Mahalo Hawaii

ARRIVAL IN MAUI

We arrive in the evening, practically exhausted, in Maui and after renting our awful gray car we head to Kihei to Kei's B&B. The lady welcomed us, explained their habits in the house, and showed us our Mango room. Very cute, all yellow, wood floor, and a balcony with a table and chair immersed in their beautiful garden. The lady brings breakfast in a wicker basket and leaves it outside the door the night before so as not to disturb. She provides beach towels, sunscreens, books, hats, body boards, washing machine, etc., etc. They do a very strict recycling separation… We drag ourselves into the town of Kihei, where there are shops, supermarkets, and restaurants, and we park at SHAKA PIZZA! Legendary, their pizza is very good but be careful… get the slices because whole pizzas could feed a rugby team! After dinner we go to bed even though we can't quite tell if it's day or night…

MAUI, WE'RE READY

We wake up fresh as two Tiaré flowers and head like two lightning bolts to Big Beach, near Makena. This big beach is fantastic and semi-deserted. The sand is golden. The waves are serious (I say this from experience…) even though it doesn't seem like it. It's the beach suited to Bodyboarding, and I see the Hawaiian kids having a lot of fun and doing some tricks… they ride the body boards even with their hands, head down… they look like cats! We jump right into the water and the wave motion immediately grabs us and we have a lot of fun! The waves break practically at the shore.

At a certain point I turn around and see a wall of water and I don't have time to think about anything before it pulls me in (incredible, the force of the water), well, it slammed me to the ground where I scraped my face and "vomited" me onto the beach towel 4-5 meters from the shore, practically almost without my swimsuit... oh my god! What a shame… Robby was laughing like crazy, and not only him… I should point out that the baywatch lifeguards monitor the beach with binoculars… I can imagine! Anyway! After a good laugh I threw myself back into the sea and washed off those pounds of sand I had accumulated! Now I feel like I'm in Hawaii! I watch Robby having fun like a child with his body board… he's been struck by Peter Pan syndrome, help!! We continue our tour and go to Wailea Beach, another beautiful beach.

HANA ROAD

You can't come to Maui without driving the famous Hana Road. You can skip it if you have a weak stomach because of the over 600 curves and hairpin turns… but that's not our case! Before arriving here we stopped along the road to admire from above the famous surfers' beach of Ho'okipa, packed, I can't imagine in winter when the waves are said to be meters high… To cover this diabolical and at the same time enchanting road, it took us 2 hours and 50 minutes. It's a road that runs through the forest, sometimes along steep cliffs plunging into the sea, other times along mountain walls. You have to cross about fifty bridges suspended over waterfalls and small streams. Nature here is incredible, I've never seen a road like this! The beaches encountered along this route are famous and we certainly won't miss them. We start with Waianapanapa State Park, better known as the black beach.

Truly beautiful and unusual… strange, the black pitch-like sand that sticks to your feet… We continue towards Kaialulu, the red sand beach, also stunning. But then we arrive at Koki Beach Park and it's here that I will leave my heart on the island of Maui. This bay, for me, has a heartbreaking beauty, I'd call it wild. Surrounded by mountains, dense vegetation behind it, and a high coast eroded by wind and waves where a kind of cave forms on the left side of the beach. Below, the golden sand highlights the colors of this splendid bay. I remain enchanted and captivated and observe it in silence. We continue to Hamoa Beach Park, another beautiful beach, nice view from above. We continue the route and arrive at Haleakala National Park ($10 entry) where the Oheo Gulch stream forms the 7 pools.

Basically there are 7 waterfalls cascading one after another forming 7 pools in which it's possible to swim. The water eventually reaches the sea, which breaks on the rocks at the end of this route. When the sea is very rough they close it because it submerges everything and it becomes very dangerous to reach the pools… An otherworldly environment, I'd call it, I don't know, there are no words. The road ends here; rental cars are not allowed to continue, so you have to turn back and go through all the curves, hairpin turns, and bridges again. One tip: keep your Haleakala N.P. entry ticket, it's valid for 3 days and you can visit the volcano without paying since it's in the same park (with the entrance opposite this one). Return with a stop in Paia for a stroll through the shops and dinner in Kihei at the legendary Denny's chain.

KAANAPALI COAST

Today we decide to visit the Kaanapali Coast and start with Black Rock beach. A beautiful beach, a bit hard to find because it's hidden by the large hotel chains that rise behind it. It's ideal for snorkeling on the right side, near the rocks, which are black, as the name suggests. The water is very blue and gets deep right away. We dry off and head towards Kakekili Beach Park in Kapalua where we visit the following beaches: Kapalua Bay, D.T. Fleming Beach Park, and Honolua Bay. They're all three beautiful but my favorite of the day remains Black Rock. Honolua Bay offers a stunning view from above that truly takes your breath away! We continue our tour and go further north to see the Blow Hole at Nakalele Point. It's a hole formed in the rocks that sprays water up several meters when the wave comes in.

The height of the spray depends on the force of the wave… Quite a sight… but what nature is capable of! We end the day with a healthy dinner at Shaka Pizza!!

HALEAKALA CRATER + KIHEI

Today we go to visit the Haleakala Crater in Haleakala National Park and use the ticket purchased at the other entrance on Hana Road for the 7 pools. This volcano has been extinct for many years but visiting it is always an emotion. There are several observation points. The last one ends at 3,055 meters and I'll let you imagine the view you can enjoy from up there. The landscape is lunar, a mix of the black of the lava, the red of the rocks, and the green of the plants gradually reclaiming their space. You can see several craters and a model inside the Visitors Center gives an idea of what chaos it unleashed when it was erupting!! For a $1 donation you can get a very cute certificate from Haleakala N.P.

stating that you "survived" this experience, since the park declares it the only place in the world where a 36-mile road starts at sea level and reaches 3,055 meters in such a short distance. Indeed, the elevation change is remarkable and our Cobalt was struggling on the hairpin turns of this park! Once at the top, every slightest movement requires great effort and consequently a lot of heavy breathing! At the summit you'll notice an astronomical observatory, which of course you're clearly forbidden to enter. This visit to the volcano that characterizes the island of Maui is absolutely not to be missed.

The signs of the presence of this volcano and previous eruptions are visible all over the island, even on certain beaches where the contrast between the black lava flow, the golden sand, the blue water, and the bright green vegetation creates a play of colors I believe is unique in the world. We spent the other half of the day at the beach in Kihei waiting for the sunset and then shopping at the stalls.

LAST DAY IN MAUI

We spend the last day on Maui entirely at the beach... We start with Honolua Bay (which we had only seen from above). I recommend going to see this beach even just for the path you have to take to get there. It's a pedestrian passage through a splendid lush forest full of ferns, truly wonderful. At the end of the path this beautiful bay opens up, ideal for snorkeling. The beach is pebbly and therefore quite uncomfortable but it's worth it even just for a dip and for the walk through the "jungle"! We continue our day at another beautiful semi-deserted beach that we found on the road near Kailili Beach. This one is also suitable for snorkeling.

The water has incredible blue streaks that make a great impression! Given the sparse crowd and the melancholy perhaps of having to leave Maui, with the iPod in my ears I sang at the top of my lungs and danced to some of my favorite songs, not caring and not caring at all about the few who were amusedly watching me...but who in my opinion envied me because I was finally free from the prejudices to which we are continually subjected in everyday life!! In short, I felt very ALOHA and HANGLOOSE style! A nice gift from Maui!

FROM MAUI TO KAUAI

Here comes another little plane of terror waiting to take us to Kauai!! My goodness!! Actually, a calm flight. We arrive in Kauai in the afternoon and it welcomes us with not exactly nice weather. We decide to do a bit of shopping and go to the Coconut Market Place right next to our hotel. There are lots of souvenir shops and one in particular has very nice necklaces and bracelets at reasonable prices (a little past the main entrance on the right). For the evening we head towards Punta Allen and have dinner at Pizzetta in Old Koloa Town, a very nice place where we also ate well.

WAIMEA CANYON + BEACHES

The weather is awful and it rained buckets all night...it shows no sign of stopping. We get a suspicion: Kauai is called the garden island for its lush vegetation...but could it be that this green depends on the fact that it always rains here, right? And yet I've seen photos with sunshine...After various far-fetched hypotheses it's decided: today we're going to Waimea Canyon, rain or no rain...still better than the beach alternative! Map in hand we reach our destination.... we get to the top and you can't see a damn thing....the fog on the steep hills blocks our view....

we go up and down through all the observation points, we reach the visitors center, we go back to the top and then a sudden terrifying gust of wind...the kind that we could have gone paragliding with our sweatshirts, sweeps away all the clouds and the spectacle we manage to glimpse is incredible, a canyon with the most varied colors, the classic river flowing at the bottom and on the surrounding peaks waterfalls, explosive vegetation, almost violent and red-orange rocks. Insane (even though the canyon itself doesn't hold up to comparison with its cousin the Grand Canyon in Arizona as many claim...that one is a whole other thing. The vegetation all around instead has no equal and I believe it's something present only here in the rest of the world...that's why it's called garden island!).

The weather keeps improving and we take advantage of it to take a walk on one of the many trails...truly enjoyable and the panorama enchanting. We start to spot convertible cars going up to the summit with the tops down...good sign...there's sun at the beach....here we come!! We dive to Salt Pond Beach Park (near Port Allen), a very very nice beach sheltered from the currents, ideal for swimming. Incredible, just a few hours ago the weather was awful and now there's insane sunshine and we had a spectacular swim! We continue to Poipu beach.

A beach of disarming beauty....blue blue water and shallow; in front there's a small islet that you reach by walking in the water and on which there was no one...how wonderful!! The sunset from this beach is also unmissable! We return to the hotel and get ready for dinner but first we go to Port Allen to book the Na'pali Coast excursion with Blue Dolphin for the day after tomorrow, after various quotes it seemed to us the best in terms of boat and program. We choose a restaurant on the road, after Port Allen, the Kalaheo cafe where we ate divinely. I had the Mahi-Mahi with mango (a typical Hawaiian and Polynesian fish). I highly recommend it!

BEACHES UP NORTH

Today we go to see the famous northern beaches. We start from the farthest and work our way closer to Kapa'a where our hotel is. The road leading north, especially in the last stretch, looks a lot like Hana Road on Maui as far as the scenery. You drive engulfed by the vegetation and totally captivated by the beauty that Kauai offers its visitors. The weather is splendid and the rains from the previous morning have swollen the waterways and the waterfalls plunging from the imposing mountains are clearly visible...here is the garden island in all its beauty! It looks like an Eden. We arrive safe by a miracle (after avoiding an accident with a car that on a bridge with alternating one-way traffic hadn't seen us and a tree branch that fell almost on top of our hood...) and the first beach we visit is Ke'e Beach, a paradise...

go to this beach, it's really beautiful and it reserved for us a surprise that left me and my husband speechless, to say the least. The beach is crowded in the part in front of the entrance and if you move to the left side it's completely deserted. Robby and I decide to go for a walk on foot from that side and at a certain point we notice something big lying on the sand...but what is it, what isn't it...maybe it's a big rock..hmm, dunno...

as we get closer we realize that this thing is alive and is nothing other than a SEAL relaxing and taking a bit of sun on the beach....incredible!! I literally lost my mind...I adore animals and it was the first time I saw a seal....I think I stayed still for a good hour, frozen, for fear of disturbing it, scrutinizing it down to the smallest details and taking a whole photo book of it!! I was so happy!! Oh my god! Unbelievable, an American would have said and so do I...by now infected by their language!! The seal's little face...but has anyone ever observed it down to the smallest details?? Well, do it if you get the chance...it looks like a little dog's!! I would have stayed there indefinitely but my husband dragged me away! We go back to the beach, if you want to snorkel here it's ideal, there are many fish and beautiful coral formations. The landscape around is wonderful.

Behind there's a mountain that drops sheer into the bay and several boulders that seem placed there in a perfect way ("maybe by an architect!!!!") create a unique scenery! A bit Seychelles-like.. We abandon paradise for another beach that is also wonderful (but which doesn't have the seal) which is Tunnels Beach, the sea is the same, it stays in the bay beyond the inlet and it's truly splendid, the sea is of a very light color! We pass by Wainiha Bay but we don't stop because the rains of the previous day and the river that flows right here had brought mud and the water was blue and red with clay! We go to Anini Beach Park, beautiful and isolated, there was almost no one. The day is about to end and on the way back we stop to see the lighthouse at Kilauea that stands straight on the bay below, a refuge of numerous species of birds. In winter it's possible to spot whales from here.

It's possible to visit the lighthouse inside ($ 5) but be careful because it closes at 4...in fact! We have dinner in Kapa'a at the Olympic Cafe with an excellent big steak that would have fed a whole rugby team...wow but how much do these Americans eat....you can see it too, huh!

NA'PALI COAST

We spent Ferragosto on a catamaran in the Na'pali Coast with Blue Dolphin ("only" $ 273 for two). Departure at 8 from Port Allen and return by 14, lunch and breakfast on board, all-inclusive drinks. I wouldn't know how to describe the beauty of the Na'pali Coast, I can't convey the idea of the beauty of this stretch of coastline...rounded mountains covered by forest that actually seem covered in bright green velvet, waterfalls gushing everywhere, breathtaking bays, enchanted corners, rock arches over the sea.... we saw dozens of dolphins, who came to play right under our catamaran, and also turtles!! One piece of advice: if you suffer from seasickness it's not your ideal day! The sea was rough and I don't think it was only on the day we went...

The day had another surprise in store for us...after the excursion we went to Anahola beach where there was a Hawaiian wedding! It was beautiful to see their traditions! The bride dressed in white like us, the groom in white too, then they had 5 bridesmaids dressed in white and red and 5 groomsmen who had the same shirt as the bridesmaids' dresses! All accompanied by the sound of the ukelele! On the sand a spread of super fragrant Tiarè flowers.... We sat on the beach, by the way not far away, to peek...we took part in a Hawaiian wedding! We witnessed the "I do" and the ritual water photos, where the groomsmen gave the newlyweds a mega soaking....

At the end of the ceremony the newlyweds and the guests went away cheerful and we remained dreaming about how our wedding would have been if 7 years ago we had done it on a Hawaiian beach!! While waiting for the sunset we looked for a nice coconut, we opened it and enjoyed this fruit on this beach that was deserted! Dinner at the legendary Burger King (for those who like it...we are fast food addicts!!)

LAST HALF DAY IN KAUAI

We decide to spend this last half day on Kauai at a beautiful beach, Kalihiway. On the left there's a river that flows into the ocean, it feels like being in the jungle...truly strange landscape! From this beach the canoeists set off...and first they all pray in a circle! Then when the wind picks up a bit the surfers arrive too and I'm enchanted watching their decisive and harmonious movements! Later we change beach and go to Kealia Beach where there are high waves and everyone has a lot of fun! We have lunch at Pizza Hut with a pizza buffet (pasta and vegetables) at $10 per person. There was also (among many) the Hawaiian pizza with ham and pineapple...Excellent! In the late afternoon we took the flight to Ohau. Arrived at the airport we discover that the buses don't carry large airplane baggage and since we're without a car somehow we have to manage...

the airport is really big, the luggage weighs a ton and we can't believe it when we find the Roberts Hawaii coach that for $9 each takes us to Waikiki. It will later prove to be a very convenient price! We arrive and by now it's evening, we settle into the hotel and go to see this Waikiki Beach at night! The hotel is on the beach and we just have to cross the street. The super tall hotels that stand up high and, illuminated, are reflected in the Ocean is a spectacle I won't easily forget....I already like this Waikiki a lot!! We do a tour of shops...and what shops! The seafront is very elegant and crowded with people, mostly Japanese. It feels like being in Milano Marittima! Then a nice big ice cream at Hagen Daz and off to bed!

HANUAMA BAY

Today I really want to go to Hanuama Bay! Also because tomorrow it's closed! REMEMBER,TUESDAY HANUAMA BAY IS CLOSED! We head towards the bus stop and wait for the 22. The ticket costs $2.25 each round trip, you give the money to the driver who doesn't give change. This bus passes once an hour and we had to wait 2 hours before it picked us up because it was always full.

While waiting a dip at Waikiki...but how convenient this bus stop is!! On the 3rd pass of the bus when the driver told us it was still full and that he wouldn't take us, I made such a scene that in the end he let only me and my husband on among all those present....when I want something....let's say that often I get it! We arrive at Hanuama Bay after about 45 minutes and the line to enter the beach (it's a nature park) is very long...patience, we'll wait! We pay $ 7 entry and after a mandatory 10-minute little film for everyone (in which they explain the formation of this bay, due to the volcano and what you can and cannot do) you can finally access the beach! The descent to reach it is paved and steep (on the way back then we take the little train that for $ 1 takes us back up....never spent my money better!!).

The view from above is spectacular, the bay has incredible colors and you can distinguish all the shapes of the corals! A true paradise. Famous for snorkeling but actually you can't see a damn thing!! But it's worth it anyway! Bring water and food or they'll rip you off.... On the way back we take the bus again and it's chaos again and I have no desire to wait another hour, so somehow, we arrived at the stop last and got on among the first....I told you I wanted to take that bus! We spend the rest of the afternoon at Waikiki Beach, this stupendous beach, one of my favorites in the world...I could even think of moving there one day... Turning our backs to the sea, on the right there's a mountain whose slopes reach down to the beach and on the left a harmonious succession of beautiful skyscrapers, which follow the crescent shape of the bay. The Ocean is an incredible blue.

Here life is very lively and a continuous coming and going of surfers with their boards under their arm stroll on this beach! Strange people, beautiful people, people of all kinds populate this beach that belongs to everyone. We are enchanted watching a guy who surfs while lifting a girl who looks like an angel above him.... I'm not telling a tall tale, I saw them with my own eyes, guys! We wait for the sunset and I assure you the spectacle is guaranteed! We have dinner at PF CHANG'S with an excellent Mahi-Mahi fish with fruit...always strange combinations but well executed...for my tastes!

LAST DAY IN OHAU

Today is the last day on Ohau and I absolutely don't want to move from Waikiki, I love it madly! Robby rents a surfboard on the beach, by now completely infected by everyone ($15 for the first hour, then each subsequent hour $ 5). I see him set off in the classic surfer position, lying on the board paddling with his arms. He reaches all the others and gets into position waiting for "the right wave"! Let's say it doesn't go well for him right away...it looks easy but it's complicated!! In the end he comes back to the beach exhausted but happy, I can see it from his eyes!! We have lunch at Mc Donald's which is right on the beach. We stay here in the afternoon too and spend it between a dip and a walk! Towards evening we go to the Ala Moana Center shopping mall with bus 8. The mall has very very famous brand shops (and not) and beautiful ones.

You can get lost!! We arrive at dinner time devastated and eat here inside at California Pizza (with $ 33 in total) Really good and the place is nice. We continue with a bit more shopping and then we escape out of tiredness...

ALOHA AND MAHALO HAWAII

THE DAY OF DEPARTURE HAS ARRIVED AND WE SAY GOODBYE TO HAWAII WITH AN ALOHA AND THANK THEM WITH A MAHALO! They gave us truly beautiful moments and we will always carry in our hearts the rainbows, the volcanoes, the vegetation, the ocean, the surfers and the magical Hawaiian people from whom we would have a lot to learn.... We say goodbye to Hawaii with a mega HANGLOOSE and head to the airport, where 3 flights await us (Kahului with Hawaiian+San Francisco and NY with United)...NEW YORK HERE WE COME! But that's another story! -----Aloha to the whole world!!! ----- Annalisa!