Maui, HI

A waterfall surrounded by lush green vegetation.

February 5th - March 4th, 2023

Beaches & Volcanoes

Maui has the beautiful Haleakala National Park, which features the giant crater of a dormant volcano. It’s also home to one of our most favorite hikes we’ve ever done, the Pipiwai Trail, which includes hiking through a bamboo forest to the amazing Waimoku Falls.

We did the iconic “Road to Hana” drive, which is a beautiful drive along the northeast coast of the island with amazing views and stunning waterfalls.

From Maui we also flew to the big island for an extended weekend and drove around the entire island. While there, we visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where we got to see some actual lava (from a far distance)! We went on a tour to Mauna Kea (the tallest mountain in Hawaii), and also went on an amazing cave tour and explored some self guided caves on our own.

Natalie’s parents visited us here and we had a great time going to beautiful beaches and going on a snorkeling tour in Molokini Crater & Turtle Town.

Haleakalā National Park

The first thing we did once we arrived in Maui was drive up to Haleakalā National Park in the center of the island and see the views from the Haleakalā observatory, which was incredible.

Views from summit district at Haleakalā National Park.

Overlooking the massive crater in the summit district of Haleakalā National Park.

Views from summit district at Haleakalā National Park.

Natalie at the top of Haleakalā National Park.

Quite chilly and windy at the top of Haleakalā National Park.

Road to Hana

The famous "Road to Hana" is a beautiful scenic drive on the east side of Maui that ends near the city of Hana. It is full of great waterfalls, beaches, hikes and food stands. This was certainly one of the highlights of our drive to the Hawaiian islands.

The final waterfall at Twin Falls along the Road to Hana.

The "twin falls" of Twin Falls along the Road to Hana.

Walking through the river at Twin Falls.

The final waterfall at Twin Falls with beautiful hanging vegetation from the walls.

Twin Falls

Hiking along the Twin Falls trail.

Beautiful berries along the Twin Falls trail.

We went to an awesome botanical garden along the Road to Hana called "Garden of Eden" where Natalie met a new friend.

Rainbow Eucalyptus trees at Ke'anae Aboretum along the Road to Hana.

Making more stray cat friends at Puaa Kaa State Wayside park.

Puaa Kaa State Wayside park along the Road to Hana.

Natalie loving all the stray cats at Coconut Glen's.

We stopped at Coconut Glen's along the Road to Hana for delicious coconut ice cream.

We went to Black Sand Beach along the Road to Hana which dark black rocks contrasted with vibrant green succulents.

Black Sand Beach

Views at Black Sand Beach in Maui.

Black Sand Beach

Sitting on a log at Black Sand Beach

The Road to Hana also has Red Sand Beach which has dark sand contrasted by beautiful teal water.

The trail to Red Sand beach.

Red Sand Beach

Trevor in front of the Hana Lava Tube entrance

We stopped by the Hana Lava Tube along our way.

The Hana Lava Tube

We visited the Waioka Pond (also called Venus Pool) in Hana and it was beautiful.

Wailua Falls along the Road to Hana.

Pipiwai Trail, Haleakalā National Park

We technically did this as the very last stop on our Road to Hana journey, but this hike was so awesome that it deserves it's own dedicated section. This was one of the best hikes we've ever done throughout all parks in the National Park system.

Makahiku Falls along the Pipiwai Trail

A huge Banyan Tree along the Pipiwai Trail.

Amazing pools and waterfalls along the Pipiwai Trail.

The water was really roaring this day after a recent rain.

The Pipiwai Trail goes through an amazing bamboo forest.

The bamboo forest along the Pipiwai Trail.

Waimoku Falls at the end of the Pipiwai Trail.

The Banyan Tree along the Pipiwai Trail.

Bridge along the Pipiwai Trail.

The Pipiwai Trail

Waimoku Falls at the end of the Pipiwai Trail.

Turkey tail mushrooms along the Pipiwai Trail.

Waterfall at the Seven Sacred Pools trail.

We also hiked the Seven Sacred Pools trail at the base of the Pipiwai Trail which had amazing pools and waterfalls.

The Seven Sacred Pools trail.

Surfing

We took a beginner surfing lesson here with a local company and had such a fun experience. We were both able to get up and even got up at the same wave a couple times.

We did a surfing lesson at the beach by our Airbnb in Maui and had a great time!

We were able to both get up at the same time a few times!

Natalie and Trevor sitting on their surfboards.

The photographer took this picture of a sea turtle during our surfing lesson.

The Big Island

While we were on Maui, we took a weekend trip over to the big island and packed a bunch of things into one weekend. We really enjoyed the big island and we did a lot of cool adventures here.

The waterfall at Wailuku River State Park on the big island.

The path down to Akaka Falls on the big island.

Really amazing lush forests at Akaka Falls State Park.

The scenery along the Akaka Falls trail.

Waterfall at Akaka Falls State Park.

The scenery along the Akaka Falls trail.

Akaka Falls State Park.

The Thurston Lava Tube at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Walking along the lava beds on the Kīlauea Iki & Crater Rim Trail at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Hōlei Sea Arch at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Petroglyphs at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

The Halema’uma’u Steam Bluff and Sulfur Banks trail at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Kilauea was actively erupting while we were at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, but you can only really tell at night and from a far distance away.

We took a tour up to the top of Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in Hawaii which does actually have snow at the top.

Satellites at the top of Mauna Kea.

The scenery surrounding the summit at Mauna Kea.

Standing at the summit of Mauna Kea.

The scenery surrounding the summit at Mauna Kea.

Mauna Kea with a starry night in the background.

Part of Mauna Kea tour included looking up at the stars through a telescope, which was amazing since Mauna Kea is one of the best places in the world for star gazing.

We did a self guided trip through the Kaumana Caves on the big island which was a really fun adventure for us.

The Kaumana Caves on the big island

This cave featured an almost staircase like feature that you had to walk up with rushing water.

The Kaumana Caves on the big island

Natalie and Trevor standing in the natural entrance of the Kaumana Caves.

Popping up on the other side at Kaumana Caves.

Our Airbnb on the big island was on a cute little farm and had a hot tub.

Natalie on the Kilauea Caverns of Fire tour.

We went on a guided cave tour with Kilauea Caverns of Fire and had an amazing time.

Trevor standing with the Kilauea Caverns of Fire tour guide.

We loved our tour guide on the Kilauea Caverns of Fire tour.

Descending into the lava tube on the Kilauea Caverns of Fire tour.

Interesting ceiling features along the Kilauea Caverns of Fire tour.

Kilauea Caverns of Fire tour.

An amazing cliff side at Honokaa on the big island.

On the big island we did a hike down into the Pololu Valley which was incredible.

The beach at Pololu Valley. Very windy!

The beach at Pololu Valley.

Natalie at Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau Historical Park on the big island.

We toured around Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau Historical Park on the big island.

West Maui

We ventured over to West Maui a number of times to go on various adventures. We came here with Natalie's parents when they came to visit.

A cliffside at Pu'u in West Maui.

A cliffside along the Kapalua Coastal Trail in West Maui.

Trevor surfing in Lahaina.

Enjoying dinner in Lahaina with Natalie's parents.

At dinner in Lahaina with Natalie's parents.

Trevor hiking the Lahaina Pali Trail with windmills.

Trevor hiked the Lahaina Pali Trail with Natalie's dad, which includes hiking past the iconic windmills in West Maui.

Hiking the Lahaina Pali Trail.

Scenery from the Lahaina Pali Trail.

The Lahaina Pali Trail.

Views of the ocean from the Lahaina Pali Trail.

The Lahaina Pali Trail.

The windmills along the Lahaina Pali Trail.

Trevor hiked the Waihee Ridge trail in West Maui.

The Waihee Ridge Trail in West Maui.

Views from the top of the Waihee Ridge Trail.

Molokini Crater & Turtle Town Snorkeling

With Natalie's parents, we went on a Molokini Crater & Turtle Town Snorkeling tour, which was amazing. We saw lots of unique fish and plenty of turtles while snorkeling.

Snorkeling at the Molokini Crater.

Snorkeling at Turtle Town.

Trevor with a sea turtle at turtle town.

Shaking hands with a sea turtle at turtle town (jk, I didn't touch it).

The boat ride out to the Molokini Crater.

The boat ride after snorkeling in Molokini Crater.

Mākena State Park

Natalie and her parents went over to Mākena State Park and explored the amazing beaches there.

Natalie went with her parents to Mākena State Park, a beautiful beach on Maui.

Mākena State Park

Natalie with her parents at Mākena State Park.

Kihei

Kihei is the town that our Airbnb was located in during our stay on Maui. We had some great beaches within walking distance and had such a fun time here.