Things to do, see, experience in Maui

[covesurfer]

Try Ding King in Haliimalie for an SIC board. Jeremy Riggs here on Maui can be hired as a downwind guide/instructor and will also be able to set you up with a board. Check out Paddle with Riggs - he has a FB page. Conditions were really good today (on the S Side, Kihei to Makena) and should be ok thru the weekend, at least.

[PonoBill]

Be fun to see you. There's enough boards around to keep you happy, You can rent, but not necessary if you don't mind bigger stuff. I have a 9'10" X 30" and 9.0 X 32 Foote customs you can use. Only problem will be finding surf. Might be some outer reef swell.

There's a downwind race on the southside (Maui Paddle Hui) on Saturday at 2:00. SUP course starts at the Canoe Hale on north kihei road but the signup is  at haycraft park. Details:
Long Course:    Haycraft to Makena Landing. 11.5mi
Short Course:    Kihei Canoe Club to Makena Landing. 9mi
Registration:    

12:00-1:30pm at Haycraft

Entry fee: $25
Race Start:    Long Course: 2:00pm at Haycraft
Short Course: 2:00pm at KCC

http://www.mauipaddlinghui.org/

Good way to do a downwinder. I expect there to be some decent wind, though it's aimed a little ENE instead of NNE that works best for the South Side. I'm plan to borrow a Bullet 17V1 which may leave my Bullet 17 V2 unused. If that works out your welcome to it. Might as well jump right in. The races are nice ways to experience a downwinder though no one will be talking you through the mechanics of catching swell. We'll all be running away from you as fast as we can. But it's safe--water patrol out in force, and fun, and lunch and beer is included in the price. If someone else wants to go let me know and I'll see what I can dig up. If nothing else they can use my Ku Nalu, though they need good balance. Really good. It's like the board I lent you for the BOP that you won the surfboard class with, except its hollow and light.

The only thing wrong with doing the race is that there might be a good Maliko run on Saturday. I would recommend a Southside run anyway before jumping into Maliko. In ski terms, the southside is groomed powder, and Maliko is the outskirts of the backcountry past the avalanche signs.

As far as tourist stuff goes, you're on your own.

[kayadogg]

Thanks Bill, appreciate the offers and the detailed info. I did see that race and now I'm going to plan on trying to make that happen. I think that would be a great intro too. The Foote's would be awesome to use for a day even if not much surf - my fiance just wants to get out on the water a few times. If your V2 isn't available, can I rent a board at the race or do I need to line something up ahead of time?  I'll get in touch once we're there.

[PonoBill]

You'll need something ahead of time, but if worse comes to worst you can use the Ku Nalu You'll be fine on it, same board as the Starboard 12'2". One way or another I'll have a board on the truck for you.

[stoneaxe]

The road around the north side (around the head) has some very interesting places to see. Beside the best surf spot on Maui it has a Hawaiian village that is old Hawaii. The road gets really bad as it winds back to Kahalui and you might want to head back instead of driving the whole distance. Its a great experience that has not been mentioned so far.

That's where I scared the crap out of my family taking it in pono's jeep. At one point my wife was repeating over and over..."OMG, we're going to die". Even I was nervous at that point....going down a steep grade on a road that is maybe 12' wide, on one side signs saying "watch for falling rocks" with a cliff 2-300' above your head, and on the other a long, long drop to the water below...no guardrail...1/2 way down there is a line of vehicles coming toward us....with a friggin SCHOOLBUS in the lead. I had to back up 100 yards to a wider spot where they could just barely scrape past (had to fold the mirrors). Other than that it was a nice ride with some beautiful views.

[kayadogg]

uh, yeah... I'll save this for the next trip 

[mtnbkr]

Dont forget Coconuts for fish tacos! http://www.coconutsfishcafe.com/home

[Muskoka SUP]

Dont forget Coconuts for fish tacos! http://www.coconutsfishcafe.com/home

+1 for Coconuts for fish tacos.  Also Jawz in the Lipoa center in Kihei, and a truck at Makena.
Best I had there was from a stand in the parking lot in Haiku right across from Nuka - which in itself is the real reason to go to Haiku.

Also I second PB's advice on circumnavigating Maui, the drive from Hana along the South shore is stunning.  Spend some time upcountry, Kula etc,  it's a special part of Maui...

[Rakky]

I'm also heading to Maui for kitesurfing and SUPing in April.  Would love to do a Maliko Gulch downwinder. 
How difficult is it, and how to set that up, as I will need boards/paddle etc.  Saw Riggs website.  Other options available, including Riggs??  I Like SIC boards 
 

[PonoBill]

Headmount does the occasional guided tour. Jeremy's thing is more instructional about paddling technique. Very worthwhile, but if you just want to experience a solid Maliko run, then Mr. Headmount is your guy. He's pretty patient for a grumpy geezer, and will get you through the spooky stuff.

Dog, I thought more about this board thing for surfing and paddling. Strikes me that you might be pressed for time. I'm about 40 miles from where you're staying, about five miles past Ho'okipa. You might want to save all that driving--though it's north shore, and beautifu--and just rent from 808. They use Foote production boards. If you don't mind the drive and/or the stars align and you can meet me someplace, then the boards are yours. You could drop by Ponohouse in the early evening, grab the boards and have a beer. I suspect your significant other would like to see the joint, it's the kind of place women love. I use it like a flophouse, but Diane loves it.

We rarely eat where you're going to be staying--tourist stuff. But we like Mala which is the west end of Lahina. Pacific O on the east side of Lahina isn't bad. On the north shore there's Haile Maile, Mama's (great for a drink and pupus at the inside bar. Don't stop at the first bar, keep walking and you come to an inner bar that has the best seats in the house. Spectacular location and amazing architecture), Colleens in Haiku--very local, very good. Awesome Poke that's got a ton of first quality ahi in it. If the owner wasn't a fisherman they'd be losing money on every serving. Nuka (sushi) in Haiku. In Paia, the Fish Market is great, Milagros not bad mex, and the rest is inconsistent. Sometimes good, sometimes WTF is this???

[kayadogg]

Thanks Pono, no worries... was thinking the same thing. Might be more trouble than it's worth. We will have a car though and will be out and exploring each day so hopefully we can drop by. I know she'd love to see it, as would I. We don't have anything planned other than some company stuff that they already booked for us, Te Au Moana luau on Monday and an awards dinner at Sarento's on Tuesday. Planning on doing the drive to Hana on Wednesday. Other than that, hopefully lots of water time. Looks like it should work out for the race tomorrow too. We land at 11AM and looks like we're about 30 min from the resort and then about 20-30 from the registration site. Fingers crossed I can get out there.

[covesurfer]

Wind forecast is decent for tomorrow. We'll see how it shapes up. Today and yesterday were both good downwinder days on tomorrow's race course.

[PonoBill]

The road around the north side (around the head) has some very interesting places to see. Beside the best surf spot on Maui it has a Hawaiian village that is old Hawaii. The road gets really bad as it winds back to Kahalui and you might want to head back instead of driving the whole distance. Its a great experience that has not been mentioned so far.

That's where I scared the crap out of my family taking it in pono's jeep. At one point my wife was repeating over and over..."OMG, we're going to die". Even I was nervous at that point....going down a steep grade on a road that is maybe 12' wide, on one side signs saying "watch for falling rocks" with a cliff 2-300' above your head, and on the other a long, long drop to the water below...no guardrail...1/2 way down there is a line of vehicles coming toward us....with a friggin SCHOOLBUS in the lead. I had to back up 100 yards to a wider spot where they could just barely scrape past (had to fold the mirrors). Other than that it was a nice ride with some beautiful views.

The big trick on that road is to follow the schoolbus, but don't try to keep up with it. Unbelievable how fast that thing goes and how good that driver is. Total respect. They'd do fine on any racetrack, any style of racing I've ever seen or done.  I've been behind it on my XR650, barely keeping up. Flat out, or as flat out as anyone could manage on a road with that many 180 degree off-camber turns. He/she gets by lines of cars that are frozen like a deer in the headlights without touching the brakes. Everyone who lives here long enough knows you don't screw with the Kahakuloa schoolbus.

Dog, I've got Mark Raaphorst's new board for the race, so you're good to go with my 17 Bullet V2. You need to stop at Haycraft park to register and then make it to the Canoe Hale by 2:00 for the start. The Maui Paddle Hui site has a map showing both places. Easy to find. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ll=20.716942,-156.455269&t=m&source=embed&ie=UTF8&msa=0&spn=0.160562,0.102654&z=12&mid=z0Dnm4m4I02c.k_LuY3Rrjfus

Best to be there at least half an hour early. We'll have shuttle vehicles at the other end--Makena Landing. If your girlfriend wants to see the end of the race that where she should go and pick you up. Should be a decent lunch and lots of bullshit stories about how fast we all used to be at the end.

Your timing is going to be tight. You'd be better off waiting to go to the resort after the race, but you might be able to swing it. Where are you staying?

Oops, never mind, I see, the Marriott. By the time you pick up a rental car and fiddle around it will be noon. If you choose to do this, you'll need to go straight to Haycraft and get registered--that will take you to 1:00 or a little later. Twenty minutes to the canoe hale. Going to be tight without going to the Marriott and backtracking. Either way, the board will be there. I'll PM you my phone.

[kayadogg]

Wow. About all I can say. Short trip to Maui, 5 days but we didn't stop from before sunrise to well after sunset. We packed in just about as much as we could handle given the other corporate BS we had to be a part of. Long story short, my 5 days consisted of:

- Entering a 9 mile downwind race at about the 5.75 mile mark, which wasn't really downwind at all and was a sloggfest just to finish but I loved every minute of it
- Meeting PonoBill and his beautiful wife Diane at PonoHouse, where he graciously lent us two of his custom Foote's to use while we were there
- Paddling said boards every morning at sunrise with fins and masks on board, diving, snorkeling and swimming with everything we could see
- Stuffing our faces at breakfast
- Found a little surf (the Cove and Thousand Peaks)
- Went to Ho'okipa and watched the action for a little while, saw the resting honu and then strolled around Paia and grabbed some food
- Ate at Mama's - holy s**t it was good
- Drove to the top of Haleakala for a sunset
- Drove to Lahaina, explored that area a little bit, didn't care for it much
- Went to a luau (this was one of the mandatory corporate events that turned out to be pretty fun)
- Did the ride to Hana...
- Stopped at Wai'anapanapa, checked out the black sand beach, swam in the fresh water caves, watched the blow hole not blow anything.
- Went to Hamoa Beach and swam, body surfed and just enjoyed its beauty for awhile.
- Got yelled at by a local for driving too fast.
- Ate lunch at "Braddah Hutts" - BBQ chicken & pork, served up in his food truck that's parked in his front yard - KILLER. Oh yeah, and also had malasadas that were made to order right there too.
- Went to the 7 Sacred Pools. Water levels were extremely low, lower pools hardly had anything in them. Still cool to see.
- Hiked up to Waimoku Falls, beautiful and worth it. Hiked back down, showered with bottles of water and stolen hotel towels.
- Drove the backside of the crater back to the airport - beautiful, rugged, scenic, a little sketchy but not as bad as we thought and so worth it.
- Arrived at airport and zipper on paddle bag busted so used an entire roll of masking tape to keep it shut. I'm sure TSA loved that.

It was a whirlwind but our favorite part, by large and far, was just being in the ocean. Anything we did in the water, we had a blast. Next visit will be for much, much longer and I think it would be great present to give to my fiance for completing her Masters degree in June 

What a special place. I understand why so many of you live there or visit with regularity. 5 days was not even close to being enough to scratch the surface but I got my first taste and that's all I needed.

Thanks again to PonoBill for hooking us up. So nice to get in the water early in the morning and go hunt for some waves and explore.

Couple of pics but I won't bore you with the stuff you guys live and breathe daily.

[stoneaxe]

Cool!