Maui - Haleakala Volcano

On our very last day on Maui (and in Hawaii, in general), we drove to the top of Haleakala Volcano. In the Hawaiian language Haleakala means "the house of the sun". The volcano is 10'023 ft (3055m) tall and it is "potentially" still active.

It is a quite interesting experience to drive to its top from the sea level: at first you are below the cloud cover, then you are driving through the clouds, and in the end you find yourself above them. I do not know of many places on earth that you can experience something as magical as this and I would strongly recommend finding time to get to the top of the volcano if you are ever on Maui.

Above the clouds:

On the top:

Haleakala Crater in the clouds:

Maui - Oheo Gulch

10 miles past the city of Hana is the Coastal part (Kipahulu area) of Haleakala NP. We did not get a chance to explore it well, mostly because it seems that for my parents traveling is not about travel, but about destination... So we just had enough time to walk to the Oheo Gulch (the Seven Sacred Pools) that you can see at the photo below:


I would definitely recommend spending more time there than we did. The whole places was very green and beautiful, and virtually tourist-free! And according to my "Hiking in Hawaii" travel guide, there are a few of Hawaii's most spectacular hiking trails there.