Maui delights: Learning and living during a Hawaiian getaway

Maui taught me how to breathe again. 

Somewhere around my 40th birthday, which was supposed to be spent in Hawaii until the pandemic introduced other plans, a variety of stress factors began to amplify in my life and never quite quieted down. 

Job changes, growing pains, and, most recently, my dad’s sudden death, have only added to an overwhelming feeling of anxiety – like life is happening around me and I’m just here, holding my breath, waiting for another bad thing to happen, like I can’t ever swim because I’m constantly treading water. 

Earlier this month, however, four of our six kids ended up at sleepaway camp the week of Fourth of July, and my husband and I found ourselves with a four-day window of time to take a trip with our oldest daughters, who are 14 and 11. 

We mulled over Maui and wondered, given the logistics and time difference, if it would be worth it. After a 9-hour travel day, I knew the instant we arrived. Definitely worth it. 

A trip to Maui serves up a variety of adventures. Kristin Finan photo

Soon, instead of juggling schedules and appointments, time had slowed down and was allowing me to focus on simple joys, like threading an orchid to make a lei or enjoying a sunrise yoga session. During our four days there, Maui would continue to astound us and surprise us with a bevy of natural delights perfect for relaxing, unplugging, and resetting. 

On the road

To drive the Road to Hana is to literally spend a day chasing waterfalls. 

This famed stretch of road along Maui’s northeast coast is widely regarded as one of the most scenic drives in America and features over 15 waterfalls as well as additional wonders such as botanical gardens, nature trails, and unique roadside stands. 

More than 15 waterfalls dot the Road to Hana. Kristin Finan photo

Although it’s only 64 miles, visitors should carve out a full day to experience Road to Hana, which features more than 600 turns, dozens of one-lane bridges, and a fair share of aggressive local drivers. The key to enjoying the experience, which starts in the town of Kahului and ends in the town of Hana, is to take it slow and easy – plan to spend at least six hours getting to Hana, including stops along the way, and three hours getting back without stops. 

I’ll admit that the first few miles along the Road to Hana were intimidating. However, once we got our bearings and committed to a slow, cautious, and meandering experience, we were able to revel in this once-in-a-lifetime natural scavenger hunt and the green- and blue-hued treasures it revealed around every corner. 

Highlights of the drive for us included the charming Garden Grove Café, where we fueled up with pineapple lemonades and Maui Mudslides (Maui Coffee Roasters cold-brew iced coffee with chocolate syrup and a scoop of Coconut Glen’s coconut chocolate ice cream) and received priceless recommendations on where to stop; the mesmerizing rainbow eucalyptus trees that showed off at several points along the drive and looked like they had been hand-painted by Georgia O’Keeffe; and, of course, swimming in waterfalls, an experience that was so refreshing, so pure, and so delightful that it left an indelible and overwhelming impression on my psyche. 

Rainbow eucalyptus trees are a highlight of the Road to Hana. Mirielle Badgley-Finan photo

By land and by sea

It is a surreal feeling to see your family slowly floating away from you, first with terror on their faces and then with glee. But our 10-minute ride with West Maui Parasail provided an unforgettable, high-flying experience for the first-timers in our family. 

Advice from other passengers? Get the big dip. At the end of the ride, staff want to know if you’d like the big dip or the little dip. The little dip means they will calmly bring you just low enough to the water to dip your toes in before you reboard the boat. For the big dip, though, most of your body will get wet. We took their advice, and the big dip was well worth it. 

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Another day, we found ourselves immersed in the water even more during a three-hour afternoon snorkel tour with Quicksilver Maui. The tour promised to take us to Turtle Town, a haven for, yes, turtles and tropical fish, and also included a hot dog lunch (vegetarian options, too), cold drinks, a waterslide and jumping platform on the boat, and thoughtful historical, informative, and amusing narration from our captain. 

Life looks different under the sea in Maui, Hawaii. Kristin Finan photo

As we floated in the water, marveling at nature’s array below and muttering excitedly to one another through muffled snorkels at the overwhelming and unforgettable sight of turtles underfoot, I had to appreciate the joy of this moment. When else can you be completely unplugged with the sole daily mission of spotting a turtle or spying a brightly colored fish? 

Spy sea turtles in Turtle Town in Maui, Hawaii. Kristin Finan photo

On the way back to shore, we also saw a plethora of dolphins, including a couple babies barely larger than Nerf footballs. Once on shore in the town of Lahaina, we discovered additional treats, including Maui Gold Pineapple and Dole Whip, a frozen pineapple treat. 

At the top

We were shivering in Hawaii. 

Yes, we knew the summit of Haleakala National Park was 10,023 feet above sea level, but somehow we failed to realize that, as a result, temperatures at the top would be a windblown 50 degrees. 

No matter. It was stunning.

Trekking to the top of Haleakala to take in the sunrise has become a rite of passage for visitors to Maui. It’s so popular in fact, that if you plan to arrive at the park between 3-7 a.m., you now need to reserve a spot – one batch of spots is released months in advance, with another batch being released 48 hours in advance of when you want to go. 

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We didn’t have reservations, but we capitalized on the fact that we all woke up early due to the time change – Maui time is five hours behind Austin’s – and arrived at the park shortly after 7 a.m. Seeing the change in landscape as we gained more elevation – portions of the park include rainforest and waterfalls – was mesmerizing, as was the atmosphere at the top, which felt like another planet. 

The silversword plant is a rare and endangered plant that lives between 3 and 90 years. Kristin Finan photo

We particularly loved learning about the beautiful silversword plant, a rare and endangered plant that lives between 3 and 90 years, flowering one time in a jutting stalk, then dying soon afterward, its dry seeds spreading in the wind. 

Plunging in

One of the things I loved about staying at the Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa was how it seamlessly blended the resort experience with Hawaiian culture. 

For example, three nights a week, it hosts the Maui Nui Luau, a spectacular beachfront production that explains the stories, history, and culture of the Kaanapali through the songs and dances of Maui and the Pacific (and includes all-you-can-eat fare). 

And several times a week it offers a free lei-making class, during which my daughters learned the beautiful and sometimes painstaking art of hooking and threading vibrant and fragrant purple orchids from Leiana Webb, who has been part of the fiber of the resort since she was a child and her dad worked there as its executive chef. Leiana’s mom actually created her name as a tribute to two things – Ana, in honor of her grandma, and lei, in honor of Hawaii. My girls returned from their lesson with all kinds of fun facts, including that, if you wear a flower in your hair in Hawaii and you’re single, you wear it on the right side. 

Leiana Webb teaches lei-making classes at the Sheraton Maui. Kristin Finan photo

Perhaps my favorite tradition at the Sheraton, however, is the nightly cliff diving ceremony, which started in 1963. The narrated ceremony, which takes place at sunset and is viewable from both the beach and the Cliff Dive bar, recreates the leap of the last chief of Maui, Kahekill, off of the adjacent lava cliff formation called Pu’u Keka’a, or Black Rock. According to local lore, ancient Hawaiians also believed that this was the spot where the souls of those who died would leap into the spirit world and join their ancestors forever. 

Every day, from dawn to dusk, locals and visitors alike find themselves swimming out to the mesmerizing Black Rock, scrambling up its craggy and porous façade and daring themselves to take the historic 20-foot leap into the cerulean water below. 

It’s been a long time – decades, even – since I did anything like cliff diving. But as I watched silhouette after silhouette in varying shapes and sizes make the jump, I knew that I had to do it, too. 

On our last day in Maui, I swam out to Black Rock and climbed up the rock. Once at the top, however, I hesitated. Being lava rock, the surface of the cliff was naturally jagged and uneven, and finding a spot to stand and get my footing before jumping proved difficult. Also, 20 feet seemed a heck of a lot higher from the top, and a visit to a Maui emergency room was definitely not on the itinerary. 

Just as I was wondering if it would be better to climb back down, a young local who had found footing nearby noticed my hesitation. 

“Hey, listen, you got this!” he said. “Look, I’ll go first.” And then he proceeded to spring off the cliff and execute a diving pass so spectacular that it could rival Greg Louganis. 

Once at the surface, he yelled up to me, “Your turn!” 

And so it was. 

I took a deep breath and made the leap. 

In an exhilarating flash, I hit the water and found myself coming to the surface with an ear-to-ear smile. Making that jump in this beautiful place in that historic spot was exhilarating, fun, and unforgettable – priceless, even. To my right, my new friend swam over for a fist bump. 

“Knew you could do it!” he said. And then he was gone, my 20-something adventure muse, disappeared as quickly as he appeared. 

This trip to Maui changed me. 

It reminded me that while life is messy and imperfect, it’s also so much bigger than the stress, the anxiety, the to-do lists, and the minutiae. 

Life should be less about treading water and more about making the leap. 

It was a reminder I desperately needed and one that Maui delivered to me, time and time again. 

When I got home, I signed up for a writing class I’d meant to give myself as a birthday present but never got around to doing. I opted out of a few commitments that had been siphoning much of my time and emotional energy. And I booked an August excursion for my family – our next adventure. 

After all, we are meant to be creative and soulful and reverent and adventurous. We are meant to experience wonder and do things that intimidate us. We are meant to breathe deeply and intentionally.

We are meant to take the plunge.