What's in Maui?

[Samw]

Will be in Maui this Monday. Any suggestions for points of interest or hotels? I plan to be in Lahaina.

I want to bring back some livestock (not on Cites of course) in my checked in lugguage. I know this has been discussed before in the past. Just wanted to know what people's latest experiences have been.

[Delphinus]

My suggestions: Sunrise at Haleakala, stick around for some hiking if the weather is nice, boat snorkel trip to Molokini crater, snorkeling Honolua Bay, snorkeling pretty much anywhere, drive to Hana (buy the extra insurance on your car rental and watch out for dump trucks - they don't stop for anything and don't care if they drive tourists off the road - unfortunately, this is voice of experience speaking) at least one meal at Mama's Fish House, Maui Ocean Centre, windsurf or kitesurf off the beach at Kanaha, watch the insanity at Ho'okipa, and leave the livestock there. There isn't much in the way of LFS anyhow and leave collection of livestock to legitimate wholesalers. Just my $0.02.

Oh and buy this book before you go: http://www.wizardpub.com/maui/maui.html
Having a good guide book will make a world of difference for what to do.

[trilinearmipmap]

My recommendation is wait for a rainy day to go to the Maui Ocean Centre, is is worth seeing but a lot of it is indoors, don't waste a sunny day there.

Agree with Haleakala and Molokini.

Try boogyboarding at Hookipa beach if you are brave or stupid.

[Samw]

Those are some pretty good suggestions guys. Thanks. I will use them as my starting point.

Oh and I found this from Spoot.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...amental+import


"Canada does not require an import permit or licence in order to import live ornamental fish from another country that will be maintained in aquariums.

Since the importation of ornamental fishes for hobby aquariums or the pet trade is considered to pose a negligible risk to native aquatic fish species, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has no act or regulation to licence the importation of live fish for ornamental use. No official documentation is necessary to clear Canada Customs and the importation of ornamental/hobby fish is not restricted. You may wish to have a copy of this email with you in the event the shipment is challenged by Customs.

You should verify with the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) endangered species list to ensure the international trade in any of the species you wish to import is not restricted. For more information, please see the CITES website at www.cites.org and Environment Canada's website http://www.cites.ec.gc.ca/listedecon...List.swOptions.

Please be advised that the release or disposal of live or dead ornamental aquarium fish into wild fish habitat is prohibited in Canada.
Sincerely,
Nancy House
National Registry of Aquatic Animal Health /
Registre national de la santé des animaux aquatiques
Fisheries and Oceans Canada / Pêches et Océans Canada
200 rue Kent St
Ottawa, ON K1A 0E6
Tel: 613-990-7033
Fax: 613-993-7665"



Also, there is this link from the DFO

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/aqu...namental_e.htm


"Importation of Ornamental Fish In general, importations of ornamental aquatic organisms, especially tropical species held in hobby aquaria, are considered to pose a negligible risk of spreading disease(s) to local species. Thus, Canada, like many other countries, does not require special permits for the importation of aquatic organisms for the aquarium hobbyist. There are, however, some exceptions related to other risks posed to aquatic resources and habitat.

All species listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) may only be imported if a CITES certificate is obtained. Please see http://www.cites.org for current listing of species and http://www.cites.ec.gc.ca for relevant contact information. Hobby species that are genetically modified may be considered as new substances and may require notification under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999). For more information on the New Substances program, please consult the Environment Canada site at http://www.ec.gc.ca/substances/nsb/eng/index_e.htm.
"

[Amante]

I personally didn't like the trip to Hana. People say its scenic, we'll so is the drive to whistler.

If u do go to the top of the volcanoe to watch the sunrise, keep your park pass because you'll need it when you get to the 7 pools at Hana. Otherwise you'll have to pay twice.

Originally Posted by Samw

Will be in Maui this Monday. Any suggestions for points of interest or hotels? I plan to be in Lahaina.

I want to bring back some livestock (not on Cites of course) in my checked in lugguage. I know this has been discussed before in the past. Just wanted to know what people's latest experiences have been.

[Scythanith]

It may be legal to bring a fish from hawaii but... CATSA might have something to say about it.

They won't even let you take a bottle of water on board a plane. How are you going to get a bag full of water on for the fish?

[Samw]

Originally Posted by Scythanith

It may be legal to bring a fish from hawaii but... CATSA might have something to say about it.

They won't even let you take a bottle of water on board a plane. How are you going to get a bag full of water on for the fish?

Liquid restrictions are for carry-on baggage. If I brought something back, it would be inside a sturdy box inside checked-in luggage.

[Reefer Rob]

Don't forget the grounds of the Grand Wailea. The yellow Tang pond there is cool!

[targa81]

I too am going to Hawaii, the Big Island, and wish I could pack an Achilles in my suitcase. I think it's been done before by people on this board. Let us know if you bring any fish back successfully...

[Delphinus]

It was Chin who brought back some Achilles tangs from Hawaii. Think he's there now actually, so hopefully next time he's online he can chime in with his own perspectives. As far as I recall, every one of the Achilles tangs he brought back eventually perished. To me there are so many better ways to bring back memories of a vacation than self-caught livestock. It's one thing to go there with the specific intention of collection, in which case you have all your permitation lined up beforehand, and it's another thing to have a vacation and "oh I'll just bring back something as well." It's not THAT hard to buy livestock locally up here. I don't know, guess it's up to everyone to form their own conclusions on this, all I can say is do your homework to avoid heartache.

I'll see if I can find the URL for Chin's thread about the Achilles tangs. There might be info there about doing your own importing.

...

A pond full of yellow tangs eh? Ok that may indeed be neat. I don't golf so totally didn't enter my mind to suggest golfing. The yellow tangs I saw whilst snorkeling made me plum happy not to think about golfing anyhow.

And actually personally I almost sort of agree with Amante about the drive to Hana. You can get the same feel by driving from Victoria to Port Renfrew. It's just that there are more palm trees in the Maui rainforest. Nevertheless you should probably do it just to form your own opinion. Plus there are neat things to see along the way, like Black Sand Beach. When my wife was there last year though there was construction and a lot of tandem gravel trucks on that highway. I hope there aren't any tnadem gravel truck drivers on the board because they are not going to like what I have to say next. I think gravel truck drivers tend to have the highest thug population of any kind of professional drivers out there. They don't respect the usual right of way rules, they use the "I'm bigger thus I have the right of way" mentality. There are lot of blind corners and single lane bridges. All they do is blare their horn before rounding a corner and it's up the cars to get out of the way. What happened to my wife was she was halfway across the single lane bridge, this truck came around the corner and came straight at her. He didn't stop and wasn't going to and he didn't care if he killed anyone in the process. She had to screech to a halt, pop her in reverse and drive backwards like a bat out hell to avoid being hit head-on by this truck. She ended up driving the rental car into the cliff to get out of his way. He just kept going. There was a police report filed, the Maui police said they would look into this, but you know there's no way to track down who this driver was.

So just be careful on them roads. Maui is very much a "small town" sort of county and the roads in places are not maintained to the level that you'd expect in any other major U.S. destination. The main roads are OK, but the secondary roads can indeed put a little mayhem into your life.

Plus, unless you fly into Hana, you pretty much have to take the Hana highway to see the 7 sacred pools. I don't know, I have yet to see these pools so I don't know if they alone are worth going to Hana. I found there wasn't a whole lot to do in Hana. We drove up there for the day, looked around a bit, visited an orchid grower, sat on the black sand beach ... then pretty much drove back to Kihei. There was the entire day.