Gone to Maui and back

After the weather got good at Kona we flew to Maui to join our good friends George and Ann and another couple.

Oh, did we see whales. We have been there many times and seen multiple whales every time we have been there in season - December to April or May - though I am not sure we saw any during an early December trip about 5 years ago.

For the first time in about 20 visits we didn't stay at Sugar Beach Resort in sunny Kihei. We stayed at Sands of Kahana, a beautiful resort 4 miles north of Ka'anapali. It had a beach walk of 400 or 500 yards, a nice walk, but short compared to Sugar Beach's 4 miles! Nice grounds.

We saw whales many times from the unit and the complex grounds. Never very close. (We have seen them within 50 yards at Sugar Beach.) And we went on a 2-hour whale-watching cruise on Safari Tours. We saw two full breaches within 100 yards. That's the huge humpback whale leaping entirely out of the water! We also traveled with a group of 30 spinner dolphins for 10 or 15 minutes.

I snorkeled twice and saw green sea turtles both times; very graceful. The two guys with me saw a Hawaiian Monk seal the second time out; they are rare.

Gini missed a day with the flu, so we stayed an extra day so she wouldn't be sick on our flight home. Stuck in Maui! Who feels sorry for us? Then I came down sick just before going to the airport and was sick all the way home plus two days.