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withabackpackandcamera · 4 years ago

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March 29th, 2021

Day 6: From Snorkeling With Sea Turtles to Climbing to the Island’s End

Today, we started the morning early with the hopes of taking advantage of good weather and calm waters to snorkel at Kapalua Bay. With vacation time almost over, we knew that today might be our only chance at snorkeling in Maui. After finishing our brunch leftovers from yesterday, we drove up to Kapalua Bay. Because parking wasn’t easy to find, I dropped Cynthia off and found parking further down the street. After meeting up with Cynthia at Napili Bay, where she had mistakenly walked, we made our way over to Kapalua Bay.

By the time we arrived at the beach, it wasn’t yet super crowded. However, there were already plenty of people who had scoped out their spots for the day or were already in the water. As we walked down to the beach, we spotted a equipment-renting stand where we stopped by to rent goggles, snorkels, fins, and a floaty device for the morning.

Once we found a spot in the corner of the beach to camp out at, we quickly applied our sunblock and got ready for the water. The weather was partly sunny today, with enough wind that the clouds overhead kept floating in and out, blocking the sun intermittently. Even though the sky wasn’t completely clear, the conditions today were much better than those from yesterday, which was all we could ask for.

When we were renting the snorkeling gear, I wasn’t quite sure Cynthia would actually snorkel with me today because I knew how poorly she did with anything cold. And the morning waters here in Kapalua Bay were not warm. But surprisingly, Cynthia was up to the challenge! After we waded in the cool shallows for a bit, getting our bodies wet and accustomed to the cool bay waters, we finally got into the water.

At first, the water was a bit chilly but as usual, our bodies slowly got used to it and it got less and less cold as we swam further into the bay and away from the shore. Once we warmed up, we started the day’s adventure of snorkeling and it was fun! Cynthia and I went snorkeling together for about 30 minutes or so. During that time, we snorkeled along the north side of the bay where all the coral were lined up. As we swam above the coral, we spotted a ton of different types of fish, from Moorish idols to parrotfish to other types of fish I couldn’t identify! So cool to see so many fish in such clear waters! But the coolest thing we saw, and the animal we actually came out to see, was the Hawaiian green sea turtle! Once I saw the green sea turtle gliding through the water below, I grabbed Cynthia’s attention and we made our way over to the area where the green sea turtle was hanging out and got to watch it do its thing from afar. So awesome seeing these very crazy-looking, ancient-appearing creatures in their natural habitats! In her 30 minutes of snorkeling, Cynthia was super lucky to see her first and only green sea turtle in the water!

The reason why we spent only 30 minutes in the water was because I had poorly planned the morning and had to go back to the Royal Lahaina to grab our luggage and check out of the resort. The plan originally was to be out on the water earlier so that we could snorkel for two hours before going back. However, due to the difficult parking situation and the long walk to the beach, we ended up starting way later than intended. We agreed that Cynthia would stay behind on the beach and hold our stuff while I drove back to the Royal Lahaina to check out. Luckily, the trip to the resort and back to Kapalua Bay took less than 30 minutes and before long, I was back on the beach, ready to jump back in.

By this time in the late morning, the sun was out and it didn’t take long for me to get used to the water’s temperature again. For about 1.5 hours, I snorkeled and swam around the bay, looking for cool coral, fun fish, and the difficult-to-find sea turtles. I swam around for a while and further into the ocean in the hopes of finding some new sea creatures to glimpse at. Before long, I decided to work my way to the opposite side of the bay to see what was over there. I slowly swam my way across the bay and made it to the other side after what seemed like a very far swim.

After checking out that side and not spotting any sea turtles (but spotting some seemingly bigger fish), I kicked my way back to the northern side of the bay and swam along the coral and rocks once more. Until I spotted what I was looking for. Green sea turtles! As I swam, I saw one turtle gliding through the water and down into the depths of the bay toward another sea turtle hiding out in a little spot between the rocks on the bay floor. The first sea turtle looked like it harassed and bothered the other sea turtle before it swam away. Then I watched as the second sea turtle woke up from its slumber and slowly swim its way up to the surface for a few breaths of fresh air before it dove back down into its hole where it holed itself up once more. What an awesome experience!

Before long, I was done. After swimming across the bay twice and seeing the sea turtles I had set out to see, I was ready to head back to shore where Cynthia was hanging out. I chilled with Cynthia for a bit in the warm sun as I dried off and took some photos before we left the beach for Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie. The drive to Leoda’s was a little longer than I expected but it was a drive we wanted to take to get the pie Cynthia wanted to buy. Once we arrived, there was a little line that Cynthia had to wait in but before long, she returned to the car with her Apple Crumble Pie.

With pie in hand, we drove back to downtown Lahaina for lunch/happy hour at Down The Hatch, a cool restaurant with an open courtyard for seating located in the middle of downtown on Front Street. We ordered some delicious Crispy Coconut Shrimp, Mermaid Fries, their Ahi Poke Special, and a Mango Daiquiri served in a Tiki Glass. Whether it was because we were starving after our morning workout and adventure or because the food was delicious, we scarfed it all down and it was great. The Crispy Coconut Shrimp was delicious. The Ahi Poke Special was pretty good too, though Cynthia didn’t like it as much. The Mermaid Fries were so very good but became too much and too heavy at the end, after I had eaten it all. And the Mango Daiquiri hit the spot. What a nice happy hour we found. Plus, we even had a chance to eat some of our (very) sweet pie with some milk at the restaurant after happy hour!

Super carb-loaded, we returned to our car to make the most of what was left of our last full day in Maui. And the places we marked on our maps that we had yet to visit were the two places in the far north of West Maui: the Olivine Pools and the Nakalele Blowhole.

We decided to drive to the Olivine Pools first since it was the further of the two places we wanted to visit. The drive there was slow and windy, similar to our drive on the Road to Hana. Even though the distance to the Olivine Pools wasn’t that far, the drive took some time. Luckily, there weren’t many tourists driving in this part of Maui so there wasn’t much traffic or slow cars to deal with.

After we parked at the car lot for the Olivine Pools, we walked down the path toward the ocean until we saw, in the distance, where the Olivine Pools were located: all the way at the very bottom of the cliffs and next to the ocean. Before driving here, I hadn’t done much research on the Olivine Pools so I literally had no idea what this place was or what I would see. But from what I could see, the Olivine Pools looked pretty sweet and photo-worthy, and it would take quite the treacherous hike down in windy conditions while wearing flip flops to get to the oceanside pools.

For a little bit, Cynthia and I hiked down the rocky slopes, taking one careful step at a time. It wasn’t long until Cynthia felt a little nervous about the descent and found a safe place to wait for me as I continued on. Hiking down in flip flops wasn’t the best of ideas but it was too late at that point to go back up and change footwear. So I slowly climbed down the cliff until I got near the bottom where the Olivine Pools were. Because of how dangerous the area was with the unpredictable crashing waves, violent winds, and rough waters, I decided not to hike all the way to the Pools and, instead, found a nice vantage point from where I could enjoy the beautiful scene surrounding me. I stayed down there for a while as I found some really cool scenes in the area to photograph. But conditions were slightly difficult to shoot in, with the sprays of water, the wind, and lack of tripod all making life difficult for me. But I couldn’t resist staying put and enduring the conditions to capture some good shots.

Once I was satisfied with what I had photographed (while hoping that the conditions wouldn’t get even more picturesque after I left at sunset because I would miss out on it), I slowly climbed back up to meet with Cynthia at the top. After some deliberation about whether the skies here at the Olivine Pools would get more epic as the sun set and we should stay or if we should keep moving to see everything and make it back to Kapalua Bay by sunset as originally planned, we decided to get a move on and returned to the car to drive back to the Nakalele Blowhole. Just as we had at the Olivine Pools, we parked and hiked our way down toward the Nakalele Blowhole located at the island’s edge. Again, Cynthia stayed behind as I ran down the cliff to the blowhole. This time, I was prepared and changed into my hiking shoes I had stashed in the car, making the climb down much easier than the descent to the Olivine Pools.

In no time, I reached the Nakalele Blowhole, which was just a hole in the rocky cliff near the ocean under which the ocean waves crashed and pushed water through the hole, making it a blowhole. I stayed down there for a few minutes until I captured a good picture of the blowhole in action before climbing back up to the car.

With the sun starting to set over us at the Nakalele Blowhole, it was a race against time to get back to Kapalua Bay for sunset. Because I was stuck behind some pretty slow cars, the drive took a little longer than I anticipated but eventually, we made it to Kapalua Bay as the sun was setting in the sky. Even though we made it in time, the sunset was a dud because the horizon was way too cloudy for a colorful sunset to develop.

Without much of a sunset to enjoy, Cynthia and I stuck around for a few minutes before returning to the car and driving to the Westin Maui Resort and Spa to check in for the evening. Once we got to the Westin, we checked in and brought our stuff up to our room on the 11th floor. Though we couldn’t see the ocean from our room, the view of the moon rising over Pu’u Kukui (a mountain in the center of West Maui) was a pretty cool surprise.

After we were settled in our new room and had ordered food to-go from Hula Grill Kaanapali, located just a short walk away from the resort, we finally went downstairs to explore the resort grounds. We poked around the grounds briefly before we strolled towards the restaurant to pick up our dinner. We walked through Whalers Village and made a pit stop at the ABC Store to grab some drinks before returning to our resort lobby to find a place to enjoy our dinner. Luckily, the firepit we had spotted earlier was being vacated and we quickly swooped in to grab our seats next to the fire, the coy fish ponds, and the flamingos across the way. There, we sat enjoying our dinner of Kiawe Grilled Flatbread, Local Style Pork Potstickers, and Coconut Calamari. Not bad, but not as good as if we had enjoyed it fresh at the restaurant.

With the night winding down, we went upstairs to drop off our stuff before returning to the ground floor to continue our exploration of the Westin. Even though it was getting late, we knew we had to make the most of the 24 hours here and the money we paid for our stay. So we peeked around and briefly toured the grounds, ending our late night visit at the crazy outside pool area that reminded me of a mini waterpark! This resort is so freakin’ cool!

Because it was getting late and Cynthia needed to rest before her early morning interview, we called it a night and headed back upstairs. Tonight was just a quick sneak peek into the resort amenities. Can’t wait to actually take advantage of it all day tomorrow and make the most of our last day in Maui!

5 Things I Learned/Observed Today:

1. Green sea turtles can hold their breath underwater for 4-7 hours depending on their size and if they are resting or sleeping. That is crazy! Turtles are pretty amazing!

2. The weather forecast in Maui can be totally different from what actually occurs in certain parts of the island. And things can change so quickly! The perfect example of microclimates on Maui. It’s crazy to think that it can be super windy and heavily cloudy in one area and that another area just 5-10 minutes drive away can be calm, sunny, and dry. I guess that’s just the island life here on Maui, where North West Maui is always windier, cloudier, and rainier than West and South Maui.

3. The fish of choice in poke and in different dishes on Maui seems to be ahi tuna. The Safeway poke is all ahi tuna. Sushi places have all types of sushi with ahi tuna. And restaurants serve all sorts of things ahi tuna. I miss my Alaskan salmon...

4. For the most part, I’ve noticed that restaurant waiters and other workers here in touristy Maui have been extremely nice and welcoming! Compared to a lot of other touristy places I’ve been to in the U.S., the people here have been really nice and open to conversation and small talk. One waiter even gave me a glass of milk to enjoy with my pie after we were joking about not having milk to eat with a sweet pie! So great!

5. Today, I learned that banyans are figs that start life after their seeds land and then begin to germinate and grow in the crevices and cracks of a host plant. Crazy to think that something so small can germinate and grow and then take over and look crazy like the banyan tree in downtown Lahaina!

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