Hawaii 1999 Album - The Valley Island
Trip #3, island #4
For Sonia, Catherine and I this was our second trip to Maui. Our base of operation on Maui was the Embassy Suites resort in Kaanapali. This was the relaxing part of the vacation. We specifically planned time to 'just do nothing'.
note: Each of the photographs is a thumbnail image of the original. Just click on the thumbnail to view the full size picture.
"...you're on vacation, let us treat you that way!"
It wasn't too hard to get used to the life here. Get up, take a dip in the pool or ocean, indulge in the free breakfast buffet, enjoy the sites, and just plain relax.
The beach and water clarity at the resort was much better than on the previous visit. There was plenty of good snorkeling and also a great place for a shore dive as you'll see in a minute. Sonia especially liked the torch lighting ceremony. I think she just like watching the scantily clad Hawaiian guy run around the walkways. 
Making leis at the resort was a pleasant after breakfast activity one morning. They provided all the flowers (dendrobium orchids). All we had to do is snip the stems a little and string them.
There were plenty of things to do on Maui. It was interesting see the changes since we had been there five year ago -- more development, and they were still doing roadwork on route #30 in Kaanapali. 
One definite improvement was a little shopping center, complete with pizza and assorted other eateries right across the street from the resort.
One of the Alamo car rental promotions involved taking pictures of yourself enjoying your Alamo rental. Although you may not be able to tell, that is an Alamo brochure that we're holding. The backdrops include the Maui Ocean Center and the coast just outside of Lahina.
Our travels also included a trip to the Iao Needle and of course some shopping in Lahina. Lahina is a quaint town and it is easy to imagine how it must of been during the height of the whaling era.
More beaches and snorkeling
"...can you say humuhumunukunukuapua'a three times real fast?"
We had heard a lot of good things about the Black Rock area, unfortunately the day we were there it was rather windy and consequently the water was a bit cloudy.
After a while, Catherine got snorkeled out and wasn't even interested in going in the water.
We didn't find exactly the same beach we had gone to before at Napili, but we were more than happy with the one we did find. Our snorkeling revealed a large assortment of fish, a couple turtles, and several eels.
Humuhumunukunukuapua'a?? The official state fish!
"...SCUBA - Some Come Up Barely Alive"
The scuba lessons and dive were definitely the highlight of the trip for Catherine. She was very comfortable in the water.
So after making her go through the pool lesson a second time, I accompanied her along with Eddy, the instructor, on a shore dive. Most of the 40 minute dive was in about 25-30 feet of water.
Sunrise on Haleakala - 10,023 (cold and windy!!) feet
Sunrise or sunset
"...you can't tell the 'suns' without a program"One of the less strenuous of our tourist activities was watching the beautiful Hawaiian sunsets. The resort had a nice vantage point overlooking the islands of Lanai and Molokai.
Seeing a sunrise meant getting up early. In the case of Haleakala, we left our room at 3:00 a.m. We spent a little over an hour climbing (driving in the car) to our 10,023 foot vantage point. If you go... dress warmly!
Haleakala after sunrise
The sunrise on Haleakala is spectacular, but the morning light also reveals a place with a variety of scenic views, as well as sites that you can only see there. Looking across the ocean, you can see the massive and more recent peaks of Mauna Kea (left) and Mauna Loa (right) on the island of Hawaii.
The domes of 'science city' are bathed in the morning light.
The volcanic origin of the islands is apparent when you look at the cider cones within the main creator of Haleakala. The main crator and cinder cones provided an eerie moonscape. Although the sun was shining, the howling wind and cold temperature made me question whether we were indeed on a tropical island.
Although vegetaion is sparse, Haleakala has some species of plants that are found no where else in the world. One of the rarest plants is the giant silversword which blooms only every 20-30 years.
