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Maui Helicopter Rides Give You The Best View of the Island
June 27, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Maui is dotted with hidden treasures, sights that can only be accessed with special equipment, such as a helicopter. Fortunately, there are plenty of places on the island to find Maui helicopter rides.
Only by helicopter, for instance, can tourists gaze at the Wall of Tears, an amazing sight near the summit of Puu Kukui in the mountains of West Maui. Helicopters buzz through canyons and past 1,000-foot waterfalls. They soar, too, over thick rainforests and bamboo forests.
Booking Maui helicopter rides is a simple task. Several companies offer them, and they all advertise heavily. Just call one up and book one of several air tours.
Maui’s helicopter pilots will fill you in on the ancient Hawaiian history, share tidbits about how the island’s geological wonders were formed and tell a joke or two along the way.
By the time your flight is through, not only will you have been treated to some amazing sights, you’ll be a bit of an expert yourself on Hawaiian history, culture and events.
Many guidebooks recommend Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, located at the Kahului Airport, as the best of the helicopter tour providers on Maui. In addition to its friendly and skilled pilots, Blue Hawaiian uses Eco-Star helicopters, the most high-tech, environmentally friendly and quiet helicopters on the island. Recommended!
Air tours range from a relatively modest 30 minutes to a more robust 100-minute version. Prices vary, but generally run from $150 to $350, depending on the tour selected. Guests can also purchase a DVD of their trip for a unique souvenir.
Visit Kealia Pond National Wildlife Preserve Near Kihei
June 20, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Maui is home to an amazingly diverse array of wildlife and plant life. Much of this is on display at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Preserve.
Located near to the small southern Maui tourist and each area of Kihei, the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Preserve is a 700-acre U.S. Fish and Wildlife wetland preserve. It is home to endangered Hawaiian coots, Hawaiian ducks and Hawaiian stilts all of which are distinct species that only exist in the Hawaiian Islands.
While the pond does serve as a safe refuge for these birds and other animals, it also offers protection to the coral reefs that surround Maui.
The ponds naturally clean water before it reaches the reefs.
This protects the fragile coral from dirt and silt that could damage it.
Tourists can take themsevles on a self-guided tour through the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Preserve. They need only follow the easy-to-see signs dotting the wooden boardwalks and shade shelters snaking through the pond.
It’s certainly not the biggest attraction in Hawaii, but the wildlife preserve is certainly worth a visit.
Other birds that sharp-eyed tourists can spot here include the black-crowned high heron, Pacific golden plover, ruddy turnstone and wandering tattler.
What you see will depend on at what time of year you visit, but the winter months are likely to be busier as migratory birds also arrive from far off places.
How they actually find their way to Maui in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is incredible.
Whenever you visit bring binoculars if you have them to get much better close-up views of the birds.
From July to December, the pond is home to another amazing sight: This the time of year when the hawksbill turtle comes ashore to lay her eggs. And the turtles lay these eggs at the wildlife preserve.
This spectacle is not witnessed very often anymore as sadly these turtles are declining in number. So if you do see one then stand back quietly and do disturb the turtle.
Enjoy and protect Maui’s wildlife!
Hike The Crater and Other Trails in Haleakala National Park
June 20, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Hiking into Haleakala National Park can be a lot of fun, especially if you hike into the crater!
There are many ways to see Haleakala, Maui’s towering dormant volcano. But hiking into it might be the best way get a real close up experience that you will never forget.
You might be surprised to learn that there are 27 miles of hiking trails inside the crater of Haleakala. Not only that, the crater boasts two camping sites and three cabins.
By following two main trails, tourists can experience most of the amazing scenery of Haleakala, including the burnt-red cinder cones and the dark-black lava flows.
The Sliding Sands Trail will take tourists into the crater, while the Halemauu Trail will take them back out.
The Sliding Sands Trail begins on the volcano’s rim, an impressive 9,800 feet up. It then descends down into the maw of the volcano until it reaches the valley floor, at 6,600 feet.
The hike is beautiful, but be warned: It does require some physical stamina. The hike down along the Sliding Sands Trail covers 11 descending miles. Halemauu is equally long, only this time hikers are ascending.
Hardy hikers can do this trip in one day. Others will have to break it up into two days. There are alternatives to the long hike, though.
The Hosmer Grove Natural Trail is just a half-mile walk and allows you to get views of Maui’s amazing bird life, so take binoculars!
The Halemauu Trail walk to Holua Cabin and back covers just eight miles total. Both are pleasant alternatives, and both give a taste of the amazing scenery of Haleakala.
Hiking into, and back out of, Haleakala is a lot of work.
But the sights it presents – everything from rough lava flows to rare silversword plants – are well worth the sweat.
