Maui 2016 Day 5: Kapalua Bay, Back to Seattle

Sigh.  Our last day already?  All of days of beach time flew by.

Our flight was at 10pm, so we had the whole day.  The condo owner allowed us to check out later in the afternoon, so that helped a lot.

We were debating about the Road to Hana, which is raved about...but in the end decided to not do a road trip, and wanted to relax and give snorkeling another try.

We got to Kapalua Bay a little late in the morning, so the little lot was full already.  It was a small bay, and was busy with families.  Definitely a popular snorkel spot, but it felt less crowded than Black Rock since everyone was spread out around the bay.  The sand was soft and the water was so clear.

Clear water, soft sand, sunshine at Kapalua Bay!

Maui 2016 Day 4: More Lahaina - Surfing and Old Lahaina Luau

A beautiful, sunny day, starting off in the morning.  It was warm, and great conditions for a surfing lesson.  I would have tried, if my left arm had strength.  If only I would be able to get back up onto my surf board...Maybe one day.

Before we set off to the Royal Hawaiian Surf Academy, I called the Old Lahaina Luau and added our names to the waitlist for that evening.  While they were sold out until next week, I thought I would try in case there were cancellations.

The two hour surf lesson started at 10:30am.  We walked over to a beach park nearby, and I viewed from the beach and another rock jetty(?) area.  I received a phone call from OLL with news that there was room for us that night, so that was great news.

Beach where the surfers start at.

Where I watched the surfers from.

Maui 2016 Day 3: Kaanapali Beach, Kihei - Waipuilani Park

 Today was our second attempt at snorkeling!  It was hard deciding where to go, with the limited days we had to explore.  We ended up choosing to go to Black Rock since the beach was so highly rated.  But because of this, I knew we had to go early to secure a garage parking spot, as well as avoid the crowds.

We got to the parking lot around 7:45am (early!) and were just the second car there.  But, there were already people at the beach!  A handful of people already snorkeling, and even in the few minutes of setting things up, another group of people arrived.  I could definitely see how busy it would become as the day went on.

Black Rock is interesting because the snorkeling is more sideways, looking at the coral on the side, instead of straight downwards.  It was a cloudy day, and rained at times, so the water was not that clear unfortunately.  We did see some fish, although they were sporadic.  The further out and closer to Black Rock, the more coral and fish we saw.

Early morning at Black Rock.  Not too cloudy...yet.

Maui 2016 Day 2: Haleakale National Park, Lahaina Again

Cool trees!

What an amazing experience today!  We took a day trip to Haleakala National Park.  We left the condo around 7:30am, and had to make a quick stop at Target to pick up extra protein bars and water.  As we were heading up the windy road to the park, my motion sickness started kicking in and I had to just drive the rest of the way up.  We got to the first visitor center at around 10:15am.

It was very windy.  I was planning for extreme cold, but it wasn't too bad.  The sun was a lot stronger up here though, so having my hoodie and capris was useful.

Maui 2016 Day 1: Farmers Market, Olowalu Beach Park, Lahaina

Fruits!

The first day of vacation before my new job!  Ah...Woke up at 5:30am because I was not used to the time change yet.  Since we didn't have any food at the condo, we walked across the street to the Farmers Market at Maui-Honokowai.  Such a convenient location, and open Mon/Wed/Fri starting at 7am.  We figured we would get some breakfast items that would last us a couple days.

There were so many samples.  Essentially everything they sold was available to try out first.  We bought fresh fruit -- bananas, papayas, pineapple bagels, special cream cheeses.  The giant avocados were very tempting to try, but we held off.