My friend and roommate Shane had never been to Hawaii before, so I decided to take him there on my next vacation. It was kind of a double birthday present: I made the flight and resort reservations during the month of Shane’s birthday, and we were scheduled to go during the month of my birthday.
During the week before our departure, my excitement was building. It had been over twenty years since the last time I was in Hawaii. That time I had visited Oahu and Maui with my family. This time I was looking forward to seeing the island more on my own.
Shane just happened to have some friends on the island, one of whom is a private tour guide, so we hired him to show us around for a few days.
We got up very early in the morning to catch our flight on Hawaiian Airlines. There was a slight delay however: due to a mechanical problem, we all had to disembark before takeoff for two and a half hours while they fixed the plane.
Once we finally got in the air, the flight was great. First class. Since this is a five-hour flight, I felt coach would be too cramped. The attendants were very friendly and attentive, we had a full breakfast, and Shane made use of a portable entertainment system while I read a very thick book.
We had a stopover in Honolulu. After getting off the plane, we were greeted with real flower leis, which I had arranged as a surprise for Shane. We then rearranged our connecting flight (since the delay had caused us to miss our original connecting flight), and continued on to the big island of Hawaii.
I had reserved an intermediate sized rental car, but after looking over the lot Shane convinced me to upgrade to a jeep, which turned out to be a much better choice. We then proceeded to Kalani retreat village where we would be spending most of our trip.
We arrived just in time for dinner — a vegetarian meal. Most or all of the food is grown on the retreat. At dinner we were invited to go out snorkeling the next morning with a small group of people.
First thing in the morning, I went across the road from the resort to look out over the ocean. The view from the lookout point was breathtaking. I took a few pictures of it, but they don’t completely do it justice — one would need a video camera with a full panoramic view to capture the full beauty of it.
Right after breakfast we grabbed our towels and snorkles and followed the group out to a private beach. There was a maze of coral reefs in the area that formed several pools protected from the ocean. If you didn’t follow the maze, you would have to climb or crawl over the reefs. We got quite a few scrapes and cuts between us, but the view was great.
After snorkeling around that area for a bit we moved on to see a natural hot spring. This was a public area and we didn’t actually go in the water due to the scrapes we got earlier.
Following this we visited the Lava Tree state park.
Some of the lava trees made interesting formations. Here, I remarked that the trees on the left of the path looked like a man sitting at a table.
Next, Shane and I separated to go into Hilo to do a bit of shopping .
After dinner, we were invited to join another group to see a lava flow at night. We drove to the end of Chain of Craters Road just as it got dark, and walked out across a previous lava flow. At the end of the trail we could see the red hot lava from Kilauea a bit further inland.
We arranged for our first SCUBA dive in the morning. Our dive master Philip took us out to Pohoiki Bay. I bought an underwater camera from the resort and tried using it during these dives, but soon found out that it doesn’t work well below thirty feet. At this time I’m still waiting for the film to be developed so I can find out whether any pictures turned out.
After dinner the resort had free hula lessons, so Shane and I both went to try it out. The basic hula class was quite a bit different than I expected. For the first part of the class we just went through a few basic foot movements. After that we all sat down and practiced a form of hula known as Hula 'Ili'ili, which involves moving only your arms while clicking small rocks togteher in your hands. Even so, it was an educational experience as we learned what a lot of the hand motions signify.
Following the basic class they held the advanced hula class. There were a different group of students this time, who were all practicing for a hula competition. Shane and I started out just watching, but after seeing them repeat a series of moves Shane jumped in at the end of the line and practiced the dance along with them. I could tell he was thoroughly enjoying it, and towards the end of the class he had a pretty good handle on their routine.
After breakfast we went back to the airport to pick up our tour guide, Wade Holmes. Our first tour that day was to Hawaii Volcanos National Park. We went to the Kilauea caldera where we walked halfway around the perimeter, then climbed down to the crater basin and walked across it.
Next we went to see a lava tube. Towards the end of the public walkway through the tube there’s a gate that leads further in, but you can’t continue past that point without a flashlight. We had brought some lights from the resort, so we went all the way down the tunnel.
Our last stop that day was to explore the sites along the other side of the lava flow we walked through on Monday.
We visited a few secluded spots in the Puna area of the big island. We went to a “secret pool” — it’s a natural pool formed by lava rocks where the ocean surf splashes in, and the location is accessible only from an unmarked trail from a private road. While we were there we had the pool all to ourselves. The pool is relatively shallow though, and when the ocean waves crash over the pool it can push you over the rocks if you’re not careful.
We then went to see a black sand beach which is actually just a few miles from Kalani retreat, and spent a few hours soaking up the sun.
Later that afternoon we returned to Kalani. A group of guys were going to play volleyball, so Wade and I joined them while Shane went to a yoga class. I had a lot of fun playing. Didn’t even care what the score was, as long as we could keep the ball in the air.
Our next tour was to visit a few major waterfalls. Rainbow falls didn’t actually have a rainbow when we visited it due to overcast conditions, but it was still very pretty.
Along the way we also saw a Banyan tree.
Just below Pe'epe'e Falls is a series of smaller falls arranged in steps called Boiling Pots.
Next we visited was Akaka Falls.
We then went to the Waipio Valley, also known as the Valley of Kings. This is an area that is largely cut off from the rest of the island by cliffs. In order to get into it you need to drive down a steep road in a 4-wheel drive vehicle — so it turned out really well that Shane had convinced me to rent a jeep.
On our way out we passed by a pair of horses that walked right up to our jeep. As we stopped, one of them poked its head right in our window.
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Before leaving, we visited the Waipio Valley beach.
That night we took a short flight over to the island of Maui, were we would be given the rest of our tour.
On our first morning on Maui, we went diving with Wade, Joe, and our dive master Marcus. The first dive was at Ulua Beach in Waikea. Several of the guys spotted a bottlenose dolphin nearby just as it was swimming away from us! Marcus pointed out a lot of the more exotic sea life on these dives. There were a couple of eels, lots of sea urchins, and a frogfish which blended so well with the coral that I couldn’t tell what it was until it moved.
Our second dive was in Makena, at a place called “Five Graves.” We saw lots of sea turtles in this area. There were several caves that we went into, one of which held a dormant shark. Another cave held a compressed air pocket where we surfaced briefly. Marcus also picked up an octopus and got it to hug his arm so the rest of us could pet it, after which he let it go and it inked away back to the coral.
That evening we got tickets to see a musical group named Hapa play at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.
Most of this day was spent at a place called Little Beach. It’s right next to Big Beach, but is a little more secluded. I got a fair tan. The beach faces Molokini Crater, and as I ventured out into the ocean a few times, the water was so calm I felt like I could swim all the way across to Molokini. I was told that the crater was about three miles out, so … nah.
We stayed late enough to watch the sun set over the horizon, which the crowd enjoyed. After it got a bit darker, some of the beach-goers brought out some poi and staves and performed some fire dancing.
We flew back to the big island, having ended our tour. We spent a bit more time at the beach near Kalani, getting some extra sun, and I also did a little more snorkeling to see the nearby fish. Spotted another octopus, a sea turtle, a puffer fish, and a few other tropical fish I had never seen before.
That evening I got a very relaxing massage. So relaxing that I think I dozed off towards the end.
The first part of the day was spent re-packing my bags. Shane had decided that he was going to stay at Kalani for a few more months as a volunteer worker, so we went out shopping for some camping gear and supplies that he would need for his stay after checking out of the tree house.
In the afternoon I played volleyball again with a slightly smaller group of guys at Kalani. At least, we played until the intermittent sprinkles of rain turned into a shower.
After dinner Shane and I went to another beginner hula class. This time we learned a full dance that told a Hawaiian story of Pele, the godess of fire and volcanoes.
Early Wednesday morning I said goodbye to Shane, headed back to the airport, and flew home. I felt a little sad that the vacation was over, and a little envious about Shane staying, but at the same time looking forward to returning home to see my friends and get back to technology again.
