Looking for adventures such as kayaking with whales, snorkeling with turtles, or surfing in sunshine? Then, Hawaii is the place for you!

Monday, February 18: Arrival

When we finally arrived on the island of Maui , I was disappointed to see cloudy and rainy skies. But after a few hours the sun made an appearance and we explored the town of Kihei. This tiny town had a beach named Charley Young Beach running along its side in Maalaea Bay and quite a few shops considering its size. One of my favorite stops was Maui Bread, located in the Dolphin Plaza Shopping Center, which was a place to get breakfast. All of their breads were made fresh daily.

Tuesday, February 19: Snorkeling with Whales

Another rainy day, but that didn’t stop us from going on an adventure. Waking up at 5 AM to go on a boat to snorkel off of Molokini in the clearest water I have ever seen was exhilarating. There was beautiful nature around us, but at the time we didn’t hear the whales singing. After looking through the pictures and videos taken on our GoPro we discovered that the whales were singing as clear as it could be. We just hadn’t noticed. That was only the first encounter we had with the many whales on the island.

Wednesday, February 20: Surfing

My sister Carly [AHS Class of 2019] and I took a surfing lesson. I was pretty good at it; Carly not so much. I learned that you need to have a lot of stamina to surf. Your arms get tired very quickly and you don’t always stand up on the wave. I fell a few times, but after failing I got the hang of it. After succeeding I felt of rush adrenaline. My only focus was to paddle back to the channel and to try again to see if I could succeed once more. Surfing was by far the best part of the trip. After our surfing lesson we rented snorkel gear so we could snorkel on the beach across from our condo. We rented the snorkel gear from Maui Dive Shop, a local shop that was only a few minutes from our condo. We rarely needed a car, as most things were in walking distance from our rented condo.

Thursday, February 21: Kayaking with Whales

I had the experience of my life time: kayaking with whales. We rented the kayaks from a company called Maui Kayak Adventures located in Kihei. This was another early morning adventure and by 7 AM we were out on the water going further from the shore and observing many spouts from whales. For a while my family and I were following this huge male whale that came to the surface every 12 minutes, but then we decided to explore and see if we could find a mom and baby together. Our guide Zeke informed us that the males travel alone and the mother and baby travel together. After searching and kayaking for a long time, we finally found them. A huge spout followed by a mini version. The baby even surfaced a few times “playing.” I realized that not just humans play; other species play just like we do.

Friday, February 22: Visiting Hana

On this clear day with the temperature of 80 degrees, we went on a drive on Hana Highway, which is a long highway with gorgeous sights. This isn’t a normal highway. This one had long, twisting roads up the side of a mountain called Haleakala, with stops along the way to grab bites to eat or to buy local fruit. My family and I got a coconut to drink out of and sampled many exotic fruits, such as papaya, guava, and apple fruit. Apple fruit does not taste like an apple; I learned that one the hard way. The road had lush green trees around every corner and huge clumps of long bamboo shoots. We downloaded an app called the Shaka Guide that told us where we could pull over and stop for a little hike or to see the ocean. This was not my favorite part [of the trip] because we were in the car for a lot of it, but it was pretty cool to see a different perspective, a part of Hawaii that was not touristy. There are not a lot of people here. Those who come up here come for the drive. Not a lot of people live here. If they do live here, they are natives who live in houses that look like ours, but a little smaller.

Saturday, February 23: Surfing Goat Dairy Farm

We visited Surfing Goat Dairy, which is a goat farm that makes their own cheeses and soaps. My sister Carly, who plans on majoring in dairy management and wants to work on her own farm someday, had a blast playing with goats and learning new things. This was not my cup of tea. I would much rather lay on the beach and not be with smelly goats. The cheeses were amazing though! One cheese, which was a soft spreadable one flavored as strawberry, was my favorite. We bought some to enjoy later.

Sunday, February 24: Stars and Fishing

We once again woke up early, this time at 4:30 AM to go on a charter boat called The Rascal. We made an attempt to fish. When we got to the boat it was still dark outside. A few remaining stars were out. Then the sun came up in pale yellows and oranges. It was not yet strong. We witnessed more whales breaching out of the water and landing with huge splashes.  As we watched the sun come up, we witnessed more whales breaching out of the water and landing with huge splashes. Our boat, which was fairly small and could only fit the five of us plus the captain, Joe Yurkanin, and the one crew mate,  Andy Hart, circled the islands hoping to find something to reel in. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch anything, but I learned how to reel in hundreds of feet of line.

Monday, February 25: Saying Goodbye—For Now

Our last day on Maui we stayed again at the Charley Young Beach soaking up all the sun we could before returning to the New England cold, making sure we got burned so we could bring Hawaii back with us. We joked around about moving to Hawaii, and honestly I wish we could. Hawaii has been the best experience of my life and I would gladly go back. Learning a different way of life and going on adventures I never thought I could do was eye opening. I would highly recommend not only visiting Hawaii, but visiting other countries and/or states. Traveling makes you feel like a small fish in a big pond. At times something new can be frightening, but it’s definitely worth it.

And now I would personally like to do a Global Education trip after my experience traveling to Hawaii