Tag: cave

Road to Hana

Every guidebook on Hawaii lists the Road to Hana as a must-do on Maui. Usually, they also warn you not to start driving late, so we set our alarms to 6 a.m. Still, we were not the first ones on Hwy 336, which makes things a bit… hectic. The road’s purpose was to connect smaller towns around the island and not to achieve a touristic target. This means: many one-way bridges, hardly stopping / parking possibilities at the points of interest and sometimes dangerous traffic situations. Also, some spots are difficult to catch, even with google maps app running, or they are on private property and are now closed for public.

Nevertheless, it was still a joyful ride to Hana and beyond. Waterfalls, rainforest, beaches, lava tubes and valley overlooks – it was worth the time, even though we didn’t even get out of the car in Hana as we gave up finding a convenient parking space.

  • How to park
  • Waterfalls
  • Black Sand Beach
  • Sea arch
  • Stay out!
  • Road to Hana
  • Lava stalactites
  • Waterfalls

Green Turtles at Black Sand Beach

On our way to Kona we stopped at Punalu’u Black Sand Beach to see, well, a black sand beach. Not surprisingly, the black sand has volcanic origins and one can still see the typical ripples on the bigger lava rocks.

Black sand from Black Sand Beach

It was also nice to observe several green sea turtles, in the water and ashore.

Green turtle on black sand

Next, we headed to Ka Lae (aka South Point), the southernmost point of the United States. (Key West is just the southernmost point of continental US). Teenagers demonstrate their courage by jumping either from the cliffs into the sea or into a blowhole and swimming through an underwater cave.

South Point – who’s gonna jump next?

Further plans had to be postponed due to the rain on the “almost guaranteed sunshine”-west coast of Big Island.

Shipwreck Beach

First day without rain on Hawaii! Having already completed our bucket list for Kauai, we didn’t expect much of this day. But it turned out really well. We googled “Kauai easy hikes” and stumbled across Maha’ulepu Heritage Coastal Trail, close to Shipwreck Beach.

Red coast on Kauai

It was a nice coastal walk with remarkable coastal sceneries and a cave to visit (Makauwahi Cave).


  • Makauwahi Cave
  • Rock formations

On our way back we have been rewarded with whale sightings on the horizon.

Didn’t have the zoom camera with us…

And we finally went into the sea and had some fun with the breaking waves. 🙂

Road Closed

The plan was to explore the northern coast of Kauai, especially doing a hike on the Napali coast. But we got to know that the Kalalau Trail was closed since January due to flood damages:

Nevertheless, we drove northwards and got to the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge – which was also closed, but at least had an overlook on the lighthouse and an albatross colony.

  • Albatross
  • Kilauea Point Lighthouse

Our tour came to an end at Hanalei: road closed. So instead of visiting the Maniniholo Dry Cave, Waikanalo- & Waikapalae Wet Caves or Tunnel Beach we browsed through souvenir shops and relaxed with coffee and banana bread in Hanalei. Besides, many Hawaiian beaches aren’t THAT inviting, anyway.

Hope to find less deadly beaches soon…

Waitomo Caves and Glowworms

The evening before we had glowworms for free (see previous article). Was it really a good idea to pay 160 NZD for another glowworm tour? YES!

Most people looking for glowworms in Waitomo end up doing the touristy boat ride in one of the caves. We heard it’s nice, but we found Glowing Adventures, a family business offering the off-the-beaten-track experience with small groups. Whereas small means just the two of us and Heath, our guide (pure luck). After dressing up with cave-pyjamas, helmet and boots we walked into the cave.

Two brave cavers… in pyjamas.

At multiple locations it was really narrow and it required a bit of acrobatics to get through narrow corridors and between stalagmites and stalactites. We also experienced absolute darkness (you can’t see your own hands before your eyes). Of course, the highlights were the glowworms.

Food traps

Heath explained us their stages of life, how they catch their food and how and why they glow. We got wet, dirty and exhausted – but also very satisfied. Definitely another highlight on our journey.

  • Coming…
  • Just one second…
  • Close encounters
  • Glowworms, not stars
  • Growing stalagmite