The last thing I wanted to do on my second day of vacation to Maui was get up at 4:45 a.m., but that’s what I did. Groggy but excited, my husband and I drove the short distance from our hotel to the Kihei Boat Ramp, and met the shiny, silver B&B Scuba boat already bustling […]
Wherever Kathy Carroll goes on the small, friendly island of Lanai, invariably someone asks her about one of her cats, or says a playful “good meow-ning” to her in passing. Kathy Carroll, Lanai Cat Sanctuary founder. Photo by Steve Czerniak for HAWAII Magazine Carroll is known as The Cat Lady. She feeds and houses 425 cats
My gray T-shirt is saturated in sweat, I’m out of water and breath and I’m nearly ready to give in to that tiny voice in my head screaming, “Enough already!” I catch a faint glimpse of a windmill blade in the distance. It’s just enough motivation to keep going, though my ego is a bit
If you ask someone where Turtle Town is on Maui, it’s likely you could get two, maybe three different answers. Several spots just south of Wailea from Nahuna Point to Black Sand Beach have impressive snorkeling with an abundance of turtle sightings. Best of all, none of these spots have the crowds of say, Hanauma
Walking so far up into the clouds along steep switchbacks and knife-edge ridges that the view below is hard to distinguish between sea and sky. This is the Waihee Ridge Trail on Mauna Kahalawai, also called the West Maui Mountains. The 2.5-mile hike is known as one of the most scenic treks on the island, and
The 10-acre forest reserve known as Polipoli sits at 6,400 feet on the slopes of Haleakala in Upcountry Maui. Its trails wind through redwood trees and misty mountaintops, producing a dreamlike experience—and a distinct feeling of not being on Maui anymore. You start with a winding road from Kula to Polipoli… …that climbs above the morning
My first real view of Waihee Valley comes from behind a windshield. Janai Kealoha is at the wheel of a huge, mud-flecked passenger van, the kind that more often hauls large equipment than a group of Maui visitors. As we head into the valley on a rutted, dirt road, she speaks proudly of the steep,
Squinting into central Maui morning sunshine, I survey blue skies directly above a Hike Maui van and worry about the waves of cumulus camouflage rushing toward our alpine hiking destination: the summit of Haleakala volcano. My heart sinks a bit at the sight. I begin wishing that the warm, sunglasses-and-T-shirt weather in the sea level
Just as certain as there are surfers flocking to Maui’s best surf breaks when waves are up, when the weather is clear in the dense forests of Upcountry Maui, outdoor adventurers are headed up the slopes of massive Haleakalā volcano. Here, high above the island’s vast central plain, upland pineapple fields, former sugar land and
