Maui Waui

Maui must be one of the most predictable locations on earth. 6 days and it never rained, just like the last time we were here. It was religiously 86 degrees during the day and 70 degrees at night, just like the last time we were here. The sun set each night over crystal blue waters, also much like last time. The ono and mahi mahi were fresh off the boat...no one wants to read this.

But we did mix it up a bit. First of all, we flew to Maui from the Big Island on a 8-passenger single-engine Cessna. It was freaking awesome. We were dropped off at the private aviation terminal in Kona (no security, no silly liquid ban), Andrea and I sat directly behind Dimitri the pilot, and up we went. We crossed the 26 miles of water separating the two islands at 5,000 feet – and then Dimitri descended down to 1,000 feet, and we literally flew up the Road to Hana. Those of you who have driven the road know that it's considered one of the best drives in the world, with more than a waterfall per mile. It was just awe inspiring to see from the air -- we bobbed and weaved our way along, zooming past waterfalls and waves crashing on the coastline as we skimmed over lush green hills. This is old school flying – kind of like getting out of a dead quiet Lexus and driving a 1964 ragtop Mustang. It's about as far removed from the sanitized experience of a Emirates 777 or a Qantas A330 as you can imagine, and it made me never want to fly on a big jet again. Andrea might have loved it even more than I did.

We also did some amazing snorkeling. Not far from the Marriot where we were staying is a well regarded spot, so we dove in one afternoon. Good reef, lots of fish, and just as we were about to head in... I saw the outline of a turtle in the distant water. I grabbed Andrea, managed to say “turtle” as I swallowed about a gallon of sea water, and out we went along the reef to look for him. Fifteen minutes later, no turtle, so we started to turn back in – and then he appeared – a giant sea turtle, easily a couple of hundred pounds in size. We stopped moving and he passed right in front of us, taking a look and then slowly moving along. We ended up swimming with two more sea turtles on the same reef later in the week – just incredible stuff.

Maui is just an amazing place. Sure, there are loads of bloated mainland Americans lounging in the sun, and when visitors are offered the local Hawaiian ales, you regularly hear “you got any Bud Light?”. But if you can get past that and find your own way of doing things here, it's as rewarding an island as any.