On our first full day in Maui, we set out to go hiking. We had a Hidden Maui book which told us of an isolated tidal pool, not too far north of the hotel encampment. With hiking being the main activity we wanted to accomplish, we set out to find this "private hawaii" for ourselves. And find it we did (see the tidal pool above)! Hiking from the highway to the coast got a little steep and somewhat tricky,. At first, we found ourselves on a windy ridge about a quarter mile north of where we wanted to be. The rolling rocks and high winds made me want to fly! A steep drop off told us to retrace our steps a bit, which we did and headed south a bit.
Eventually, we found our way down to a spot with no beach, where there were two tidal pools, one above the sea level, and one below.
The ocean here was angry, and the impossibly blue water seemed even more beautiful against the black lava rocks which formed the walls of the pool. It was amazing, and gorgeous, and looking around in all directions, we found it completely and utterly isolated. So we did what any self-respecting Austinites would do, we stripped down naked and went for a swim!
The water was much warmer than the ocean and the sealife was abundant. We saw black crabs and too many tropical fish to even count. The ocean fed into this pool, so at one end, we had fun riding the tide as it pushed and pulled its way in and out of the pool.
The ocean just on the other side of the peaceful, tranquil, and amazingly clear tidal pool raged and thundered. At times, the waves went over the wall, creating a waterfall show. It was truly amazing. The photo below shows the ocean-side of the tidal pool.
All in all, a good day... actually - one of the best days I've ever had.
