Day 1:
We arrived on our flight from Kauai early morning. After picking up rental car, we drove from Kahului airport to Hyatt Regency on Ka’anapali Beach.
After checking in, we drove to the Fish Market in Lahaina. Karen ordered some Shrimp Burrito while I had Pork Tacos. Both were very delicious.
After lunch, we drove back to the resort and decided to spend rest of the afternoon on Kaanapali Beach.
We walked along Ka’anapali Beach all the way to the end where Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa is located. I had read on various forums that just off the beach on the Sheraton end, is one of the best locations for snorkeling.
We saw some daredevils out there jumping off of the cliff, somersaulting into the water.
Day 2:
We had planned this day for “Road to Hana”. Even though it started raining that day we stuck with our plans. We decided on driving all the way to Pipiwai trail in Haleakala National Park with minimum stops and then after completing the hiking, we planned to see more stops on the way back to hotel.
The drive was very windy on some parts but overall not too bad. We drove and stopped by numerous waterfalls.
After reaching Haleakala Park, we paid for our parking and started our hike towards Waimoku Falls at the end of Pipiwai Trail. The hike is 2 miles one-way to the falls and has some interesting sites along the way – Banyon Tree, Bamboo Forest, streams running across path and small waterfalls.
One of the most notable stop in the Pipiwai trail is the giant banyan tree.
Some parts of the trail were very muddy and had a running stream across the path. Needless to say, water-shoes are the best footwear for this trail.
By the time we reached the end of Pipiwai Trail near Waimoku Falls, the area was flooded and we did not venture forward to the base of the falls where we were hoping to swim.
After spending about 20 minutes enjoying the amazing waterfalls from a distance, we hiked back to the parking lot. The entire hike took about 3 hours round trip. It was definitely one of the best things we did on Road to Hana as well as one of the best hikes we have ever done.
On our return drive back to Kaanapali beach, we stopped at Waianapanapa State Park, home to the famous “Black Sand Beach”.
Our next stop was Naihiku Marketplace, a popular shopping and dining stop on Road to Hana.
We picked Island Chef Restaurant as our lunch stop and ordered Fish & Chips.
By the time we reached back to hotel, we were pretty tired with all the walking and driving all day and went to bed early.
Day 3:
We spent walking around the resort and spending a few hours at the beach in the morning. For lunch, we drove to Lahaina Luna Cafe in Lahaina.
After lunch, we walked along the boardwalk in Lahaina for an hour.
Soon it was time to head back to airport for our flight back to Los Angeles.