January 29th, 2007
Maui’s Natural Wonders
If you like active sports, Maui’s great outdoors is just too good to miss, from climbing Puu Olai on the southern end of Maui, to plunging in Kipahulu’s waterfall pools, to trailriding on Molokai Ranch, to snorkeling and diving off Lanai, in pursuit of the sunshine-yellow long-nosed butterfly fish, the most common in a rainbow collection of tropical fish. Many adventures and guided tours can be arranged by a concierge or hotel activity desk. You can do many on your own. Here are some favorites for your must-see list.
Haleakala Crater
Known as the “House of the Sun,” this crater is reputed to be the biggest hole on Earth, big enough to hold the Big Apple. It is 10,023 feet above sea level, 33 miles wide, and 2,000 feet deep. With its own weird weather, a nine-peaked mountain range, and strange inhabitants like a bird that barks like a dog, it is like no place on Earth. This primal Hawaii has virgin fern forests, scorched badlands, cinder cones, bubble caves, lava tubes, boiling pots, and here and there, the burial sites of ancient Hawaiians, best left untouched.
Molokini Crater
Hawaii’s most popular dive site, Molokini, is a sunken crater with one edge above water off the coast of South Maui. It is a natural habitat for fish large and small. Bright little tropical reef fish thrive inside the crescent’s concave embrace while big, pelagic fish roam the outer depths. Snorkelers and divers can choose one of the fast charter boats that leave Maalaea Harbor, choose a side, and spend the day with Maui’s tropical schools.
Puu Kukui Forest
Puu Kukui, the summit of the West Maui Mountains, is a great green place best seen by helicopter. The second wettest spot on Earth (with 340 inches of rain a year), Puu Kukui includes the Wall of Tears, a weepy vertical massif; a dwarf forest of native plants; and Eke Crater, which early Hawaiians considered to be Heaven’s gate, the doorway from this world to the next. Each year 12 lucky hikers who win the Kapalua Nature Society’s lottery and buy their $500 tickets can enter the otherwise kapu (forbidden) native forest with a guide to see rare native plants and birds. For information, contact the Kapalua Nature Society at (808) 669-0244. Helicopter fly-overs can also be arranged.
Seven Pools of Kipahulu
Nearly an hour’s drive beyond Hana, 24 pools cascade down Oheo Gulch to the blue Pacific—but only seven get all the attention. Sometimes called “sacred,” the seven pools inspire legend and bravado. Some folks try to swim in each pool; others are content to gaze at the watery spectacle from the bridge over Pipiwai Stream. The pools naturally attract a crowd, so go early or stay late, and remember, get out of the steep waterway canyon immediately if it starts to rain. You could get washed out to sea. Rangers are posted in the area, which is part of Haleakala National Park.
Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve
Where Haleakala lava last ran into the sea in about 1790, the stark black coast at Maui’s southern tip ends in one of Maui’s best snorkel sites: Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve. The 2,000-acre preserve includes the barren shoreline and its black lava pools filled with turquoise water and tropical fish. All sea life is protected here, so leave your speargun at the bar. Only looking is permitted. Dive tours are also available.
Sea Cliffs of Molokai
The highest sea cliffs in the world (according to The Guinness Book of Records) form the north shore of Molokai, a sheer precipice that stretches 14 miles and drops 3,500 feet to the crashing surf. One misstep and you’re limu (seaweed). You can see the cliffs from above by small plane or from below by kayak in the summer when the Pacific is calm. Some hike or ride a mule down to Kalaupapa National Historic Park to look back at the monumental cliffs. Or, you can stand in awe at the edge of Palaau State Park and soak up the grandeur. It’s the best scenic outlook in Hawaii.
Garden of the Gods, Lanai
On this island that once was the world’s largest pineapple patch, you will find what appears to be a vestige of Arizona, a geologic badlands so ethereal that it’s dubbed the Garden of the Gods. This boulder-strewn gulch looks so eerie that some believe it to be the work of aliens. Geologists say Lanai’s rock garden is just an “ongoing post-erosional event” not unlike the Painted Desert of the American Southwest. This badlands, accessible from the roadside, is worth exploring, especially at sunset when sun rays turn the stones into red, yellow, orange, and ochre gems.