We are really getting spoiled here; we wake up to a fridge filled with all kinds of yummy breakfast foods. We have cut up fresh food, yogurt, toast with guava jelly and different kinds of cereal. Wow!
The trade winds make snorkeling tricky in the afternoon, whipping up waves and reducing visibility, thus the plan is to go out first thing in the morning, but where to go? There’s so many options and we don’t really know what’s what yet so we make our way to Makena Landing / 5 Caves.
Cars are parked all along the road so I take this to be a good sign and if nothing else the setting is very picturesque; a gently curving bay lined with trees and views of other islands in the distance. We’re parked quite a distance away, but I think I spot a shortcut except it dead ends and as we’re backtracking I feel a sudden sharp pain in my big toe.
Thinking it’s probably just a twig I keep walking, then stop again, look at my toe -- can’t find anything, keep walking, ouch, now limping, stop again, re-examine my toe followed by my flip flop, keep limping along, ow, ow, ow, start whining -- now Sandy’s looking at my toe, more limping, throw myself down on someone’s lawn stretching my toe as close to my face as possible all the while pressing on my shoe trying to find something wrong with either part … and then finally Sandy turns my flip flop over and attached to the bottom is the meanest, gnarliest thorn you could possible imagine. Not long enough for me to feel by pressing on it, but enough to pierce my toe every time I put my weight on it. According to my guidebook the thing (called a kiawe thorn) is tough enough to pierce Kevlar. Yeah, no kidding!
Now thorn-free we make our way to a sunny spot on the grassy cliff overlooking the bay. You know, it looks kind of cloudy up close but there’s a bunch of snorkelers and scuba divers already out there so that’s promising. I take a minute to warm up then throw myself in the remarkably murky water. It gets a bit clearer once I get further off shore, but still a bit of a letdown, especially considering there’s less coral here and very few fish. Part of the problem is that it’s also a lot deeper so the fish are way at the bottom where they appear like tiny little flecks of color. When I go over to where other people are snorkeling (in the hopes of finding a good spot) there’s still depressingly little to be seen. Since I’m out by myself it don’t want to go all the way around the rock to the 5 Caves area that's supposed to be one of the better snorkeling spots on Maui. Oh well.
Not to be deterred – ok, well a little – we decide to drive up to another local snorkeling spot called Ulua. Unfortunately unbeknownst to us they're doing construction and only a handful of parking spots remain … of course they’ve long been filled so the only option is to turn around and try something else.
By now I’m a little frustrated, it’s getting late and I haven’t been able to do anything that even comes close to Kona. Have I been spoiled for life by Kona’s clear waters and abundance of fish?
We drive a ways up north and connect with route 30, where a large reef stretches along the highway around mile marker 14. Overhyped according to my guide book, but lo and behold, it’s actually pretty decent! Visibility is not bad and the reef is huge – you can snorkel left and right and far out to sea without it getting deep at all. Not quite as many fish and fewer variety than in Kona, but I still get to see some new fish including the supercool oriental flying gurnard.
More colorful wrasses -- first a Christmas wrasse
Then a belted wrasse
The wind has picked up quite a bit and we’re getting belted with flying sand, but curiously it doesn’t really affect the ocean here ... see how smooth the surface is?
Bluespotted cornetfish ... almost looks like a limbless crocodile
Saved the best one for last; a male spotted boxfish
Due to a miscommunication we end up in Wailuku with me badly needing a restroom. That means a trip to McDonald's is in order. After eating poi – and hating it – at the luau on Big Island, I’d said to Sandy that if anyone can make it taste enjoyable it’d be McDonald's so what better time to try it?! And yes, in case you’re wondering; with the addition of no doubt exorbitant amounts of sugar, butter and some time in the deep fryer taro pie is mighty tasty!
No luck with the bathroom though; there’s a crazy dude in the ladies room. Yes, I said dude and no, I have no idea why he was in there but he certainly wasn’t going to come out and giving the amount of cursing when I tried to open the door we think the better of it.
The number 1 rated place on TripadvisorWailuku for me.
Quick bathroom stop at our rental unit, then off to Maui Pizza Madness where we split a pizza. Not bad!
Sunday night is the night of the legendary sunset celebration at Little Beach and when we get there a ton of cars are already parked alongside the road. This is actually a good thing because there are no mile markers in this area so it can be hard to figure out just where things are.
The path opens onto Big Beach; definitely a big (and beautiful) beach, but my attention is drawn to two adorable little critters near the garbage can. Someone behind us is talking about mongoose so for now I’ll assume that’s what they are.
It’s a bit tricky getting to the top of the rock ledge that separates Big Beach from Little Beach, but the view from the top is fantastic.
It’s not until you tear your gaze away from Big Beach basking in the late afternoon and wander over to the other side that you start noticing the sound of drums in the distance. It’s like the beat draws you in to join the party happening down on the beach.
The scenery on this side is no less gorgeous, but probably the first thing you notice is that some people pack very light omitting extraneous items like clothing. And when you’re surrounding by all those peace loving, pot smoking people it’s easy to see how you could misplace your own bikini and frolic in the waves by the setting sun.
As the sun drops lower and lower the drums pick up the pace and people are dancing like the 1960s never ended. Pink shorts guy was a riot ... just kind of swaying in place oblivious to what was happening around him.
There she goes! Lower and lower as the drums become more hectic ...
Lots of cheers when it finally disappears behind a low hanging cloud and then the real party begins; the fire dancers come out from their spot in the trees.
It's both exciting and a bit frightening to be able to watch from just feet away without any safety nets in place -- and yes, they do go flying at times, but everyone just laughs and the show goes on.
There she goes! Lower and lower as the drums become more hectic ...
Lots of cheers when it finally disappears behind a low hanging cloud and then the real party begins; the fire dancers come out from their spot in the trees.
It's not just the guys who get to play ...
Lots of fire breathers.
You can tell by looking at the pictures that they use all kinds of different things to hold the flame; sticks, fans, hula hoops and poi (balls of a string)
Hula hoop dancer
By 8pm the party starts dwindling down and we decide to head back while there are still enough people there with flashlights should we need it. It’s a bit scary having to navigate down the steep lava in the dark, but someone is nice enough to stand near the most difficult section with a big torch so we make it to Big Beach without incident.
What a fabulous day!
1 comments:
Hello darlings,
You make such a nice pictures Cat.
Like the first one of the bay. I enlarged it and have been looking at it for quite a long time. It has that lazy afternoon feeling (yes I know it's morning), you just want to stare and do nothing.
Nice fish pictures again, like the oriental flying gurnard. But yes there are my little favourites, the wrasses. For me they represent the couture section under the fish, with their wonderfull colours and designs!
Big beach is big!!!!
The beach party really looks like the sixty's and seventy's. That how I remembered it. The fire dancers are awesome!
An exiting day,
Love and kisses,
Joeve
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