Maui: Nene Goose Back from 30 Birds, Lindbergh Grave Under a Mango Tree and the First Planned Resort in America
Spot Nene Hawaiian geese nesting in Haleakala crater recovered from 30 individuals to 3000 through English breeding programs, visit the real Oheo Gulch that a 1960s realtor renamed Seven Sacred Pools with zero Hawaiian cultural basis, walk Kaanapali beach at the first master-planned resort in the US that set the template for every subsequent tropical resort development, shore-snorkel Five Caves near Makena to find up to 10 sea turtles resting simultaneously in lava tube chambers, understand how Maui 150-year sugar industry that diverted mountain rivers to dry plains ended in 2016, and arrive at one of the most aspirational American vacation destinations knowing that the Lahaina fire changed the context of every trip here.
Maui: 10000 Humpbacks Winter Here, Big Beach Sunday Fire Spinners and the Wildfire That Changed Everything
Watch humpback whales breach in the Auau Channel winter sanctuary from a vessel keeping the required 100-yard distance, drive Upcountry Maui farm roads to Kula protea nurseries and goat cheese dairy above the resort zone, walk the wide sand of Makena Big Beach and cross the rock to Little Beach Sunday drum circle at sunset, follow windsurfers at world-famous Hookipa Beach in Paia north shore town, taste Maui Brewing craft beer and upcountry farmers market produce, and understand that Lahaina the historic whaling capital was destroyed in August 2023 in the deadliest American wildfire in a century.
Maui: 150-Foot Visibility Crater Snorkel, 60-Foot Jaws Waves and How Windsurfing Was Invented at Hookipa
Depart Maalaea Harbor at dawn for Molokini Crater 150-foot visibility snorkel before afternoon winds arrive, drive into Wailuku historic county seat past Bailey House museum to the Iao Needle basalt spire above the valley where Kamehameha won Maui, follow 620 curves and 59 bridges of the Hana Highway through bamboo forest to Waimoku 400-foot waterfall, understand how Robby Naish and Laird Hamilton invented competitive windsurfing and tow-in surfing at Hookipa and Jaws, attend a Hawaiian music performance at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, and book rental car before hotel since Maui has no transit system.
Maui: World Largest Solar Telescope, Hawaiian Cowboys Who Learned from Mexican Vaqueros and 98% of Lanai Owned by Oracle
Visit the Daniel Inouye Solar Telescope on Haleakala summit producing the highest-resolution solar images ever made and join ranger stargazing above 40 percent of the atmosphere, walk the otherworldly cinder cone floor of the 3000-foot deep Haleakala crater basin, see hammerhead sharks and eagle rays in the 750000-gallon open ocean tunnel at Maui Ocean Center, taste pineapple wine at Ulupalakua Ranch where paniolo cowboys have roped cattle since 1850, walk the Garden of Eden jungle arboretum above a 200-foot waterfall on the Hana Highway, and take the ferry to Lanai where Oracle owns 98 percent of the island and Hulopoe Beach is rated among Hawaii best.