When snorkeling, most enjoy the colorful shallows of coastal reefs due to the density of fish and sea life found there. Rocky volcanic caverns and intricately woven coral reefs provide sanctuary for small and medium sized fish. Some of these active reefs are found just off the shore, while others require boat access. […]
It’s easy to see why snorkeling in Maui is some of the best snorkeling in the world. Each year thousands of visitors travel to Maui to experience one of Maui’s fantastic snorkeling tours. Maui’s shallow reefs provide an excellent place to see the countless variety of fish and sea life that inhabit the Maui coastline. Like finding a hidden treasure, first time snorkelers take home a truly special experience from their Maui vacation with memories that last a lifetime. […]
Hana’s Hamoa Beach – Ancient Sailing Port by Douglas Bowser As a professional photographer living on Maui for the last 16 years, I feel so lucky to have seen so many different areas of this amazing island. Many of these regions like Hamoa Beach, are always making some top 5 list, and are of course beautiful. But Hamoa is so small compared to many Maui beaches, and unlike the larger and more well-known ones located on the south and west sides of the island, Hamoa is small and hard to find. Hamoa has a small pavilion and a few chairs put out by Hotel Hana and access is a steep path coming down from a narrow road with little parking. I had little appreciation for it until I went out on a Hana tour and learned the stories of this area from a local tour driver. (Road To Hana Tours LLC toll free: 1-808-460-6055) Photos by Natalie Brown Photography as well as Hawaii Web Group […]
This is our 100th blog post on the Maui Goodness! We started in 2007 with a short list of ways to save money in Maui. Since then, we’ve spoken about the many things to do in Maui, Maui weddings, Maui real estate, Maui news and much more. It’s been a fun ride, and we’re continuing with today’s post honoring SNORKELING! […]
We’d like to share some incredible photos that Michael Chad Photography took recently when Jaws was breaking. Even though the waves didn’t reach record size this day, they’re by no means small. It’s frightening enough to think about being towed into Maui waves on a surfboard, but imagine kitesurfing into these massive waves! I think it’s safe to say that these guys have balls. […]
Maui Activities for Couples We’ve listed 7 of the most popular Maui activities for couples. We hope you’ll experience some of these when you visit Maui with your significant other. Most of the photography was shot by Natalie Brown. See her Maui Photography, from weddings to portraits to landscapes! […]
This giveaway has ended. Molokini Crater is one of the best locations to snorkel at within Maui waters due to it’s protection from swell, which gives some incredible clarity when snorkeling and diving. A Molokini Boat has decided to run a contest where they’re giving away tickets to Molokini as well as to their sunset cruises. […]
Teralani offers some great snorkeling trips on their state-of-the-art catamaran. They do snorkeling, sunset cruises, whale watching and much more! […]
There are quite a lot of fun things to do in Maui, and surfing Maui’s wave machine should be on your top ten list. Conveniently located in south Maui in Kihei Town, Da Rush Maui is a Flowrider wave machine that can get you up and surfing at your pace. Both beginners and advanced surfers are embracing the controlled environment that this wave provides. […]
We’ve listed our favorite parts of the Maui Photo Festival along with some things that can be improved. THE GOOD Location! Perfect for outdoor photo shoots and workshops. The beaches here are amazing and perfect for sunsets. you can’t ask for a better area to shoot at. Warm, Strong Community. This is different from any other photography convention we’ve been to. It’s not as huge as some of the mainland conventions, which brings people together more to meet and learn from each other. These things are fantastic for networking and learning from other professionals and enthusiasts. It’s a less intimidating environment allowing everyone time to speak to the pros and mingle. […]
Summit Area The summit of Haleakala is an island atop a volcanic island, with its own distinctive climate and habitats. Its cinder desert is sometimes frozen and seemingly barren, Yet a variety of creatures and unique plants like the ‘ahinahina (Silversword) have adapted to the summit’s extremes. Despite the contrasts to seashores of Maui, the summit is connected to the rest of the island in critical ways. The upper slopes capture moisture to nourish the rain forest of Kipahulu and feed the streams and waterfalls in the valleys. The summit also preserves portions of the original Hawai’i, including native vegetation and evidence of the early inhabitants. […]
We often get the question of what couples should do while visiting Maui. Our favorite thing to do is travel to Hana on the famous Road to Hana. There are many ways of doing this. One of our favorite ways is to rent a jeep and explore at our own pace. We’ve recently been able to use the Road to Hana Map, driving tips, and CD guide from R2H. We loved the full experience it allowed us to have by allowing us to choose the journey best suited for us. […]
Inspired by the oatmeal, we thought it would be fun to build a short comic about why we don’t share while snorkeling with tourists. This is based on real life experiences (unfortunately.) We hope you like it! […]
Road to Hana Tours offers some pretty incredible experiences visiting waterfalls, exploring rainforest & learning about Hawaiian legends.
We’ve recently been looking into private charters for weddings, corporate events, and family reunions. Most vessels on Maui will allow for private charters at a price. The key is finding the right boat for your trip with the best price. Along with regular snorkeling trips, sunset dinner cruises and whale watches, boats do their fair share of private bookings for weddings and events. […]
This is the first of many posts we’ll be adding about being pregnant on Maui. For the most part, snorkeling while pregnant can be done without danger and can be a great way to get some exercise while increasing the mother’s happiness (both very important for a healthy pregnancy.) There are a few things you should consider before snorkeling while pregnant. When in your 3rd trimester, it’s a bit more risky since you’ll have less energy and dexterity. Dangers and tips: 1. Reef Cuts and Infection Upon entry and exit of the water, you’ll often find yourself in shallow water. Shallows are also prevalent around reef outcroppings. If you touch the reef at anytime, you’ll likely be cut. Cuts lead to infections, which are bad news when pregnant. We suggest going out at calm beaches and staying a clear distance from any reef. […]
Sadly, some of the activities on Maui are NOT ecologically friendly. Even though whale watching increases our visitor’s knowledge and appreciation of Humpback Whales, the occasional boat strike puts them in harm. Jet ski, para-sailing, helicopter tours, and even driving the Road to Hana dumps fumes from engines into the atmosphere. Seeing that our island is economically tied to tourism, and understanding that the land and animal protection needed to run these activities far out ways the harm some of these activities may create to our environment, we believe Maui is in a better position than most places in the world to build on our already steady stance on environmental protection. […]
I leaned over the edge of the boat as far as I could, totally mesmerized by the huge eye staring up at me. “She’s looking right at me. I know it.” I leaned back slightly and slid myself left along the side of the boat. The big eye followed me. I grinned and slid myself to the right. The big eye followed me back. […]
I didn’t bring my bike when I moved to Maui. I didn’t think I would want it. I’d never been to Hawaii before and everything I knew of the islands came from Jurassic Park and Lost. I pictured beaches, beaches and impenetrable rain forest. I knew there were mountains, but I thought they’d be so steep and covered in jungle that no one in their right mind would bike down them. I figured I’d learn to surf, or kite board. I wasn’t worried. After I’d been here for about six months I started to miss biking. A lot. Surfing was fun, but I wanted to go really fast for longer than a few seconds. I wanted to brush elbows with trees, smell piney air and dust, and feel my body compress as I whipped around a berm. I wanted to ride a bike. I went to some bike shops and asked around but everyone was really secretive. I’d get vague answers about good trails somewhere on Haleakala, or redirected toward the road biking groups that met every Wednesday and needed more riders. On this small island in the middle of the Pacific, nobody wanted to give up the goods. […]
Mixed Martial Arts Master Kendall Grove was recently featured in ESPN magazine for his unusual, yet effective, new Maui workout. […]
Humpback whales make their migration to the warm waters of Hawaii each year from mid December up until mid May. The reason they leave their homes in the Pacific Northwest is to mate with other humpbacks and to give birth. Humpback whales mate and give birth in the same season? Sometimes, but most often they come to mate then return the following year to give birth. The gestation period of a Humpback Whale is 12 months, which forms a perfect cycle. Why Hawaii? Humpbacks travel to Hawaii as well as south of North America for the warm, protected waters. Hawaii, and specifically Maui, offers shallower areas to perform their mating habits as well as give birth away from deep ocean predators. […]
Last night Sublime played at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center (MACC) with their new lead guitar and singer Rome Ramirez. Rome made for an excellent replacement for the deceased Bradley Nowell. Sublime, now "Sublime with Rome", played most of our favorite classic Sublime songs along with a few new ones. We think that they [...]
THE BEST Maui, Hawaii, USA $85/hour We’ve been testing out massage parlors on Maui for years now. Most are outrageously expensive (ex. at the big resorts.) But we just found one that does incredible massages for a decent price. Massage Maui in front of the Sugar Beach Resort is outstanding. The location is great because it’s easily accessible for anyone on the south side (Makena, Wailea, Kihei), not more than 30-45 minutes from the West side (Lahaina, Kaanapali, Kapalua), and a short hop from the North side (Kahului, Wailuku, Paia.) […]
We often get this question: Why go snorkeling or diving at Molokini Crater when we know for a fact that there's plenty of coral and sea life off the shore? True. There's a lot of beautiful things to straight off the coast of Maui. But, when you travel to Molokini, you get a lot more. [...]
The Island Star at Maalaea Harbor, Maui, Hawaii Maalaea Harbor has many excellent sailing charters. One of our favorites is the Island Star. This luxury sailing yacht is available for private charters, which is partly why we like it so much. There's nothing like having complete control over where you're going when sailing in Maui [...]
We were lucky enough to spend some time this Labor Day weekend at Ono Farms in Hana, Maui. This organic farm grows all kinds of fantastic things over a large area of sustainably farmed land. Due to it's ideal location, there is no need for an irrigation system, chemically dangerous fertilizers, or any other ugly [...]
Today's festivities began at Kalama Park in Kihei for the Maui Whale Festival, hosted by Pacific Whale Foundation. This annual event helps bring awareness to locals and visitors about the Humpback Whales that visit Maui every winter. The day began with a keiki parade and Eco-Day Conference for the kids. Throughout the day visitors enjoyed [...]
Maui has a new web camera, which is pretty exciting for all of us addicted to Maui. It's attached to the Makena Golf Resort and is owned and operated by Kai Kanani Sailing Charters. You can see it live here: Makena Web Camera The camera switches views from multiple locations on an automatic basis. The [...]
Maui Zipline ***UPDATE: The land that Piʻiholo Zipline was running on was sold in mid-2021 and the new owners will not be continuing its operation. See bottom for more zipline recommendations.*** We've been on every Maui zipline tour, and we strongly feel that Piʻiholo Zipline offers one of the best tours. Below we outline exactly [...]
If you haven’t already seen it, you will. Stand Up Paddle boarding and surfing is the latest retro craze. For years, we we’re reluctant to give it a try because we feel tied to our own roots of surfing (shortboarding.) But, finally we gave it a shot and rented some boards from Boss Frog’s Dive & Surf in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii in Dolphin Plaza (ask for Benjammin.) […]
