Maui-bound; best spots to check out?

[ahsanford]

Off to Maui for a bit soon. We don't have a lot of time, but there's a high likelihood we'll head into the national park one day and make the RTH drive on another.

Any must-see vistas that this landscaper might want to see? Do any of those great vistas require advance reservation to get into?

How well paved is RTH? Can we pull it off with a generic rental car, or should be consider a paid tour instead?

I'm no birder, but I'm seeing a few bird sanctuaries around the island. Are any worth checking out, and if so, will my 70-200 f/2.8 + 2x t/C cover the reach I need? (If not, I'll pass.)

Gear-wise, I'm not sure I'm bringing the kitchen sink this time given other plans -- might just be the 5d3 + 2 lenses + gorillapod / ballhead + cable release. Bringing my lunchbox for the 4x6/holder/105 CPL and my proper Gitzo/Arca setup might not leave me enough room for clothes this trip.

Anyway, location scouting appreciated -- please let me know your thoughts!

- A

 

[ahsanford]

Also, I take it standard tropical condition precautions should be used, right?

What's everyone's preferred move when leaving a AC'd hotel room into the wet heat of outdoors? Ziploc the gear until it's up to temp outside? Leave it in a well zippered up camera bag until it's up to temp? Is a desiccant pack a must or just a good idea?

Thx,
A

 

[Pookie]

We have a house up country. We will be there for the entire month of May. Maui is very laid back, no reservations to any sites I've ever been at and I've been almost everywhere you can reasonably hike.

Do you snorkel? or Dive?

There are many great places and they are easy enough to find using a Maui Revealed book (best book for visiting IMO). I would suggest a drive around the rest of the island where most stop at Hana. Some the most remote and wild areas are just past Hana. There is a great one-stop shop about an hour past Hana with a wall of vintage cameras. It's an exceptionally beautiful area where you won't find many tourist and most never see it. Don't let the rental agencies scare you with the talk of horrible roads. It goes dirt for a bit but not bad at all. Avoid paid tours at all costs unless you really like those types of things.

There is a killer Taco stand just outside of Hana, highly suggest it. Once there just keep going around the rest of the island rather than heading back to Paia.

Some of my favorite place are Le Perouse Bay and the hike out past the road. Ahihi-Kinau snorkeling is perfect but my favorite bay on all of the island is Honolua. Kahekili is awesome for an afternoon dip, always tons of Honu.

If you're going to Haleakala I have a great place to shoot from that isn't where most congregate.

Tons of recs for restaurants, sites and beaches but way to many to list. Any interests in particular?

30 years on the Island and never worried or had an issue with camera gear and condensation... only rain getting gear wet can be an issue.


Haleakalā NP


Kahekili


Le Perouse

 

[ahsanford]

Appreciate the guidance. We'll be in the Kihei area and will have a rental to drive about.

We might snorkel but I won't shoot then -- I'll just snorkel.

Hiking is a near certainty. We're not beach bums.

- A

 

[Ozarker]

Appreciate the guidance. We'll be in the Kihei area and will have a rental to drive about.

We might snorkel but I won't shoot then -- I'll just snorkel.

Hiking is a near certainty. We're not beach bums.

- A

What? I go to the beach just to see the bums!!! ;D

 

[Pookie]

Appreciate the guidance. We'll be in the Kihei area and will have a rental to drive about.

We might snorkel but I won't shoot then -- I'll just snorkel.

Hiking is a near certainty. We're not beach bums.

- A

Not beach people ?!?! Wow, Oahu or the Big island might be a better destination. We chose our place there for the water. The snorkeling,diving and windsurfing is outstanding in Maui.

You might like the Garden of Eden then or check out the Lavender Farm... great views from very high up. I'd also hike down to the Nakalele blowhole, not a long hike but outstanding rock formations. It looks like a set from Star Trek.

 

[ahsanford]

Hey team, just got back. We hit a ton of sights:

Haleakala + hikes (+ my first sunburn in years)
Olinda Forest + hike (skipped the lava tube switchbacks hike as it seemed highly death-adjacent)
Road to Hana + state park + lava tube
Olowalu beach + snorkeling
Lavender gardens
Nakalele blowhole
Two visits to Top Chef Sheldon's pork belly joint in Kahului
Kealia Pond bird sanctuary (a hot mess of horrendous BiF work from a non-BiFfer with a 70-200 + 2x)
Makawao / Lahaina / Kihei walkabouts

Tons of shooting time, but I had zero tripod time -- we were there for a wedding plus a couple personal days and we were constantly running around. So the grads and tripod were left in the bag all trip. A pity, but we had a great visit.

I haven't had a chance to process the keepers yet, but attached is one decent 5D3 shot and a couple iPhone panos. Forget the beach -- Haleakala alone was worth the entire trip, IMHO. Hiking above the clouds and walking into the crater was worth the sunburn.

Thanks for everyone's guidance with this!

- A

 

[ahsanford]

One REALLY important side note for prospective visitors -- as of this month (Feb '17), from now on Haleakala access for the sunrise (which is apparently a huge draw) is now by reservation only: to be allowed into the park from 3-7 AM you must get an advance reservation. No need for advance reservation for any other hours of entrance.

It didn't matter for us as we planned a hiking day all over the area and sunrise wasn't in the cards. But if you want that money sunrise-over-the-clouds shot like Pookie posted, prior planning now becomes a must. My wife -- just curious (we weren't really planning on a sunrise move) -- checked the website for reservations and found it booked solid for two weeks and you must go the day you book, rain or shine. So booking after you land on the island and using weather forecasts to pick the best day is not recommended, FYI.

- A

 

[Click]

Very nice pictures, ahsanford. I especially like the first one.

 

[ahsanford]

Very nice pictures, ahsanford. I especially like the first one.

Thx. iPhone pano, not kidding. Could have done a lot more with the tripod and 15 minutes, sadly. Timelapse also would have been wild there with how the overhead cloud cover was flitting over everything.

The soil up there was flat out bonkers. Martian red and orange in places, pitch black in others, and the sun + cloud cover really made the landscape seem to dance/shapeshift due to some iridescence with the various rocks and soil. There was also stark white vegetation up there (sitting on all that red/black soil) -- it felt like a science fiction set.

I shot a few wide open landscapes (a pretty rare move for me) of just small rocks running on forever to try to draw that phenomenon to the forefront of the shot. I'll see if ACR likes them later.

- A

 

[Pookie]

One REALLY important side note for prospective visitors -- as of this month (Feb '17), from now on Haleakala access for the sunrise (which is apparently a huge draw) is now by reservation only: to be allowed into the park from 3-7 AM you must get an advance reservation. No need for advance reservation for any other hours of entrance.

It didn't matter for us as we planned a hiking day all over the area and sunrise wasn't in the cards. But if you want that money sunrise-over-the-clouds shot like Pookie posted, prior planning now becomes a must. My wife -- just curious (we weren't really planning on a sunrise move) -- checked the website for reservations and found it booked solid for two weeks and you must go the day you book, rain or shine. So booking after you land on the island and using weather forecasts to pick the best day is not recommended, FYI.

- A

This is sad to hear but understandable as Maui has seen more and more traffic over the last 5-10 years. I rarely go up there now days as we've been and taken friends there many times. Starting to feel like too many people visit, which is why we never go after May. June and july are insane. Often you run into a major traffic jam heading to the west side of the island... that never happened 10 years ago. The white shrubs are native to the area and only found on that island... Silversword - Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. macrocephalum.

How did you like the landscapes around the blowhole? Always love that side of the island, especially when you travel beyond that point... most do not.

No Le Perouse? Prob my favorite place on the whole island as it really feels like an alien landscape with all the lava flow, Kiawe and ancient native village ruins.

 

[ahsanford]

No Le Perouse? Prob my favorite place on the whole island as it really feels like an alien landscape with all the lava flow, Kiawe and ancient native village ruins.

A miss on our part. We ran out of time. Also, being south of Wailea and all the resorts, I assumed there'd be no easy access to get there and very limited parking, so we opted against a trek of unknown length.

Next time!

- A

 

[Pookie]

No Le Perouse? Prob my favorite place on the whole island as it really feels like an alien landscape with all the lava flow, Kiawe and ancient native village ruins.

A miss on our part. We ran out of time. Also, being south of Wailea and all the resorts, I assumed there'd be no easy access to get there and very limited parking, so we opted against a trek of unknown length.

Next time!
- A

Parking is limited but never been so full as to not be able to park. Not a long drive or a no-man's land. It's pretty accessible. It truly is one of Maui's most unusual sites.

A word of advice when driving out to the bay, most people (tourist) to the island have a bit of trouble with navigating there. It's a one way road with double wide pull outs. When heading to Le Perouse you have the right of way and people coming out of the site should wait at a pull out until traffic passes. Sounds a little rough but it's not really bad. You WILL RAISE THE IRE OF LOCALS though if you try and allow people heading out the right of way. It is a great surf site so you do run into surfers eager to get there. Only time I've seen ugly responses from locals for the most part.

 

[ahsanford]

One more as I fight through ACR on the keepers this evening.

Haleakala again -- I believe this was the Halemau'u trailhead from one of the switchbacks on the main road in/out of the park (i.e. the road in from the main national park NW entrance).

Hiking above the clouds never. gets. old.

- A