On a recent trip to Maui, I woke up and did what I do on most mornings in Hawaii, which is some combination of running on the beach, swimming, and/or paddleboarding. It guarantees that whatever else the day brings, I’ve already enjoyed what I consider the best parts, which are the beach and water. I then followed that up with my favorite breakfast, fresh papaya and fried Portuguese sausage. I prefer the Hawaiian brand.

My buddy and I were staying on Sugar Beach in Kihei and had plans to do a loop around the west side of the island in search of the Nakalele Blowhole. We would head towards Lahaina and go past Kaanapali and Kapalua before getting to the trail. In all the years I have been going to Maui, I had never made it to the blowhole, and I had never taken the Honoapillani Hwy all the way around, which actually turns into the Kahekili Hwy close to the most westerly point of the island. I didn’t really know where I was going, but the pull-off for the blowhole was obvious. The parking lot was full, and cars were lined up along the highway. You do have to pay to park, but it’s only a few dollars. I had envisioned a little pull-off and that the blowhole would be right there, but instead you walk out, and you are up on a bluff above volcanic rock, looking out over the Pacific Ocean. It’s an otherworldly kind of place.

There were lots of people who stayed up at the top and watched the blowhole from afar, but a fairly easy hike down gets you right to the blowhole, where you can feel the rush of air and spray of water. The blowhole can be dangerous and actually suck a person in, so it is important to be cautious. There was good wave activity the day we were there, and regularly the blowhole would well…, blow. First came a swirl of air and some water that, on bigger bursts, looked like a reverse tornado, followed directly by a surge of water that shot out and mushroomed. It’s Mother Nature at her best, putting on a beautiful and hilarious show. While it’s fun to just watch. The other game is to time pictures and videos with the best bursts of water. While there were people there, it wasn’t so busy that you couldn’t get pictures without other people in them. We took turns taking pictures of other people, and then they reciprocated. I highly recommend checking this spot out.

Since I had never seen the rest of the west side of Maui, we decided to keep going and see what there was to see. What we found was a tight, curvy road that was often only one lane with a steep drop down to the shore. As we wound our way along the coast, we took in incredible views of the ocean on our left and the hills on our right. We had gone through the hustle and bustle of some of the busier parts of the island and now felt like we were on the edge of a jungle in the middle of nowhere. This part of the drive was slow going but awesome, and the drive is as much a part of the adventure as everything else.

When we had left the condo, we had planned on being gone for a couple of hours and maybe grabbing some lunch on the way back as we went through Wailuku or Kahului depending on the route we chose. We were making good time when I went down a hill and saw a bunch of cars along the side of the road by a bridge. I pulled our little car off the road, thinking if there are people and a bridge there’s probably a hike along a creek, and maybe even a waterfall! My buddy hopped out with me, being the good sport that he is. We had no plans to take a hike, so we were just in our flip-flops. We began walking up this trail, which ended up being the Makamaka’ole Stream Hike. This winding trail follows and intersects with the stream continuously, resulting in 13 water crossings. Each is pretty simple, and can mostly be done by rock hopping, but there is a high likelihood of getting your feet wet. Since we didn’t have shoes, we just splashed our way up the trail.

We had no idea how long the trail was or where it led, but we eventually bumped into some people who told us about not one but two waterfalls up ahead. We eagerly continued along the approximately two-mile, out-and-back trail. I love trails, I love creeks, and I am always up for finding a waterfall, but the trail got even better when we walked into a bamboo forest! It isn’t the biggest one on the island, but fantastic nonetheless. Walking through the bamboo swaying up above is the essence of calm.

Eventually we reached a split in the creek. To the left was an obvious trail, and to the right there was a sign of people walking there, but it was largely directly up the creek. We went to the left first and made our way to a charming waterfall. It wasn’t raging, but the flow was nice, and I would call the waterfall cute. It’s a great setting, and it has a nice pool at the bottom. After snapping some pictures and enjoying the scene, we doubled back and went up the other stream. Here we came to a waterfall that was gushing water and had a pool approximately five feet deep. At this point we were warm from the hike, so we rushed into the water and luckily enough had the place to ourselves. We had thrown in our GoPros, so we were able to get some good shots in the pool directly beneath the falls.

Refreshed and stoked, we made our return trip down the creek, through the bamboo forest, and back to the car, which we were happy to see there since we didn’t even know if we were supposed to be parked where we were. We finished our route on the curvy road and made our way back to the condo where we excitedly ate some Poke we had in the fridge.

I highly recommend this loop, the Nakalele Blowhole, and the Makamaka’ole Stream Hike. It is now one of my favorite hikes on Maui. This day ended up being such a blast filled with unexpected adventure because we were spontaneous and went with the flow. It was a great reminder to go into the unknown and to be open to whatever happens. It would have been just as easy to have a fun day at the beach or pool, but instead we created a day we will never forget.