Maui - Hawaii

So, We're back in town after a Super vacation -  Great 8 days and nights in paradise (a.k.a. Maui Hawaii).  

What can we say? in short: it is worth it !!! Great weather, nice people, beautiful beaches, clean sea (no junk or oil), exciting snorkeling, and out of this world views. 

We left the house on Thursday May 6th, a day before the flight and spent the night near Newark, (just in case.. and to get into the vacation mood).

Two 6 our flights (N.Y.-> L.A -> Maui) brought us right into a good night sleep at the Maui Cost Hotel. 

After a rather short night sleep (which was the case almost in all nights - Yontic the rooster wakes up early) we woke up to our first day in haven (and it is nothing like New Haven). We had a nice breakfast (not included) and headed up to the tourist capital of the island - Lahaina, and to the beautiful beaches of Kaanapali for some great snorkeling.  

On the second day we went for a short hike at the 'Iao Valley State Park, which is known as the mountain of the moon. 

On May 10th, we drove up to the highest summit in Maui (3055m),  the Haleakala national park, which is the mountain of the sun. 

On the way we stopped at a dairy farm, we saw the goats and eat some very good cheese. The owners once had a software company in Germany, and at some point they decided goats in Maui is a better deal :-)

The drive to the summit took us from the sea level all the way through the clouds up to the top of the mountain. Like all of the Pacific islands, Maui is a result of a volcano eruption (We'll come back to that). We were not very lucky and the clouds didn't want to move from the mountain, so we couldn't see the island from the top. It felt like we were on the moon. Dry, quiet and very strange plants. 

We woke up Tuesday morning and headed down to Hana. The town itself is nothing to write about - seem like an 'ayarat pituach' with a fancy hotel for the tourists. Its located at the end of a beautiful road. It is only about 33 miles (~ 53 km) but it may take 4-5 hours to drive. There are so many beautiful things on the way waterfalls, parks and great views. 

We spent the night in Hana, and the next day we visited the southern side of the Haleakala national park - O'heo Gulch (7 sacred pools). It is nicer then the road to Hana, and the drive is worth only for that.

For the rest of the week we just hanged in the hotel pool and the beach. On Thursday we took a boat that has windows in the part that is under the sea surface, and we saw nice fish, see plants and even turtles, kids had fun, grownups got nauseous. 

On the last night we went to see - Ulalena- a musical about the life in the Hawaiian island form the time the first people came to the time the white man came.  Here are the most important people of the audience with one of the performers. 

In short - a great place to visit. 




Here are some more picture, enjoy