7 Days on Maui, HI

Now that the weather is finally turning warmer, my thoughts are turning to summer vacations and I can’t help but remember the last time I was at the beach. Keith and I and two of our friends K + T took a trip to Maui, HI at the end of my travel nurse contract in Washington (right before our road trip from WA to OK). It was so fun going through the pictures from this trip (these are all phone photos), and I hope you enjoy this blog post! 

After a long travel day from Seattle to Maui, we finally were able to settle in at the condo we had rented for the week. If you’ve ever been to Hawaii, you might know that a lot of places do not have A/C (Keith and I had some flashbacks to our trip to Ilwaco, WA during the hottest weather in 40 years, if I’m being honest). Luckily, our condo was on the top floor and overlooked the ocean, and when we had all the windows and doors open (there were screens) we stayed quite cool. 

Of course, the first thing we did was head down to the beach – I mean, can you blame us? There is honestly nothing better than sitting on a beach to unwind and relax after a very long and tiring travel day, watching the sun go down over the ocean. 

Snorkel #1

The next morning we drove around and visited a few natural areas, just taking in the scenery. That afternoon we decided to go snorkeling. Keith and I needed a few supplies, so we stopped at a snorkel shop and got some amazing recommendations from the owner on which places were good for snorkeling that week. The place we decided to go that afternoon was a very rocky cove surrounded by jungle – such a cool place (and where I took some pictures of our friends – stay tuned next month for a blog post filled with the gorgeous photos I took there!). The snorkeling was amazing, I’ve definitely paid for snorkeling that was not as good as it was there; there were so many beautiful fish and of course the water was crystal clear. Unfortunately, since the beach was so rocky, Keith cut his foot as he was getting out of the water, and we didn’t have any first aid supplies with us. Luckily, a family sitting near us had a napkin that they gave him to help stop the bleeding. 

Goat Yoga

The next morning K and I took a girls trip to the other side of the island (and up the mountain a little bit) to do goat yoga. I had never heard of this before she booked it for us (and honestly I wasn’t too excited about it beforehand), but it turned out to be really fun and the baby goats were sooo cute! Also, I have to admit that I did not do a lot of yoga during that class, I mostly just took pictures of the baby goats. After yoga we stopped in Paia for yogurt bowls and coffee (as always, chai tea for me!). 

Snorkel #2

The following morning we woke up before sunrise to go snorkeling again. This time, we were going out on a boat to a tiny crescent shaped rock island called Molokini. Because the island is made completely of volcanic rock, there is no sediment in that area and the visibility is insanely good. It was surreal to be swimming in the ocean surrounded by so much colorful coral and so many amazing fish and being able to see all the way to the ocean floor even at a depth of about 60 feet. 

Road to Hana

The road to Hana was one of the things that we had researched and gotten a lot of personal recommendations about, so we knew we had to drive it. As with a lot of really cool things in tourist destinations, there were tons of people around, which was not exactly ideal. But the scenery was beautiful – from rainbow eucalyptus trees to waterfalls to ocean views. Unfortunately we were only able to make it about halfway because three of the four of us got carsick. I’m not going to name names, but I’m sure you can probably guess that I was definitely one of them (and you’d be right). 

Haleakalā National Park

After a brief recovery period from the twists and turns of the road to Hana, we headed to Haleakalā National Park to watch the sunset. The massive dormant volcano rises from sea level to 10,000 feet, so we got a lot more twists and turns as we drove on switchbacks up the mountain to reach the summit. We were above the clouds as we watched the sun dip below the horizon, and it was such a cool experience. That park is unlike anywhere else I’ve been – it truly has an otherworldly appearance. 

Snorkel #3

Once again taking the advice of the snorkel shop owner, we took an early morning trip to a beach that I’m not 100% sure we were supposed to be at, but there were no signs saying we weren’t supposed to be there, sooo … I think it was okay? It was at a resort, and it was so nice because when we got there pretty early in the morning, almost no one else was at the beach. We snorkeled around the cove and saw more sea turtles than we’d seen the whole rest of the trip! It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip to see so many turtles all in one place. Watching the massive forms gliding through the water with hardly any effort is something I will never forget. 

The rest of our time on the island of Maui was spent at the beach, exploring small beach towns, and driving around the island taking in views. We relaxed as much as possible, knowing that as soon as we returned to Washington we would be rushing to pack up and head out on a nearly 3,000 mile road trip (which we knew would be fun yet very tiring). In a lot of ways, this trip felt like the end of something; it was at the end of our time in the Pacific Northwest, and it was the end of the good times we had while I worked as a travel nurse. My next (and last) travel nurse contract in Oklahoma City was … a nightmare. That contract was the reason I had to stop traveling and take a break from working in the emergency department. So I’ll always look back on our trip to Maui as one of the last happy memories I had for a long time. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about it just as much as I enjoyed looking back through photos and videos and reliving it. 

*This blog contains a selection of my personal photos from a trip I took with my husband and our friends. I am not using them for advertisement purposes, simply to help me tell the story of my personal experience.

I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a couples/intimate wedding/elopement photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook to get updates on future blog posts, see sneak peeks of my amazing couples, and so much more! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!

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