Secret Hikes in Maui

There is so much undeveloped, wild lands to explore on the island of Maui. Maui is much bigger than Oahu, but only has a tenth of the population. In this post I wanted to showcase photos from three different locations on Maui that normal tourists usually miss. I will try to post about some more behind the scenes places on my home island. This way if you do travel here, you can have an idea about how to get off the beaten path.

Everyone hears about the 'Road to Hana' when they come to Maui. It is a magical, waterfall filled, rainforest lined, winding road along the coastline. I always advise people to spend the night in Hana in order to check out some of the amazing places nearby. One of my favorite is the hike to the secret red sand beach.

It is tucked behind an eroded cinder cone, which gives it the red color. A spine of jagged rocks break the waves just offshore. I brought my tripod and neutral density filter this day to get some long exposure shots. It really shows the difference in color between the blue water and the red sand. There are no signs pointing the way here, so you have to do some research.

Next is a hike down into the massive Haleakala Volcano. Most people just drive to the summit to check out sunrise or sunset, but if you really want to see the beauty you need to hike down into the crater. It is a big hike. I've heard you can fit Manhattan into the crater it is so big. There are different eruption sites and cinder cones all around the crater. National geographic said it is one of the quietest places in the world. We didn't see another sole this entire day. But we did find secret lava tubes to explore, and one area where the sand and rocks looks almost rainbow colored.

Finally, I want to showcase a well known destination, Iao Valley, but slightly off the beaten track. This is a highly visited state park, with beautiful rainforest views close to Wailuku town. However, if you just step off the paved trail and head towards the cascading streams, the photos can be epic! Check out these shots showing a different side of Iao Valley on Maui.

All photos taken with a Canon 5d mark ii, with very little to no processing in Lightroom. Maui is just the stuff of photography dreams.

You can check this out on pinmapple.com as well!
[//]:# (!pinmapple 20.722117 lat -156.199175 long Haleakala Volcano Hike d3scr)
All my best,
Dai Mar