Maui - Hawaii with Kids - page 276

575 S. Kihei Rd. Vancouver sailed on to “discover” British Columbia, where a
great international city and harbor now bear his name.
West of the junction of Piilani Highway (Hwy. 31) and Mokulele Highway
(Hwy. 350) is Kealia Pond National Wildlife Preserve ( & 808/875-1582;
www.gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_nwr/hi_keali.htm), a 700-acre U.S. Fish
and Wildlife wetland preserve where endangered Hawaiian stilts, coots, and
ducks hang out and splash. There's something here for the entire family, from
small kids to teenagers. You can walk the area in a half-hour, or spend the day
on the beach here. These ponds work two ways: as bird preserves and as sedi-
mentation basins that keep the coral reefs from silting from runoff. You can take
a self-guided tour along a boardwalk dotted with interpretive signs and shade
shelters, through sand dunes, and around ponds to Maalaea Harbor. The board-
walk starts at the outlet of Kealia Pond on the ocean side of North Kihei Road
(near mile marker 2 on Piilani Hwy.). Among the Hawaiian waterbirds seen here
are the black-crowned high heron, Hawaiian coot, Hawaiian duck, and Hawai-
ian stilt. There also are shorebirds like sanderlings, Pacific golden plovers, ruddy
turnstones, and wandering tattlers. From July to December, the hawksbill turtle
comes ashore here to lay her eggs.
WAILEA
The best way to explore this golden resort coast is to rise with the sun and head
for Wailea's 1.5-mile coastal nature trail , stretching between the Kea Lani
Hotel and the kiawe thicket just beyond the Renaissance Wailea. It's a great fam-
ily walk, a serpentine path that meanders uphill and down past native plants, old
Hawaiian habitats, and a billion dollars' worth of luxury hotels. You can pick up
the trail at any of the resorts or from clearly marked SHORELINE ACCESS points
along the coast and walk as little as you want (10-15 min.) or walk the entire 3-
mile round-trip (45 min. with slower, younger children). The best time to go is
when you first wake up; by midmorning, the coastal trail is too often clogged
with pushy joggers, and it grows crowded with beachgoers as the day wears on.
As the path crosses several bold black-lava points, it affords new vistas of islands
and ocean; benches allow you to pause and contemplate the view across
Alalakeiki Channel, where you may see jumping whales in season. Sunset is
another good time to hit the trail.
HOUSE OF THE SUN: HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK
At once forbidding and compelling, Haleakala (“House of the Sun”) National
Park is Maui's main natural attraction. More than 1.3 million people a year go
up the 10,023-foot-high mountain to peer down into the crater of the world's
largest dormant volcano. (Haleakala is officially considered active, even though
it has not rumbled since 1790.) That hole would hold Manhattan.
The entire family will love this national park. There's more to do here than
stare into a big black hole: Just going up the mountain is an experience. Where
else on the planet can you climb from sea level to 10,000 feet in just 37 miles,
or a 2-hour drive? The snaky road passes through big, puffy, cumulus clouds to
offer magnificent views of the isthmus of Maui, the West Maui Mountains, and
the Pacific Ocean.
Many drive up to the summit in predawn darkness to watch the sunrise over
Haleakala ; others coast down the 37-mile road from the summit on a bicy-
cle with special brakes. (See “For the Active Family,” later in this chapter.) Hardy
adventurers hike and camp inside the crater's wilderness. (See “For the Active