Our recent Maui vacation was a mix of “strikes and gutters” after the big storms this year.
Thor and I have enjoyed many trips to Maui for snorkeling and sunshine, and had settled on early October as a good time to go, when the crowds are thinned a bit and the ocean is usually at its warmest and generally calm. We avoid the mega-resorts and rent a condo in low-key Kihei at Sugar Beach, driving a rental car to different snorkeling spots to enjoy our favorite Honu turtles and colorful fish and coral. This year, after three big storms starting in the spring, conditions were very different.
We had made reservations far in advance, crossing fingers that my recurring health issues wouldn’t make us cancel, but didn’t guess that it would be the lingering effects of another recent storm complicating things. The usually calm shore in front of our condo was really churned up (top photo), and next door we saw evidence of the damage to shoreline buildings:
Our usual vacation routine involves snorkeling in the morning, then taking a picnic lunch to one of the less-frequented beaches for lounging and swimming/playing in the waves. This year, we encountered rough seas at the beaches, murky/stirred-up water, and steep wave breaks due to a lot of beach sand having been scoured away by the storms.
Usually a strong swimmer, I’m somewhat breathing-impaired after my latest (neversmoker) lung cancer radiation treatments, and I got myself in a bit of trouble by swimming out past the wave breaks. The current and churning waves made it hard to get back in, and I was gasping for breath, unable to get to shore. Thor saved me by wading out to the wave break (he’s six and a half feet tall and able to stand where I couldn’t touch) to grab my arm and pull me toward shore. After that, I played it safe and stayed in the shallows. (We still found calmer locations for our daily snorkeling, thank goodness — see upcoming blog posts for underwater excursions.)
One of our favorite snorkeling locations is west of Kihei, toward Lahaina, at Mile 14 on the highway. When other spots are rough, it’s usually more calm and sheltered. This year, we were saddened to see many of the shoreline trees damaged or killed by the storms and flooding:
Farther west along the highway, these steep hills and ravines are usually brown this time of year, but all the extra rain had them flushed with green:
Wind and some rain continued for our first couple of days at Sugar Beach, making for dramatic views from our lanai:
But eventually, the weather settled down to usher in some beautiful sunsets.
See you next week for tips on finding the best snorkeling. Aloha!
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You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s Caribbean suspense novel from Book View Café is ISLANDS, which draws on her experiences working as a scuba divemaster on various islands, and also her research into petroglyphs. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
