In part five of my travel video series from Maui, Hawaii, I travel to the Surfing Goat Dairy Farm, Maui’s premiere (and only) goat farm, where I am put to work feeding and milking the goats, and rewarded with an artisanal goat cheese tasting.

Then, with my trip coming to a close, I head to the nondescript restaurant Da Kitchen, one of the best places to try out classic Hawaiian cuisine, including Kahlua Pork, Teriyaki Chicken and of course, Spam.

Finally, I wrap up by providing my thoughts about the island. Be forewarned, sentimentality and reflection ensue.

Click here to watch the entire five-part series: Travel Guide to Maui.

Click here to view all videos at TheExpeditioner YouTube channel.

By Matt Stabile

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Stabile is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheExpeditioner.com. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos, purchase the book he co-edited or contact him via email at any time at TheExpeditioner.com. (@TheExpeditioner)

The post Travel Guide to Maui, Hawaii (Part 5) appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

In part four of my travel video series from Maui, Hawaii, I decide to get a little high culture in and head to Ulupalakua Winery and Ranch, where I sample some pineapple wine (what else?), then head across the street to the Western-themed country store for elk burgers for lunch.

Then I pick up my friends and head north to Honolua Bay to hike in the nearby forest (and maybe get lost a bit), then visit a hillside that overlooks Honolua Bay, where you can park your car and watch some of the best surfers in the world who come here to surf one of the world’s best surfing spots.

Click here to watch the entire five-part series: Travel Guide to Maui.

Click here to view all videos at TheExpeditioner YouTube channel.

By Matt Stabile

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Stabile is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheExpeditioner.com. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos, purchase the book he co-edited or contact him via email at any time at TheExpeditioner.com. (@TheExpeditioner)

The post Travel Guide to Maui, Hawaii (Part 4) appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

In part three of my travel video series from Maui, Hawaii, I start off the day by heading back up the side of Haleakala Volcano, then lunging my body of the side of the hillside (okay, I was paragliding). As I floated thousands of feet above ground, I was given a unique viewpoint of the island, and even lived to tell about it (and make this video).

Next I head out onto the open water on a sailing outrigger canoe (a canoe with a lateral support on its side in traditional Polynesian fashion), and take to the water to go snorkeling, which included a couple sea turtle sightings.

Last, I finish up the day with fish tacos at Coconut’s (which, to this day, are probably some of the best fish tacos I’ve ever had), and shave ice for dessert, the classic Hawaii dessert consisting of shaved ice inundated with flavored syrups.

Click here to watch the entire five-part series: Travel Guide to Maui.

Click here to view all videos at TheExpeditioner YouTube channel.

By Matt Stabile

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Stabile is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheExpeditioner.com. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos, purchase the book he co-edited or contact him via email at any time at TheExpeditioner.com. (@TheExpeditioner)

The post Travel Guide to Maui, Hawaii (Part 3) appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

In part two of my travel video series from Maui, Hawaii, I travel to Paia, the small, laid-back beach town on the northern coast of Maui, to track down the famed breakfast dish called the Loco Moco (rice, brown gravy and a hamburger patty topped with a fried egg).

Next I head north on the Hana Highway and take a hike into the lush forest to take a dip at Twin Falls, a small water hole in the middle of the forest fed by two island waterfalls. If this isn’t classic Hawaii, then I don’t know what is.

Finally, I pick up my friends at the airport and jump onto a helicopter(!) to take an aerial tour of Maui and nearby Moloka’i. From this vantage point we visit dramatic sea cliffs up close and explore the interior portions of the islands — places that few people ever see.

Click here to watch the entire five-part series: Travel Guide to Maui.

Click here to view all videos at TheExpeditioner YouTube channel.

By Matt Stabile

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Stabile is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheExpeditioner.com. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos, purchase the book he co-edited or contact him via email at any time at TheExpeditioner.com. (@TheExpeditioner)

The post Travel Guide to Maui, Hawaii (Part 2) appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

In this travel video from Maui, Hawaii, I travel to Maui and start off by heading to Haleakalā National Park to watch the sunrise from the highest volcano in Maui. On this part of the island, clouds form at the base of the volcano, and as the sun rises, a myriad of colors form and provide an unforgettable visual experience.

Next I throw on a wet suit and hit the waves to learn how to surf — my first time ever. Though I’ve ridden the New York City subway after happy hour before, I was still a little unsure about how my balance would be on a surfboard. Luckily, the surf instructor had a black labrador dog out on her board with us in case anything went terribly wrong.

Finally, I wrap up the day by heading to the beach with a ukulele to have a jam session with a local Maui resident and ukulele player, where we jam out to some Bob Marley as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, framed by the nearby islands of Moloka’i and Lana’i.

Click here to watch the entire five-part series: Travel Guide to Maui.

Click here to view all videos at TheExpeditioner YouTube channel.

By Matt Stabile

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Stabile is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheExpeditioner.com. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos, purchase the book he co-edited or contact him via email at any time at TheExpeditioner.com. (@TheExpeditioner)

The post Travel Guide to Maui, Hawaii (Part 1) appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

I recently spent a little time in Maui visiting my friend Robin Masters at the Robin’s Nest, and I put together this trailer of my upcoming video series. Between solving crimes, cruising the island in my Ferrari 308GTSi, riding in helicopters with my friend Theodore and sipping drinks at the King Kamehameha Club, I also had time to explore the island and get a feel for everything it has to offer.

Catch the entire 5-part series this November.

By Matt Stabile

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Stabile is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheExpeditioner.com. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos, purchase the book he co-edited or contact him via email at any time at TheExpeditioner.com. (@TheExpeditioner)

The post Travel Guide To Maui: Trailer appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

I normally don’t take my cell phone with me while traveling (as I recently wrote about prior to my trip to India). This is due to a wide variety of reasons including the cost of buying local SIM cards and topping them off with data plans, the potential for sticking out as a target for theft — particularly in high-crime countries and cities, the distraction phones create while you should be enjoying your new surroundings, and the very basic fact that up until recently, I had little need for instant access to phone calls, texts or the internet since I didn’t want to be bothered with these things while traveling (as a rule, while traveling, everything can wait).

However, during my most recent trip to Maui in September, I decided to bring along my iPhone 5 since it wouldn’t involve any issues with roaming, SIM cards or theft (most honeymooners on Maui have far more interesting things on their mind than swiping electronics).

As I look back, it was nice to be able to stay in constant contact with the other people I was traveling with, and sending out instant tweets, uploading pictures on Facebook and Instagram, and using Google Maps and Yelp for navigation and restaurant recommendations provided a fun way to both share my trip with my friends as I went along, as well as to make the traveling itself go quite a bit smoother (goodbye unmarked black-and-white maps in Lonely Planet, hello Google Maps!).

But the real highlight of taking my phone along with me was using the iPhone 5’s amazing camera. Though I had my DSLR on me the entire time, I ended up using it almost exclusively for video and pulling out my iPhone for photos, both for its easy-to-use white balance feature (I’m still trying to figure out how to do that on my Nikon), as well as for the ability to easily upload my photos to my various social networks.

I also got to playing around with the panorama feature of the phone, something that in the past I had mostly dismissed as gimmicky and not for “serious” photography. However, when you’re on an island where you are constantly surrounded by pure and unadulterated beauty, it’s hard to capture everything you are seeing in a limited 3:2 ratio. So I started selecting the panorama option once in a while to see how the images would come out, and I was more than surprised with the results once I got home and was able to look at them on my computer.

The Photos

The following are a selection of some of my favorite panorama pictures during my trip to Maui. I decided to post the photos with absolutely no filters or post-processing done to them. I know that in the age of Instagram this is nearly heretical, but I wanted to present an accurate and unfiltered reflection of the beauty of the island, without a reader wondering to themselves, “I wonder what it really looks like?”

Also, most of these images were several-thousand-pixel wide in their native format; much too wide to be displayed on most monitors, let alone a standard web site like my own. Therefore, the images on this page have been scaled down to the width of 582 pixels to fit the page. But, if you click each image, a new tab will open and you can view each image in a much wider 1600-pixel-wide format.

Haleakalā Sunrise

The main highlight of visiting Haleakalā, the active volcano that makes up 75% of the island of Maui, is the memorable views of the sunrise as the sun rises above the perpetual cloudcover that sits below the peak of the volcano. This photo shows the vista about 20 minutes before the sun comes up.

Haleakalā Sunrise 2

The above picture shows the amazing colors that begin to form on the clouds shortly before the sun breaks free from the horizon.

Haleakalā Summit

Most people watch the sunrise from the viewing area just outside the visitor’s center, then turn around and head back to warmer environs. However, if you head just a little further up the main road, you will find the actual summit, complete with views of Hawaii (The Big Island) — along with views of its many observatories — in the distance, as well views of the Maui coastline along Wailea, the main town of Kahului, as well as the numerous telescopes off to the edge run by the University of Hawaii as well as the Air Force (one telescope allegedly tracks every object in the orbit larger than a basketball).

Honolua Bay

Located just north of Kapalua, Honolua Bay offers one of the most spectacular views of the pristine waters surrounding Maui. Off in the distance you can see Moloka’i, and on most days, down below in the water you will likely see scores of surfers, as these are some of the best waves for surfing in the world.

Honokohau Bay

Heading north and east from Kapalua along Route 30 you will find many beautiful bays and inlets along the coastline, many of which you can park near and explore by foot. This one, Honokohau Bay, had a small shack nearby where you can buy a coconut from a woman who will slice it open for you on demand.

Biking Down Haleakalā

The problem with visiting Haleakalā to see the sunrise in the morning is that you are in total darkness the entire time. To really take in the views, rent a bike from the many companies that offer it (such as Haleakala Bike Company). They will provide you with a bike, helmet and jacket, and drive you up past the treeline, where you can then cruise down the quiet roadway at your own pace.

About halfway down, stop in Makawao, the famed “cowboy town, for lunch to refuel. Friend of the TheExpeditioner.com Kyle Ellison’s parents own Polli’s, the town’s best Mexican joint, where you can load up on giant burritos and potent margaritas. (Editor’s Note: This site does not advocate mixing Margaritas and downhill volcano bike riding in any manner.)

Sunset from Wailea

Sunsets along the entire western portion of Maui are simply breathtaking, and those as seen from Wailea are no exception. This was my view during cocktail hour before the night’s luau festivities got going.

Sunset from Wailea 2

Then, once the sun hits the horizon, the colors in the sky dramatically change, projecting shades of pink, blue and orange all around you.

Luau in Wailea

The problem with bloggers is that they’re always playing with their phones and cameras. That’s Megan McDonough of Bohemian Trails and Ryan Van Duzer of Duzer.TV ignoring the very interesting, highly entertaining luau taking place.

This particular Luau, Te Au Moana (or “The Ocean Tide”), takes place on the lawn of the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, and includes a free lei, a massive buffet with baked Kalua Pig as the centerpiece, more piña coladas than one should ever be allowed to drink at any event that includes fire, as well as one of the more authentic Polynesian dance performances on the islands.

Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area

Given the natural beauty that surrounds you, it makes sense that parasailing would be excellent in Maui, as it offers a once-in-a-lifetime view of the island (as seen strapped to the front of a Brazilian man tethered to a small piece of nylon being used as a sail in my case). This view is from Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area, located about halfway up Haleakalā, which is where I met up with my particular paragliding guide, Proflyght Paragliding, Maui’s oldest and only full-time paragliding school in Hawaii (and run by Dexter Binder, pictured here with a mallard duck).

The Four Seasons, Wailea

The Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, pictured at the top right above, is the gold standard for luxurious resorts on the island, and it sits above one of the many picturesque beaches in Wailea, most of which are accessible by foot along the Wailea beach path. Early in the morning is nicest, and as lunch rolls around, the trade winds tend to pick up, with the palm trees bearing the brunt of its force.

Lana’i and Kahoʻolawe from Waiela

Looking in the other direction along the path you can see Lana’i off to the right and the uninhabited island of Kahoʻolawe to the left (with the diving-friendly Molikini Island Preserve just in front of it). Along the path they have focused on planting and maintaining all native species of plants, a stark contrast to much of the island that has since been planted with other non-native varieties over the years.

By Matt Stabile

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Stabile is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheExpeditioner.com. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos, purchase the book he co-edited or contact him via email at any time at TheExpeditioner.com. (@TheExpeditioner)

The post 12 Stunning Panoramic Photos Of Maui appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

As if I wasn’t feeling bad enough about my skills the first time on a surfboard, Luna, the unofficial mascot of the Maui-based surfing school Maui Surfer Girls, had to show me up by effortlessly riding the waves, with barely any effort even being shown on her part.

In all seriousness, I have to say the image of this Black Labrador riding the surfboard with Camp Founder and Director, Dustin Tester, was an unforgettable sight, and one that will likely stay with me far longer than the many images I also had of the water rushing up to my face as I was wiping out once again during my first day on a board.

By Matt Stabile

About the Author

Matt Stabile is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Expeditioner. The Expeditioner began in 2008 and is headquartered in New York City. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos or contact him at any time at TheExpeditioner.com. (@TheExpeditioner)

The post Behold The Sight Of Luna The Surfing Dog appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

Quickly, name the first thing that comes to your mind when I say, “Hawaiian food.” I thought so, probably pineapples, roast pig luau — all those stereotypical Hawaiian things, right? I don’t blame you. I’m definitely not a resorter, and won’t be any time soon, but those touristy eats are the same things that pop into my mind. Though not any more since I caught wind of the SF Chronicle’s article on Maui eats often overlooked by tourists.

Maui has two distinctive cuisines: tourist and local. As this is the case with nearly all destinations we get to, there seems to be a great disparity between the two here. Let’s take a peek passed the grilled mahi mahi and coconut prawns for a second and get to the “Ono Grinds” (that’s Hawaiian slang for “good food”).

The “Tour da Food” trek  — the culinary tour described in the article — began with a food coma-inducing spin through Hawaiian history. Immigrant workers from all over the Pacific need endless energy stores for full days in the cane fields. The day starts with a breakfast of Loco Moco: a mountain of rice topped with hamburger patties and eggs, all smothered in gravy. Then the Hawaiian plate lunch: some sort of protein — like a Kalua pig — Filipino adobo, Japanese teriyaki beef, or Korean Kalbi, with a scoop of macaroni salad and two scoops of rice. Top that off with some misoyaki butterfish from the local market, then some handmade shaved ice, and you have all you need to put in a day’s work in the fields.

The tour then headed into the Upcountry, away from all those high rise resorts sitting beachside, to the many small farming villages perched on the side of Maui’s Haleakala volcano. There you can munch on coconut muffins while sipping on coffee grown and roasted literally feet away from where you sit. At the markets grab an avocado the size of a grapefruit, fresh basil pulled from the garden only minutes before, and a Maui onion that is said to sweet enough you can eat it like an apple.

Did I get to the fish tacos, yet? Need I?

In the end, Friedman puts it best. “As gorgeous as the resorts are, if people only eat in those restaurants, they’re missing Hawaii.”

The post Finding The Real Hawaii One Bite At A Time appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.