Day 5: maui

Last full day in Maui before we head to the big island tomorrow! We headed to Lahaina harbor to catch our boat to our snorkeling destination.

Another wonderful outing! I should mention that the hike was through Hike Maui, and I'd recommend them. Ask for Kate as a guide if you can! This excursion was through Maui Adventure Cruises and was excellent! Our captain, Jeff, learned everyone's name on the boat, which was impressive. There were probably 24 people or so. He was personable and knowledgeable. Rob (Bob?) our guide was great too. He has crazy curly blonde hair (think Carrot top, but with blonde hair.) He was fun and really engaging.

We set off in our raft to the island of Lanai, enjoying the view of Lahaina Harbor from the water. We saw a half-capsized boat in the harbor, which apparently sunk seven year ago, however, it cannot be cleared now because the coral grew around it so now it's part of the reef. It sits at a 45 degree angle or less, not quite flat on the water surface.. Not quite there to Lanai, we came upon a huge school of dolphin! They were spinners, or Hawaiin spinner dolphins, named for the vertical spins they do in the air. There were hundred of them around the boat, and we watched them play for a while! It was really amazing to see. They got really close to the boat so we could see their graceful gliding through the water and their acrobatics in unison. We then went to our first snorkeling site, where we found several giant tortoises.

The water was an amazing color and very clear-- some areas were a royal blue and others were a blue-green or jade color. Really beautiful. The area that we stopped at for our first dive was over a coral reef often known as the 7 mile reef. It's the largest reef in Hawaii which made for incredible snorkeling.

I've snorkeled twice in 20 years, and not in over 10, so it took a little getting used to. Of course you sound like Darth vader with your breath in the tube, which freaks me out a bit! I hyperventilated a bit, but calmed quickly and really enjoyed it. There were so many types of coral and fish, it was really amazing. And we saw several tortoises which was amazing as well. So large and graceful, it just glided along the bottom of the coral.

We swam for a bit then headed back to the second site. We learned that Lanai was bought by Dole to plan pineapples, but when the venture wasn't profitable, it was sold to Murdock who built not one but two Four Seasons hotels!

We went to our second site, in a cove, though the water was a bit choppier. It was in the bay near the Four Seasons hotel. The water was fairly cold and after maybe 10 minutes, I, with my thin Phoenix blood, was quite cold and called it quits. I sat in the sun a bit to try to warm up. The fish in this area were different, and both sites had a lot of fish and coral which was really beautiful.

We got some sandwiches for lunch, and rode around more of the island, where we heard the story of Sweetheart rock. A princess fell in love with a warrior, but her father the king didn't feel he was worthy of her and banned their being together. They started sneaking outings in the caves along the water. The warrior went above to get some water, and when he got to the top, he saw some huge waves approaching. He raced down to the cave, grabbed his sweetheart, and pulled her to the shore. Unfortunately he learned he was not fast enough, and she died in his arms.

tradition is to perform a burial ceremony right away, but he insisted on one more night with her. So he threw her over his shoulder and scaled this 80 foot vertical face on sweetheart rock. In the morning, he buried her under some rocks at the end of it, and plunged to his death as it wasn't worth living without her. You can see the rocks that mark her grave at the end of the rock, standing vertically, as they stand out from the rest of the rock.

We then saw the hotel then headed back towards Maui. I should mention that on the way, we could see several other Hawaiian islands. Maybe 20 minutes from the Maui shore, we were surrounded again by the playful spinner dolphins! It was so great to see them again and we enjoyed the show they put on! They are so graceful and what was so impressive was the large clusters of them that swam in unison, then every now and then you'd see them jump up from the water and spin, or smack their fins on the water as if they are playing with us! What a great show!

We pulled into the harbor and said our goodbyes, and decided to check out a couple of the historical buildings in Lahaina. First up was the baldwin house. on Front street, the main road by the water. It's the oldest house still standing on the island of Maui. Originally a four-room dwelling, it was built by the Reverend Ephrain Spaulding in 1834. In 1836 Rev. Spaulding fell ill and went back to Massachusetts, and the reverend Dr. Dwight Baldwin and his family moved in. They also were from New England and traveled around South America's Cape Horn on a six-month voyage to O'ahu. Then they were reassigned on Maui in 1835. They had 8 children, two of whom died young. The home was expanded to accommodate their growing family, and a second level was added. Baldwin served as the leading minister, as well as government physician, dentist and veterinarian. Due to his foresight in vaccinating the people of Maui, Moloka'i and Lana'i, they were spared the smallpox epidemic which devastated the other islands.

We then walked down the street to the Wo Hing Museum, also on front street, affiliated with the Chee Kung Tong, a Chinese Fraternal society. The Chinese were among the earliest immigrants to Hawaii, brought in to work in sugar cane fields. The building has two floors, and some beautiful chinese sculptures, screens and items, as well as photos of some of the original members, and the chinese grocer that used to be across the street.

We wandered back to the car to go back to the hotel to relax. We're debating where to go for our last dinner on Mau but decided to stay at our hotel. Laid by the pool a bit then grabbed a bite at the hotel restaurant to watch the beautiful dancer and enjoy the sunset over the ocean. Not a bad way to end the day on Maui.

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