decorate a birthday cake (with fairly limited supplies!). We went with a “ocean & dolphin” theme as you may be able to tell! We could seem to track down a lighter so Caitlyn gave it her best “pretend” blow out the candles impersonation..