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Monday, June 9, 2014

Maui Trip Report #2 - Discover Lanai Excursion

Before leaving home, we booked two excursions for our trip, both with Trilogy. The first one was a full-day trip to the island of Lanai.

A distant view of Lanai from Lahaina's Front Street before boarding.
Another view using my camera's zoom feature.

Upon boarding, we were offered coffee and pineapple juice. Then, shortly after leaving the Lahaina Harbor, the staff served homemade cinnamon rolls and fruit. And, just before docking at the Manele Harbor on Lanai, we were offered a variety of wraps. You won't go hungry on a Trilogy excursion!

So happy we got a sunny day!
Hubby looking mighty handsome and happy.
Seeing Maui from the water.
Leaving Maui and. . .
. . .approaching Lanai.

From the dock we walked to Hulopo'e Bay for water and beach play. (A van shuttle was available for those who didn't want to walk.) The water was too rough for me, but hubby tested the snorkeling conditions. He reported there wasn't much to see because the waves were making the water too murky.

Manele Harbor
(The boat in the center is a Trilogy vessel, but not the one we took.)

Hulopo'e Beach looking deceivingly calm.

Given the not-so-good snorkeling, hubby decided to join me for the van tour of the island, which we both found fascinating. Our guide was born and raised on Lanai, and still lives there. I just can't fathom growing up on an isolated island that today only has slightly more than 3000 residents!

At the end of the tour, it was time for dinner. Sitting at picnic tables under a shelter with a water view, we were served an all-you-can-eat meal of teriyaki chicken, noodles, peas, salad, and rolls. Despite the chicken being overdone, the meal was good, especially the noodles.

Good meal served on real plates with stainless steel flatware.
Our dinner view.

On the trip back to Maui, we got a real treat. And I'm not talking about the cups of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce the staff handed out. We had only been in motion a short while when we came upon a pod of Hawaiian spinner dolphins!

There were hundreds and. . .
. . .some got extremely close to the boat.

I did my best to get some video: Spinner Dolphins 1 and Spinner Dolphins 2.

Approaching Maui and. . .
. . .getting closer.

Shortly after returning to Lahaina, we were able to check three items off our "must-or-hope-to-see" list:

The Lahaina Banyan Tree 
A Hawaii Rainbow 

A Maui Sunset

The only thing that could make this day better was our first Hawaiian shaved ice!

We had our first and last shaved ice at Ululani's Lahaina location.

1 comment:

Rita said...

This is such fun seeing the trip! I remember seeing dolphins in Florida alongside the boat and it's something you never forget. Saw a stingray, too--huge one! Loved the videos. Thanks for sharing these. What a wonderful time you guys had. :)