Each night, The Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa in Kaanapali shares a treasured piece of Hawaiian history with the island—a traditional cliff dive or lele kawa. I visited The Sheraton Maui to find meaning in the elusive ritual. “The Hawaiians were the first people to do cliff diving,” the Sheraton’s cultural advisor, Jack Stone, explained. […]
If you ask someone where Turtle Town is on Maui, it’s likely you could get two, maybe three different answers. Several spots just south of Wailea from Nahuna Point to Black Sand Beach have impressive snorkeling with an abundance of turtle sightings. Best of all, none of these spots have the crowds of say, Hanauma
The 10-acre forest reserve known as Polipoli sits at 6,400 feet on the slopes of Haleakala in Upcountry Maui. Its trails wind through redwood trees and misty mountaintops, producing a dreamlike experience—and a distinct feeling of not being on Maui anymore. You start with a winding road from Kula to Polipoli… …that climbs above the morning
“I think you can go thinner,” says Lisa Schattenburg-Raymond, leaning over my work with a critical eye. I nod seriously, like a good apprentice, but feel a flash of annoyance. I’ve been pounding my scrap of kapa for more than an hour. My back is sore from sitting cross-legged on a lauhala (pandanus) mat. My forearms are tired from the
My first real view of Waihee Valley comes from behind a windshield. Janai Kealoha is at the wheel of a huge, mud-flecked passenger van, the kind that more often hauls large equipment than a group of Maui visitors. As we head into the valley on a rutted, dirt road, she speaks proudly of the steep,
Just as certain as there are surfers flocking to Maui’s best surf breaks when waves are up, when the weather is clear in the dense forests of Upcountry Maui, outdoor adventurers are headed up the slopes of massive Haleakalā volcano. Here, high above the island’s vast central plain, upland pineapple fields, former sugar land and
We thought we were early for lunch. It was 9 a.m., after all. But by the time we walked up to the entrance of Sam Sato’s, an unpretentious, old-time restaurant in Wailuku’s industrial area, a crowd of hungry patrons were already gathered, names written on a little yellow pad at the takeout window. Waiting to
