Aloha Maui – Not just a surfer’s paradise

October 24, 2024

At 8 a.m., the Norwegian Sun docked at the pier in Kahului on Maui, and we were able to disembark from the ship. Our car rental provider, where we had booked a car for our two days of stay, was once again Hertz at a nearby hotel by the harbor. We sincerely hoped that we wouldn’t face the same drama as with Hertz in Waikiki. Fortunately, that was not the case, and we were handed over the vehicle without significant delay.

Our first destination was Baldwin Beach Park, a surfer beach along the road to Hana. Here, we were captivated by the fine sandy beach with roaring waves where a few men were surfing on short boards. Once again, we were enveloped by that total Hawaii beach and sun feeling. It was beautiful to watch them ride the waves to the shore. Sometimes gracefully, sometimes less so, but persistently... We could have sat there forever, just watching. However, we had more stops planned. So off we went, continuing down the road towards Hana.

After a few miles, we stopped at Ho‘okipa Beach Park. The long beach is the site of the annual ‘Aloha Classics’ surf competition held every October, which is famous beyond Hawai’i. Here, windsurfers and longboard surfers frolicked in the water, taking each gust of wind and wave to train and have fun.

To capture all of this on video, I swung the camera and discussed what could be seen. He spoke in German, which caught the attention of a woman standing next to him. She pointed out the sea turtles located in a cove just below our viewpoint, which we probably wouldn’t have noticed so quickly, as the surfing activity and waves drew our attention, and we initially didn’t recognize the dark stones lying on the beach as sea turtles... With this knowledge, we were able to spot the turtles in the water, which seemed to be heading either towards or away from the shore. It soon turned out that the woman, who was here with her husband, was also from the 'Sun'. We had already met two couples from the ship, and surely we would run into each other again...

From there, we took the road to the declared destination of the day: Haleakala. The largest volcanic crater in the world, at an elevation of 3,055 meters. We wound our way up by car. It takes over an hour to cover the winding 20 miles to reach the top. The lookouts on the way up hinted at how incredible the view would be from the very top. Simply fantastic. We were also lucky: the weather was sunny with few clouds. At the very top of the crater stands an observatory, belonging to the University of Hawaii and the military. Through satellites, GPS data is provided, and man-made objects in orbit are monitored, tracking their paths.

The view into the crater was fascinating, with additional craters nestled in its center. Different earth tones painted a very beautiful picture. You could also clearly see the direction in which the crater allowed lava to flow.

What truly 'annoyed' us magnet enthusiasts was the fact that both visitor centers along the way were closed. How can that be? Just put up a 'Sorry, we’re closed' sign ... ?!? – And now we have nothing for our magnet wall from this amazing crater...

One hope still remained: we would head back down to Paia, a small town, and see if we could find something there... This time we were luckier and found some souvenirs from our excursion.

To conclude, we still had to find a parking spot for our rental car, which we had also booked for the next day. You aren’t allowed to leave a car overnight in supermarket parking lots. This is monitored and possibly towed at your expense. And it was not an option on the Hertz premises because the parking area is reserved for hotel guests. We were brave and parked the car in a residential area where cars also parked along the street, which did not necessarily indicate that people with a sense of property resided there. The area was already quite poor. Often, car owners keep their vehicles on their own property, so there are not many free parking options...

The brave inherit the earth, we took everything from the car onto the ship, and with the knowledge that the car is insured against damage or theft, we hoped to find it ready to drive the next day.