2-7-19  around the West side---Dragon's teeth, surfers


According to the Snorkel Store, "We've got yellow scores across the island from strong westerly winds that are making things choppy at the beaches in Maui today. Surf is pretty mellow this morning at most spots in West Maui but the strong wind will create "wind-waves" that will mix things up considerably."  
But I got a tip on a good place to snorkel, when conditions are right, near Kahekili, so I went to check it out. 

 It actually looked doable, but noone else was in the water and I don't get in the water when noone else is around.

So I walked up the beach trail to the Westin.  Decided to walk around the property there.  They have a neat pool area.  I bet kids love this kiddie pool---sand beach, fountain turtles, even a slide (not in the picture). 

 Pretty landscaping, too---love hybiscus

 I would love to hang out in this pool!  Amazing to me there's usually noone in these fancy pools!

 They even have a large koi pond

 With some really pretty koi.

 and water lilies

 the pond was surrounded by different colored hybiscus

 There's even a water fall.

more of the koi pond

 They do have impressive grounds.  I'm sure they have impressive prices, too.

 pink ginger---a nice change from the usual red ginger.

 The park next to the Westin.  Apparently cattle egrets belong at the Westin.

 I decided to go by Kapalua and see if there was a parking spot.  Took a while to get there.  Looked like there was a water main break in 2 spots along L. Honoapiilani Rd. so traffic was restricted to 1 lane for a couple miles.  Alas, there were no parking spots, so I continued down Honoapiilani Rd. 

 Apparently I didn't make it to Dragon's teeth the other day, so I decided to see if I could find that area.  I managed to get a parking spot there, so I took another walk.

 The trail goes right by an ancient burial grounds.

 and along a golf course.

 This is about where the trail ends.

 Fortunately I have a 300mm zoom lens so I didn't have to go to the edge.

 I even saw people wandering around on the rocks in flip flops! 

 I was content with close up views of flowers.

 and distant views of the "teeth".  The ocean was really hitting the cliffs with a lot of force.

 heading back up the trail

 one more look back.

 From there, I continued North on Hwy 30.  Stopped at the Honolua overlook.  There were a few snorkelers here, but the water was pretty brown.

 figured flowers were safer to look at then fish today.

 Wave action wasn't bad here, but with the rains last night, the snorkel area was pretty murky.

 This is the first time I noticed a couple more islands between Maui and what I think is Molokai. 

 more plants near the Honolua lookout.

 Last year I remember watching some surfers just past Honolua, so I stopped to see if there were any here today.

and there were

 The waves don't look that big until you see how small the surfers look.

wow, perpendicular

 whip action

 looks like rain over the ocean, but it was hot and sunny where I was.

 when i left, there were 4 surfers there.

 occasionally they would wipe out.

 I also got to watch a few whales way off in the distance.

 back to wipe outs.  I'm surprised they don't whack themselves with the boards.

 at a certain angle, I even got to see a rainbow in the mist of the waves.

 I finally got too hot to watch anymore, so headed down the road again.  Stopped at the pull off just before the Nakalele Blowhole.  Thought maybe there would be an easier route to a good view of the blow hole.  The route was rather easy, even had wild flowers along the way

 and a bird

 The trail looked down on more impressive ocean, but it didn't continue to the Nakalele Blowhole.

 couldn't even see it from here

 heading back up to the road.

 found another interesting plant along the way.

 and odd little flower

 Went to the right parking lot and started down

 Again, the view with my zoom lens was great from a distance.  Maybe I'm just lazy. 

 I did take the trail to the right and found a rock to sit on and watched the Nakalele Blowhole and ocean.

 even saw a few whales---pretty far out, though.  This guy kept slapping his tail.

 there were some huge waves coming in here, too.

 water actually came up to the people down there.

 note the guy on the ledge!!!!  A wave came over the side right before I took this picture.  Wonder how often someone is washed over the edge here?

 back to close ups of flowers.

While I was there, several emergency vehicles and helicopters went by.  Don't know what happened, but I do know how scary the road is a few miles down the road.  I left the Nakalele Blowhole and drove back to my condo in Kahana.  (Heard later there was a rescue at The Kahakuloa Tide Pools, or the Olivine Pools, about the time I was seeing the emergency vehicles go by)  Would have liked to stop at the surfer overview again, but I was too hot from the 2 walks to the Nakalele Blowhole overlooks that I just took.
Ended up back at Sands of Kahana.  Love the foliage covered entrance to the resort.  

 After cooling off, I walked over to Dollie's for Happy hour dinner.  The Kona IPA really hit the spot!  As did the sloppy joe sliders---all for $8.50!  I even brought one of the sliders back to the condo.

 I debated on going to Lahaina for sunset, but I ended up staying at the condo and hitting the pool.  It was nice being in a heated pool and jacuzzi for a change.
When the sun started getting low, I got out to watch sunset. 

 just a few low clouds. 

 and that's it.

 There was quite a crowd here.

 but they dispersed quickly

No snorkeling today.  But I still enjoyed it.  time is going fast!