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Touring Maui (Part
1) by Pablo
Madera
East Meets West
Maui
Island is actually a dual isle, made up of two
distinct volcanic mountains that overlap one
another on a broad, low-lying isthmus. The smaller
West Maui mountains are old and weathered, sliced
by waterfalls into sharp green canyons. East Maui
is a brawny ten-thousand-foot-high dormant volcano
named Haleakala.
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Maui
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Because both sides are steep and because, like
all the Hawaiian islands, they have windward (wet)
and leeward (dry) sides, the Maui
landscape is full of variety and constantly
shifting displays of sunlight and cloud.
A typical Maui visit begins when you fly into
Kahului Airport (on the windward side of the
central plain), get a car, and drive across the
isthmus through expansive fields of sugar cane. The
goal: To get to the dry side, where hotels and
condos grip the shoreline, where daylight bakes the
beaches, and where sunsets all deserve
heavenly-choir soundtracks.
When the highway forks -- right for West Maui,
left for East -- you'll find one of the island's
best attractions, a world-class aquarium called the
Maui Ocean Center. The recently-built aquarium sits
directly above Ma'alaea Small Boat Harbor, the
launching site for many charter boats, snorkel
adventures, whale-watching trips, and dinner/sunset
cruises.
From this vantage point, you can look onto the
smaller islands of Kaho'olawe and Lana'i
in the distance. You're facing a relatively calm
and shallow sea-channel that the old ship-captains
once called the Lahaina Roadstead. We don't know
what the humpback whales call it, but one sure sign
of their natural intelligence is the fact that they
return here every winter (October to March) to
calve and mate.
Lahaina Side
Bearing right to explore the West side, the
road first winds through rock seaside cliffs --
locals call this stretch the "pali highway," using
the Hawaiian word for "cliff" -- before
straightening out past cane fields and narrow
beaches.
This year will be the last for sugar-growing
along this coast, as Pioneer Mill in Lahaina
recently announced its closure. The mill, with its
tall stack towering sternly over the town's main
intersection, is ending a century of economic
power. But to truly understand Lahaina, you'll have
to go far deeper than sugar cane roots.
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The Pioneer
Mill
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Vancouver, one of the first Western explorers,
called Lahaina the "Venice of the Pacific" because
the town was full of canals and fresh water. Today
the water is gone but roads in the heart of town
still follow the paths Hawaiians used to walk
between their pond-like taro patches.
The sacred queen Keopuolani brought missionaries
here in 1823 and instructed them to build their
church, now called Waiola, next to her family's
holiest site, a small lake called Moku'ula. Lahaina
later became a stronghold of the missionaries and,
at least for a while, was the capital of the
Hawaiian kingdom. At the same time (the mid 1800s),
it was a major port-of-call for whaling ships where
sailors broke the very laws that the missionaries
had come to establish.
The history of those colorful years is preserved
in old-town structures such as the Baldwin
missionary home, an antique prison, and the
original seminary printing house at Lahainaluna
School (the oldest public school west of the
Rockies). The Lahaina Restoration Foundation office
on Front Street has information on the sites.
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Lahaina
Town
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Front Street is great for restaurants,
galleries, noisy bars, and simply hanging out. The
harbor is base for all kinds of ocean activities,
including the *Atlantis* submarine ride and the
wonderful *Trilogy* sailing excursions into
Hulopo'e Bay on Lana'i.
Old Lahaina Lu'au gives a good basic introduction
to Hawaiian culture through its music, dance, and
cuisine.
Although Lahaina has a few small hotels, most
visitors stay in the areas further up the coast --
particularly the planned resort community of
Ka'anapali.
What it lacks in history Ka'anapali makes up for in
elegance, with its three-mile-long, bright-white
beach, high-end shopping at Whaler's Village,
golf courses,
tennis courts, and showpiece hotels.
Even further north, Kapalua resort emanates a
mood of calm dignity, anchored by the Ritz
Carlton Hotel with its excellent beach. This is
a land of championship fairways and pocket-sized
bays, pineapple fields and brisk breezes.
Between the two resorts, little seaside towns
such as Napili,
Kahana, and Honokowai offer some tucked-away
accommodations at good prices.
Next: The South Shore, Mountain Climbing, and
the Road to Hana.
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