Hawaii Trip (Maui) #3-1: Airport arrival (not great!), Flying (unremarkable!), Haleakala Sunrise (epic!)

Background and Planning

And we’re off on another adventure! After amazing July trips to Oahu the last two years, we wanted to come back to Hawaii but a different island this time. We debated between Maui and Kawaii, but after watching a bunch of (mostly terrible) YouTube videos we decided Maui would be a good interim step before trying the even more remote island of Kawaii.

Ahead of the trip, we booked out our itinerary, which looks as follows:

Friday, July 4th – Direct flight from Phoenix to Maui, staying at Outrigger Hanua Kai
Saturday, July 5th – See the sunrise from Haleakala sunrise – 1:55am pickup!
Sunday, July 6th – Meg’s birthday! Morning spa appointment, afternoon Ziplining
Monday, July 7th – Road to Hana – Open Air Jeep. Tour
Tuesday, July 8th – Molokini and Turtle Town Snorkeling
Wednesday, July 9th – OPEN + Dinner at Hula Grill
Thursday, July 10th – Checkout and fly home (redeye arriving on the 11th)

Airport + Flight

Our flight left late morning, and we did our normal drive to east economy parking. For the first time in dozens of flights, the entire lot was full. They advised that we instead park in something called “west economy park and walk” which we hadn’t been to before, but as always you have to be flexible when traveling! I decided to drop the girls off at departures with the bags to check while going to find this new lot on my own.

The lot wasn’t too difficult to find, and as I approached the attendant at the ticket machine and he told me how great this lot was at only $10 per day! OK cool, as long as I could get in and on my way I’d be happy. This lot didn’t give paper tickets so the only way to get in was by swiping a credit card. The guy tried inserting my card, and it gave some sort of invalid card error. “Are you sure it’s not maxed out!?” he asked me. Nope, I told him. That’s not it. I never swipe my card anymore – usually I tap my watch, or tap my card, or worst case the chip. The stripe is probably worn out from being put in my phone wallet. I ask about other options, and the guy said I needed a working credit card or I couldn’t get in. Meanwhile, a line was forming behind me with no available exit. Having no options, the guy told me I had to turn around and leave (!?!). After a not so friendly conversation, I told him he needed to clear traffic for that to even be possible, and I eventually cruised backwards down a one way road trying to figure out what’s next.

Having to briefly go backward down a one-way led me directly out of the airport and to a 15 minute loop around downtown before I could even get back, with the clock ticking on my flight. Without any good options left, I drove towards the short-term parking (not-so-great rates for an 8 day trip) as my last bet to not miss my flight. Fortunately I could get in, although I ended up parking on the roof!

Meghann also had a not-so-great experience – our largest bag was a couple pounds over the 50 lb limit, so she was directed to the side to re-pack. After eventually getting things re-balanced they headed up to the gates. We all had breakfast sandwiches from Wendy’s, and boarded the flight. From here, things were mostly smooth in the air and through arrival.

Arrival in Maui

Landing and baggage claim were uneventful, and we headed to the rental car area. We wanted a Jeep Wrangler, and they gave us a row to choose from. We debated between a hard top (quiet, comfortable, secure!) and soft top (open air, adventure!) and decided on the latter. After spending about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to remove the top, someone came over and told us one of the lowering bars was broken and directed us to another one. Things went much more smoothly on round two, and we were off!

Our hotel was a little under an hour drive to the west from the airport, just north of Kaanapali where the wild fires happened a couple years ago. About halfway through the drive, we were regretting taking the top off as we were baking in the sun and the top/luggage was bouncing around in the back. A quick stop to switch into hybrid mode (top up, back open), and we found the right balance.

We checked in to the hotel at around 4:30 and had a quick turnaround to get to dinner at Duke’s on property at 5:15. We hustled to unpack and change, and headed down. We’ve been to Duke’s/Hula Grill in Waikiki a few times (met Jason Momoa there a couple years ago!) so had an idea of what to expect. We were seated next to a small stage, with a live performer getting started (opened with Sublime!) and enjoyed the Crab and Macadamia Nut Wontons (yum!) as an appetizer. Meghann and Sage each had the filet, Vivienne had the kids cheeseburger, and I had herb crusted fresh fish. We finished off the meal with a big, delicious piece of Hula Pie! We were grateful to have the not-as-smooth-as-we’d-hoped travel out of the way and could finally start to relax a bit.

After we were done eating, we did a quick walk down to the beach (in the rain!) to check things out, and then headed to the hotel general store to pick up some water and other snacks for the room. We turned in early and were asleep before 8:30 – much needed before a VERY early start the next day!

Haleakalā Sunrise Tour

The Haleakala Sunrise tour was Meg’s top choice for excursions this trip. There’s a lot about this one that’s interesting – at face value, it’s watching the sunrise from the top of a volcano! Which clearly sounds awesome. Peeling back further to what all is involved though, it gets even more interesting.

The first remarkable thing? The start time. A shuttle picked us up from the hotel at 1:55am. Yes, you read that right. We intentionally scheduled this trip on our first full day in Maui as the time zone worked in our favor, being three hours behind Phoenix. Still, an early start of the day regardless. We slept as much as we could on the way up, and we made one rest stop midway through the nearly two and a half hour drive.

The second remarkable thing – the peak is around 10,000 feet high which means cold and windy weather conditions at ~4:20am arrival. It was in the low 40s when we arrived and still chilly when we left. The girls all brought winter coats (to Hawaii… yep..) whereas I took a rental coat over three layers. It was chilly but tolerable.

However, the third and by far and away most remarkable thing was the actual sunrise itself. The volcano peak sits just above the clouds, so you’re watching the sunrise surrounded by clouds below you – it’s a total dreamy fantasy-like vibe that’s difficult to explain. So rather than trying further, here’s a time lapse video and some photos.

On the way back down, we stopped for breakfast at a small ranch and had some fresh fruit, pancakes, eggs, and bacon. While we all took naps throughout two three hour bus rides, the day was starting to feel surreal – like two days packed into one. I suppose that’s what’s happens when you start the day at 1:30am.

Back at Outrigger

We arrived back at the hotel around noon and made quick plans for the rest of the day. We decided to run out to a grocery store to stock up on a few groceries, then go for a swim at the hotel beach.

The hotel beach was busy but not overcrowded, and we rented an umbrella and some chairs. We took the DJI camera out to capture some fish and the girls even found a sea turtle! At some point along the way I got a deep cut into my pinky toe, and was bleeding everywhere. Hopefully no pathogens in the water or my trip is going to take a turn for the worse in the next day or two! The hotel sent a security guard over to clean out and disinfect the wound and bandage it up.

After a few hours at the beach, we went back up to the hotel to (finally!) take some naps given what’s felt like the longest day in recent memory. We then made pasta in the hotel room, took a walk to the general store to pick up a few things, and call it a night!

Whew – this post was like writing three with a travel day and then what felt like a two-in-one with the Haleakala trip. Add on hundreds of photos to download, review, edit and upload, these posts are no small time commitment. Up next is Meg’s birthday! She’s starting with a spa appointment, and then we’re headed to the north central part of the island for some zip lining.

Finally – I always save all of the video footage for one video at the end of the trip. Here’s footage from last year’s trip where we stayed on Waikiki!