On my final full day on Maui I drove the famous road to Hana. It’s 52 miles long, has 620 curves and 59 bridges (of which 46 are one lane),
and it requires you to be on your toes. I haven’t been on the road since I was
a kid, so I just had to check it out.

It’s a long drive, taking 2-3 hours each way (from Kahului), depending on
how often you stop. I took a 45 minute hike looking for a waterfall that didn’t
exist, but I saw some nice views along the way. I also went to a black sand
beach (though it was more rocks than sand) and had my lunch under a palm tree
with a view to die for.

I managed to make it back to Kaanapali in plenty of time for a sunset and
a mai tai. Both could’ve been better. Alas, tomorrow I fly home… work is
calling. One thing’s for sure: I’ll be back.

Surf’s up at this beach near Paia

It’s late morning on a Monday. Doesn’t anybody work here?

This is on my hike… interesting plant growth

This is called lobster claw

Reminds me of the planet Yavin from Return of the Jedi (yes, I’m a dork)

Tree roots for steps… a great way to twist your ankle

Bamboo forest

On the road again… lava formations from long ago

My lunch view. You can see that the road is literally carved into the side of
the mountain.

Nice overlook. Very tropical on this side of the island!

Black sand/rock beach

Overview of the beach

From further back

The Big Island of Hawaii in the distance

Waterfall (bottom)

Aww yeah… it wasn’t the best mai tai, but it did the job

The last sunset of my trip… sigh.

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

This is the Jeff’s Eye View from my beach chair. Lanai on the left, Molokai on
the right. Not a bad spot.

I took a walk down to Whalers Village and liked this shot…

Looking back down Kaanapali Beach. My hotel/condo is in the distance, just to
the right of the construction cranes. Behind me is Black Rock, where I snorkeled
on Saturday.

Maui has plenty of golf courses to choose from. They didn’t seem very crowded
though (neither did Maui as a whole).

I’ve been on Maui for about 30 hours, and so far, so good. I’ve been here
many times before, and it’s as beautiful as always. The only disappointment
is the continuous build-up of timeshare complexes in the resort areas. In fact,
I’m staying at one, though as a daily guest.

Click the link to see the first set of pictures from my trip. I brought the
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 along with me, and since I don’t have an underwater
case for it, there won’t be any underwater pictures this time around. Speaking
of which, I had an exciting moment while snorkeling near Black Rock today –
a sea turtle swam right under me. Amazing! Unfortunately, the turtle had fibropapilloma tumors
on it, which isn’t good news.

Okay, so here’s where I’m staying… the Maui Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas (North)

My condo is sweet. Here’s looking toward the kitchen from the living room

And here’s looking back the other way

The bathroom is super nice, with a fancy dual-headed shower and a whirlpool tub

The Westin Heavenly Bed is the best bed. Ever.

This is the view from my balcony. This is considered an ocean view… it’s mostly
a view of "open space" and trees, though

Good thing the beach is just a short walk away

These trees not only block my ocean view, but they block the sunset too!

Taken shortly after having a mai tai…

Day 2 now… back at the same beach as above

My snorkel was defective so I had to haul it back to Snorkel Bob’s and get another.
I ended up going to Black Rock to snorkel instead of the hotel beach. This
is a great place to snorkel, with lots of coral and DEEP water.

Looking back at the sprawling Sheraton Maui from Kaanapali Beach

I forgot the name of this beach (which you can’t see here), but it’s the one
before Honolua Beach

Nice red cliffs at the northern tip of West Maui

Later in the day I headed "upcountry". This was taken near Kula, and it really
shows off the microclimates on Maui. In the distance you have mountains that
get 300+ inches of rain a year. In the middle is the valley, which always seems
to be windy. Upcountry, it’s dry and almost desert-like.

This church near Kula is framed by the rolling green hills of Haleakala

The plumaria is the Heavenly Bed of flowers. It’s the best smelling flower,
ever.

The only way this sunset would’ve been better was if I had a mai tai in hand.
Taken from the Four Seasons

That’s all for part one!