Well, we have to say, of all the islands we've been to, the Hawaiian islands are the most beautiful. All the hype is real...the surf is amazing, the interior mountains and rain forests are gorgeous, the volcanoes otherworldly, and the seafood is superb. We had the added bonus of being there during the humpback whale migration to the islands. They spend 4-5 winter months in the warm Hawaiian waters, then head back to Alaska for the summer. Nice life they've got worked out for themselves! We were gifted a show every day, watching the whales play in the water offshore, surfacing, blowing air, slapping their tails, and full breach leaps out of the water....an absolutely amazing thing to witness.
If my math is correct,
4 days on Kauai + 7 days on Maui = 11 days of Enjoyment.
kauai's waimea canyon...complete with one of hawaii's ever present rainbows.

the napali coast...incredible cliffs dropping 1000 feet into the ocean. the kahalua trail skirts along the cliffs, dropping down onto beaches, past waterfalls, and through rain forest...


lynn takes on the river crossing...

ohhhh, rainforest. i get it now...

easily one of the muddiest hikes we've ever been on...

the humpbacks were a never ending source of entertainment and amazement all week. we'd wake up with the sunrise, and have coffee on the balcony with the binoculars trained on the bay looking for whales for hours...

this was a cool sighting of a group of three whales, one diving and showing its tail, one coming up for air, and the other surfacing and showing off its "hump".

this was the best shot i got of a full breach. he was about 200 yards off our whale watching boat, super windy and choppy conditions, and i managed to catch him before he crashed into the water. truly awesome.

stephan & carrie aboard the whale watching boat...

they brought their dog Mike D all the way from denver to live with them on maui for a few months. he had it made, hanging on the beach...

chasing sticks in the ocean...

and hiking on the lava fields...that's a good boy.




me on my first ever surf attempt...uh, don't we need waves for this? although i didn't catch one this day, the next afternoon was awesome. caught a couple good waves for my first official surf experience. i felt very don ho/laird hamilton.

lynn on our dive at molokini crater...


here's a short film clip from the end of our molokini dive. turn your volume up and listen for the humpback whale call right after stephan's "salute" at the end of the clip.