5 things to do in Maui like a local
19 Aug
Scenic view from West Maui mountain
We landed in Maui’s tiny airport at 11am, and Masha was waiting outside in her old beat up green station wagon. Bright red Hawaii print nylon seat covers adorned the front seats. I guessed this car gets pretty wet, sandy and muddy at times, though it looked perfectly clean now.
“I love this car- I can fit my board inside without having to tie it to the top!”
Masha confirmed my suspicions, and made me think about all the perks of Island life. On we went with what I knew was going to be an awesome day. There is nothing better that coming to a place and having a dear old friend who happens to live there be your personal tour guide for the day. Masha and I have been friends about a decade, and see each other about every year, sometimes less, but we keep in close touch, and I always look forward to seeing her. This was truly a special treat- catching up, hanging out on Maui and having Mash show us all the hidden Maui treasures.
1. Our first stop was the West Maui mountains an old, residential area of Maui that offers scenic drives and lovely hikes. We drove around the winding road for a bit, ooohing and aaahing at all the beautiful scenery that revealed itself after each turn. Typical Hawaiian landscapes- so amazing and grand and in such abundance . You know those stops on the road that say” scenic view”? Well, I think all of West Maui Mountains can be designated as one giant “scenic view”. We pulled over at a side of the road with a small trail and went on a small hike to a waterfall. Strawberry guava was in season, so we walked and ate the juicy small red guava. Nice start to our journey.
Cafe Des Amis
2. As good as the guava was, we got hungry pretty quickly and drove to Paia for lunch. Paia is a sweet little town that’s popular with the windsurfers, and the hippies, and as all good and “quaint” places on Maui, slowly becoming popular with the tourists. Cafe Des Amis was our lunch spot, with a very bohemian vibe, melodic lounge music, wooden benches and tables scattered in no particular order. I had mozzarella and tomato crepe – simple and delish, my husband had a vegetable curry he found delectable, and Masha had a very good looking salad. We walked across the street to Mana, a very well stocked natural food store, got some Vosges chocolate and raspberries and proceeded to the next stop on our itinerary. My favorite stop-
3. The Bamboo Forrest, something out of a fairytale… It was an easy hike through the bamboo forest to a waterfall. The bamboo is cool to the touch, smooth and very sturdy. Sometimes it grows really thick not letting any light through, and at times it’s patches of younger, thinner plants with sun rays coming through. This ever changing light is incredible, and makes things look positively unreal at times. When Masha mentioned “Bamboo forest” I did not imagine it to be so beautiful. We finally got to a lovely waterfall we swam under, and then sat on some smooth big rocks and dried off. It was Sunday, and though there were a few cars parked by the side of the road next to the forest, we only saw one couple by the waterfall, and some people upon leaving the forest. I imagine this place is completely deserted during the week, and likely harder to find with no cars indicating the stop, but so so worth it! You need to take Hana highway to get there. Look for the visual que of the bamboo forest itself. It’s right before the mile marker 7. If you are driving from Kahalui or Paia you will come upon mile marker 7 once but that’s not the one you want- continue driving until you reach mile marker 16, and they will start over again and it’s the marker #7 after that that you want- in other words it is approximately 23 miles from Kahalui.
Hiking to the waterfalls
The magic Bamboo forest
feels like a scene from "Lost" 
4. Watching the turtles. This was a pure, simple pleasure. We stood over a giant cliff with some pretty spectacular views and watched the turtles slowly swim and peak their heads out of the water below. At first there was a lot of “spot the turtle” game going on, as we couldn’t distinguish between the giant rocks and the equally giant turtles. But we soon got the hang of it, and stood there looking for a while. A very tranquil moment complete with the strong scent of the ocean and the loveliest breeze intermittently blowing by. Find the turtles on Hana highway around mile marker 8 (the first #8 going from Paia) Look for the Hookipa Beach Park turn, it’s a couple of hundred meters past that. There is a razor wire all around, but there is also a wooden gate you can climb over, it’s easy.
We then went back to Masha’s house, hung out for a bit and got ready for dinner.
5. Dinner at Colleen’s at the Cannery was just right- all around. Colleen’s is a super local place, no tourists anywhere in sight. I had the freshest fish I’ve had in Hawaii- monchong with pitch perfect mashed potatoes, and huge crunchy asparagus. I barely stopped myself from licking my plate clean- that’s how good it was. My dinner companions had burgers that looked and smelled like really, really good burgers. The place is simple, something of an upscale diner decor. Our waitress was fast, friendly, attentive, and very pretty. No room for desert, as my entree was very large and perfectly filling. Colleen’s is in Haiku, at the Cannery marketplace, a local strip mall type place.
After all the hugs and goodbye’s, we watched as Masha’s green station wagon drove off, and I was filled with gratitude to have an amazing friend who made us feel totally like locals on touristy Hawaii Island in just one day.
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