Since we had all been up so late the previous night, we decided to get a little bit of a later start. We headed down into Makawao town around 9 am and went to the bakery to get some more breakfast. We waited to check in for our flight at 9:30 am, and then we were off.
There are 2 ways into Hana and we tried to take the back way in but it was closed. We turned around and backtracked back through Makawao and then onto a very windy road. Since the road was so narrow, we often had to pull over to let cars going the opposite direction pass. At one point we were pulled over with the car with everyone else in front of us. As the cars finished passing the other way, the other car rolled back down the hill and into us!
Thankfully everyone and both cars were okay, just a very minor dent as the extent of the damage. We kept on the road and pulled over for some shave ice about 20 minutes after our minor fender bender. I got strawberry, lemon-lime, and cherry, all of which were very good on such a warm day.
We got back on the road for another 20 minutes or so and stopped again at what the locals called the ‘frog ponds’. It was a very pretty waterfall that was great for swimming. I think the name frog ponds came from the ponds that were above the waterfall that were home to a lot of frogs. We didn’t see any though.
After a quick dip in some very cold water, we got back in the car and drove for another 40 minutes into Hana proper. Once there, we stopped for some food at the food trucks and I finally got some fish tacos. They were sadly just fine.
While sitting outside the food trucks, we found a little orange kitten that loved people and even more so, loved their food. He was all over our table.
After leaving the food trucks and saying goodbye to the kitten, we went to Hamoa beach.
This beach had the biggest waves I had ever played in. They were a good 10-12 feet tall and. I got rattled around pretty good but had a fantastic time in the water.
Once we were all done in the ocean, Jade decided to take us to one more really cool stop. I was kind of ready to be done, but we drove 5 minutes away and found a parking spot. We walked off the side of the road and through some fairly dense trees for maybe 200 yards before they broke and we found our destination.
It was a little watering hole that was perfect for cliff jumping. There were jumps ranging from 5-20 feet above the water. A handful of us did the largest jump, some did the medium, and I did the one in between the medium and the small jump. It was about 7-8 feet above the water.
We stuck around there for a little while, sticking out a little squall. I took shelter in a little cove that turned into a cave. Since the water was right next to the ocean but not quite there, it was brackish water. It was so clear that you could make out the individual rocks beneath you as you swam.
Once we wrapped it up at the watering hole, we climbed back to the car and started the 1.5 hour drive back to Makawao. It was around 10:30 pm and we all still had to shower and pack up everything for our early departure in the morning.