Let me start by saying how sorry I am. For what you may ask? Well, I forgot how much I love you. I took you for granted while growing up on the West Coast. You were so close in proximity to me. I visited often and while I deeply enjoyed each visit, after moving to the East Coast I quickly threw you aside for new vacation spots such as the Caribbean and the Bahamas. They are similar to you–kind people, warm weather and lots of beach, but one thing they have going for them that you don’t is just a short flight–three to four hours.

How quickly I pushed you aside for convenient air travel.

After arriving in April for a mandatory trip that was related to my husband’s job (and even with the ridiculous layovers that were scheduled [not your fault]), all of my hesitations about the distance and the “comfortably restless” feeling I had for you that left me wanting to explore new places vanished as soon as I stepped into your open air airport and smelled the sweet air as it gently blew against my face. I remembered again how you were my first tropical love; my true tropical love.

This last visit may have been my best (well, tied maybe with the Spring Break trip my friend Jean and I took out there). The weather was perfect (you do have to admit that January/February are a bit iffy these days what with global warming or what not) and since my husband and I had both visited multiple times, we didn’t feel the need to rush and do tourist activities everyday leaving us so much time to just enjoy and unwind. At home (on the East Coast), people marvel at my visits to Hawaii. To them, Hawaii is some far off land, maybe as to how the Caymen Islands may seem to someone in Oregon. A far away, exotic paradise.
In the past I brushed off the “ooohs and ahhhhs” uttered at my Hawaii trips (again, I am sorry–I lost my head) and commented “Yes, it is nice.” Nice? Ugh, I am despicable.

While this apology letter need not go into any detail on the many attributes you offer your visitors–because I see them in my minds eye whenever I want–I want others to not make the same mistake I have made; I don’t want anyone to EVER forget how amazing you are.

So, with that said–I am listing some must-do and sees for anyone visiting.

See you soon,
Diana

ps: the other Hawaiian islands are amazing too. But Maui, you know I love you best.

WHAT ONE MUST DO & MUST SEE IN MAUI

1. Relax. You are here.

2. Lounge. I recommend staying in the Kaanapali area (although Kihei [pronounced 'kee-hay'] is another great area, so don’t count it out especially if you get a deal at the Grand Wailea, the fanciest hotel on the island). In Kaanapali the views of the famous Black Rock are best seen from the Sheraton. It is an older hotel, but kept up nicely and the views, pool area, bars and staff are exceptional. Snorkel right from the beach or do a resort dive and get a taste of the deep. Shopping is also just a short walk away on the beach path at Whalers Village. See # 5 on this list.

view of Black Rock and some of the Sheraton grounds

3. Go to a Luau. Lahaina, the original capital of Hawaii, is a small surf town with all of the tourist shops but with much more charm than most touristy towns. Many of the hotels on Maui offer a Luau but the most famous (and fun) is the Old Lahaina Luau but make reservations ahead of time!
And go early to town to shop around and have a pre-Luau drink at Lahaina Grill

Luau

4. Learn to Surf, or Stand Up Paddle
BECOME a true Hawaiian visitor and do like the locals do- Surf or do my new favorite sport: SUP (Stand Up Paddle).
Lessons are offered all over the island. Check with your hotel for recommendations or for a sure fire GOOD TIME try these guys out. Get on the water.

5. Shop. There is no shortage of retail shops and flea markets all over the island where you can find Hawaiian trinkets and high end stores within steps of each other. Whalers Village is a great combo of t-shirt shops, surf shops and jewelry stores–with the odd shaved ice place thrown in here and there. If the shops aren’t enough of a draw for you, go at least for the Hula Grill where you can dine with your feet in the sand overlooking the blue water and maybe a whale in the Pacific.

6. Take an epic drive. I recently did a post in my series titled See This, Not That where I spoke of a drive around the island (The Road to Kahakuloa) that rivals the famous Road to Hana drive. If this is your first trip to Maui please do both. I cannot choose one for you. Read my post and decide. But I will say, the Road to Hana is more famous. Full of the endless narrow, windy roads that end up at the gravesite of Charles Lindbergh (I know that sounds morbid, but it is an awesome drive.)
Three words: Black. Sand. Beach.
BUT–on the Road to Kahakuloa you see this:

And this:

7. See a Volcano. Drive to the top to watch the sunrise (bring a jacket–the temps may be in the 70′s at sea level but are freezing at the top) and hike around or later, get a tour that takes you to the top and then supplies all you need to mountain bike down. Either way, looking into the crater and knowing that this is an active (although quiet as of late) volcano is awesome. Another great thing— animals considered endangered that are found no where else on the planet are protected here.

the Crater

8. Repeat #1.

Like most islands off of major cities (Whidbey Island and Bainbridge Island near Seattle or Block Island in RI) the pace is slower, the roads are windier and the international way of telling time goes out the window in favor of “island time”.

Waiheke Island, a 50 minute ferry ride from the Auckland area is no exception. Being in the South Pacific, you can’t get much more islandy than this, but Waiheke doesn’t have the grass skirts or fruity coconut drinks like Hawaii or another tropical island might. Waiheke, although being an island and on island time, is pretty fancy shmancy.

Regardless of your agenda, on Waiheke you can find something to do whether it be hiking, surfing, laying on white sand beaches or visiting the 30 local wineries. As with Auckland, whatever activity you choose to partake in on the island, you will marvel at the cleanliness of the country and the friendliness of the people.

Waiheke (and New Zealand in general) produces vast quantities of wine that is distributed all over the World is and historically and consistently known for producing the best Sauvignon Blanc in the World. Wine is taken very seriously here.

In case I haven’t mentioned it yet in the recent NZ posts, the reason for our trip was to attend the wedding of our dear scuba diving buddies/world traveler/life long friends. After our initial tour around Auckland once arriving in NZ (see my previous posts here and here) we took the car ferry to Waiheke for a few days of beach, wine and relaxation (and a little hiking). NZ is a long way to go to get married — our friends live in California, us on the East Coast — but they were in the same mindset as we were when we got married in sunny Curacao; whoever wants to come can come, if not, thats fine too.

Their wedding was at the most beautiful winery on the island: Mudbrick. The restaurant and gorgeous gardens (complete with Olive orchards that many of the wineries here have) look out to the city of Auckland over the Hauraki Gulf. It was a serene setting for a perfect wedding and a beautiful bride–and the party after was pretty excellent!

Two other wineries we really enjoyed were Cable Bay (looking over the sheep filled countryside and seeing Auckland in the distance over the water offered a modern yet rustic image for us the wine tasters) and Te Whau that offered spectacular architecture and as you guessed–more stunning views. The day we were at Te Whau the grapes were actually being stomped on (is that the right term) and yes, with bare feet–but as we found out from our waitress — you have to be a young, pure woman to stomp the grapes–they don’t want tainted wine (I couldn’t help but think of the I Love Lucy episode… but I didn’t dare bring that up to the waitress).

At Te Whau on a windy day

For the budget traveler, well, I really don’t have too many tips for you at Cable Bay, Mudbrick or Te Whau. The prices were high; but the food, wine and views from the grounds were spectacular and well worth the money.
Click here for a website with all of the island’s wineries complete with pictures and descriptions.

So as far as the “being so far behind we are ahead” saying… I guess that is true about any island, but what I do know is that we felt rested and relaxed each day on Waiheke and I don’t think that was just because of the wine.

More pictures of Waiheke will be in my next post, but I wanted to point out a few things that really stuck out about this island for me, aside from the clean air, nice folks and anything else I have already mentioned prior.

1- The Beachfront Bar and Cafe has a buy 7 get the 8th free punchcard for coffee, beer or wine!? Genius.

2- Sheep are everywhere. This fact would be proven again and again on our trip but here, they seemed to multiple at every turn.

3- But as you can see, Emus and Llamas are also popular. Or are these Alpacas?

4- I don’t think crocodiles are really here… although that took convincing from my husband when we saw this sign after a long hike to a hidden bay (Crocs are in Australia right? And Australia is semi-close to NZ…).
Anyway, what this sign should have been warning people about was: “old man who lives in this remote area walks around at his leisure– naked,” ’cause that was the only thing I saw that was scary.

Turn on your sound, enjoy and hopefully be taken away to Panama! Happy Travel Tuesday!

Now is the perfect time to go to Caye Caulker as their Lobster Fest begins June 15th and runs through July. Lobster is abundant locally here so the prices are far less than you’d expect to pay.

If you need a place to stay, Amanda’s Place is one to look into. You will feel like you are staying at a friend’s house (a nice friend that is clean and considerate). The rooms are not too crowded nor too spacious and there is a pool just steps from your door.

Caye Caulker is 5 miles long and very pedestrian friendly–especially since there are no cars allowed and can only be reached by water taxi from Belize City or Ambergris Caye. It is situated 1 mile west of the 2nd largest reef in the World: the Belize Barrier Reef. Rent your diving or snorkeling gear at Frenchie’s- or even get certified here to scuba.

The reef is protected as a reserve and therefore is quite clean and full of colorful sea-life. While there, I swam with (and petted) Nurse sharks, friendly turtles and eagle rays.

Here is a pic of me with one of those friendly turtles.

Get there and be prepared to acclimate quick into relaxation mode!

Thankfully, fish bites are rare when diving–even in the proximity of sharks believe it or not–and the beauty of what you see while underwater totally makes you forget about those tiny teeth marks in the soft flesh between your thumb and index finger.

Here are some of my favorite pictures that I snapped from recent dives (including the one of the biting fish shortly before the “incident”). Enjoy!!

parrot fish

barracuda!

sand dollar deep under the surface

This is the fish that bit me!

eagle ray

the author and a very cool turtle in Belize.