We have been to Maui twice before, once on our initial trip to the Hawaiian Islands and a second time for a golf vacation, which was great. There are some great golf resorts with fantastic courses, so if golf is your thing, Maui is your place. This time we had a short visit in November, 2003 while aboard the cruise ship Infinity. 

The ship docked at the port of Lahaina which is a pleasant, visitor-friendly town. In the center of the old town there is a famous old Banyan tree that entirely covers the block, providing great shade for the park, as shown at left. The tree grows form a single trunk, but sends down air roots from the long-reaching branches. Eventually these air roots take hold and become an additional trunk, helping to support the massive branches. In this way, the tree continues to spread over a large area. On Sundays this park area is taken over by a local arts and crafts display.

The town runs along the beach area with lots of shopping and restaurants for the tourists. Although a bit pricey and trendy, the shops are a fun place to window shop and see the crazy things that people will buy. Other than dark chocolate covered macadamia nuts, our shopping was limited to a “Nice Papayas” t-shirt for Verna’s mom.

The beach draws visitors and locals alike with its sandy beaches and trees for shade. The photo at right shows the beach lovers even on a cloudy day. As you can see, parasailing is also available. South of the port is an area popular with beginning surfers. Further south is a wonderful snorkeling area. We took a day to go snorkeling here with friends Chuck and Kathy. What a great day - the water was warm and there were lots of colorful fish to see. A local enterprise, Snorkel Bobs, rents all the equipment you need for a reasonable price.

Below is a panorama of the island taken while we were departing the island. Aloha!

If you find typographical errors or have any other problems when looking at the site please contact the Webmaster describing the problem and the page involved.