En route to spending some time at some of the beaches on West Maui, Steven and I passed one of Hawaii's former sugarcane factories.
Although you may not realize it from my most recent posts about our time on Maui whose nickname is the Valley Isle, the island is far more well-known for its more than 80 public beaches. Even though we'd seen our share of ultra-rich exclusive resorts on Maui, Hawaiian state law requires that all beaches are public property and therefore all resorts and even residential communities must offer public right-of-way access to the beach.
The black beach at Olowalu Beach was known for good snorkeling but its location right beside the highway made it extremely noisy. Steven and I took turns snorkeling but its cloudy water didn't make for decent fish-viewing that day at least.
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Though we swam out 150 feet plus from the shore, we were bummed we didn't see any turtles lining up to have cleaner wrasses pick off small parasites at a "cleaning station."
When the noise got to be too much, we headed onto the far more popular Kapalua Bay Beach further up the west coast. I was surprised at the big crowds as it was so different from Olowalu. It was hard to find a space to call our own on the caramel-colored sand.
The beach was also supposed to be great for snorkelers but the murky water didn't do much for either of us.
However, and it's a big, however, my opinion about the beach changed for the better when I spotted this huge Hawaiian green sea turtle and followed it for several minutes at a safe distance for the turtle.
It was really distressing to see some middle-aged men trying to touch the turtle when it neared the shore as there are signs at every beach warning beachgoers everyone must keep 10 feet away from the endangered animals.
The small community of Honolua near the northwest coast looked very much like the lodging and shops in national parks in the western US.
Rather than turning back inland from West Maui to reach our condo in Central Maui, we decided to take the scenic route along the Kahekili Highway. The road was named after an 18th-century Maui king who built homes from the skulls of his enemies!
Described as a "back-to-nature experience," it sounded far more appealing even though the word 'highway' was a bit of a euphemism for the paved but rather precarious narrow road! Some rental car companies don't even allow their cars on this road and we were advised to skip it entirely after any rains because of potential mud or rock slides.
The beautiful Honokohau Bay was at the northernmost tip of the island. The bay around this point was designated a Marine Life Conservation Area which meant that taking any fish, shells, or anything else was prohibited.
Selfishly, I was glad that Steven was driving so I could just spend my whole time admiring the magnificent views as the narrow road weaved along, following an ancient Hawaiian coastal footpath to Honokohau Bay.
We heard a couple of helicopters overheard and wondered if there were tourists aboard taking in the views of the steep ravines, rolling pastoral hills, and jagged coastlines. The photo opportunities were heavenly and looked like they might have come straight from a postcard.
The spouting Nakalele Blowhole caught our attention but we intentionally didn't get too close as we knew unwary people had been swept out to sea! People visiting in the winter might see whales from this spot.
The view reminded us of the Scottish Highlands.
The tour book wasn't "kidding" when it said we might share the road with goats and other animals!
Yup, this was indeed a two-lane 'highway."
I could see how extremely easily someone could take his or her eyes off the road for just a moment and be involved in an accident
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There were several spots along the Kahekili 'highway' where we had to pull over to allow a stream of oncoming cars to pass or, conversely, follow a stream of cars without the chance to stop at interesting sights.
I would have loved to stop in the picturesque village of Kahakuloa and take a few minutes to look at the weatherworn houses and red-roofed church but Steven didn't want to lose our spot in the line of cars. At least, I was able to snag this shot from the hill above the village before we headed on.
A few years ago, Steven and I spent a month wandering the highways and byways of Ireland. Never had Steven driven on such narrow lanes as he had there. This part of the 'highway' came in at a close second!
After all the blind curves we'd just driven, this sign was sort of the understatement of the year! We joked that we were in training for the next day's legendary Road to Hana in eastern Maui.
Next post: The aforementioned road to Hana in northeastern Maui!
Posted on May 5th, 2022, from our home in Denver's western suburbs as we continue to pack and prepare for our extensive road trip that begins next week.
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