Today was a day to simply explore on our own, because we didn’t clear the waiting list for any of our chosen excursions here. Kahului is a “new” port for Holland America, because Lahaina is undergoing massive restoration efforts after being almost completely destroyed by wildfire last August, and has much less to offer tourists than Lahaina would have.
Several friends and acquaintances suggested we book a whale-watching tour, since it is humpback season here, but we’re not even tempted. Years ago (pre-retirement and pre-blog) Ted and I spent over 2 hours stationary on a boat off Provincetown Massachusetts, in the centre of a feeding pod of about 40 adult and baby humpbacks. The whales fed, swam, and played with their calves all around us. At one point, as I was returning alone from the head – while everyone else was clustered nearer the front of the boat snapping incredible photos – a whale surfaced so close beside me that I could have touched its baleen had I not been stunned into immobility!
These 3 pictures are our favourites of the hundreds Ted took that day, and may explain why any other tour we booked would feel anticlimactic. Perhaps a different whale species is in our future though.
So, on to what we did actually do in Kahului.
The port in which we’re docked is an industrial port, but only a couple of kilometres walk from shopping, parkland, and beaches. About an hour’s walk away is the Maui Botanical Garden, but, now that we’ve learned that pretty much all the plants here were imported from countries where we’ve seen them in their natural habitat, we didn’t go the extra distance.
Instead, we walked along Highway 1 past the shopping malls to the park, and then returned via the beach, ending with a refreshing stop at Momona Bakery & Coffee Shop for iced lattes.
11,000 steps later, hot and sandy, we returned to the ship for lunch and cool drinks. Sitting on the aft deck with warm tropical breezes and this view – my favourite man and the Pacific Ocean – isn’t exactly a hardship.
As we sailed away from Kahului Harbor, we were accompanied by rowers from the local high school’s canoe team (serendipitous, since they just coincidentally practise every Tuesday), and several humpback whales visible just beyond the breakwater.
Mahalo (thank you) and aloha, Hawaii!
A hiki i ka makahiki e hiki mai ana (until next year!)
Rose and Ted’s Excellent Adventure 
Kahului has always been just an airport to me — didn’t know there was a botanical garden within reach. I’ll have to check it out next visit — though with so much other travel these days, we may not get back to Hawai’i for a while. Was your “see you next year” just a translation of a familiar phrase or are you planning to go back for a longer stay? If you do, I’ll send a few recommendations from our many trips, pre-pandemic. Enjoy your return trip!
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We’ll be back in Hawaii next January as part of Viking’s 24/25 World Cruise!
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