Kihei - Wailea Area

Since we've left Lahaina we've been near Kihei area, close to Wailea and Makena.

The first day we went to the Iao Valley ("Valley of Dawning Inspiration" or "Supreme Light") and the Iao Needle. This is a beautiful area filled with mossy cliffs around the mist-filled valley. The Needle is a single spire that rises to a point 1200 feet above the valley.



During the three days we were here we went to a couple beaches: Kalama Beach Park, Makena State Beach and checked out Kamaole Beach Park.
We spent most of our time at Kalama. It had LOTS of grass to sun tan plus we were able to watch many surfers here. Makena was absolutely beautiful where we chilled on the nice sand watching people sand board. It was pretty sweet, guys were doing flips off the sand on their boards into the water. It was cool.


The following day we hiked part of the trails to the dormant volcano.
The volcano last erupted around 1790 and is at an elevation of over 10,000 feet. The crater floor is filled with cinder cones, lava flows and mini-craters. The drive to the summit of Haleakala is along one of the world's fastest climbing roads. And you really feel it! Along the road there are a few look out points where you can see the whole crater floor. It is absolutely beautiful. One of our favorite sights this whole trip for sure! I can't wait to see the volcano in The Big Island that is still erupting!



We hiked to the first crater base; which took us an hour to hike down to it and an hour to hike back up. We didn't notice the air much until we started to hike up hill...haha The air was so thin! It was tough but Brian and I did pretty well for not being hikers! haha It was so worth it though. We were able to hike right up to it and look inside the dormant volcano. If you really wanted a tough day you could do the nine hour hike of 12 miles and see all the craters. It would be cool but we decided that would be too much for us.


After the hike we stuck around for a bit to see the gorgeous sun set. It was the best one by far! The colors were amazing! We didn't want to leave........but it was sooooo cold up there that we did anyways! Sometimes the temperature can drop 30 degrees F. from what it was at sea level. Let me tell you it was very cold.



I know there's a lot of sunset pictures but there were so many beautiful ones I just couldn't decide! It was absolutely amazing.

After being in Kihei we went back to Lahaina for two nights, it was a nicer place to hang out. We are now back at the Banana Bungalo for one night since it's close to the airport. Tomorrow we leave for the Big Island at 9am. We are so excited to be leaving Maui. Maui is nice but we're a bit bored with it. It will be nice to have new scenery.



The next post will be all about our adventures today.