Misc. tourist attractions
Luaus, mainly presented by the big resort hotels, are a popular tourist draw. We attended one at the Royal Lahaina
Resort in Kaanapali. The description on their web site is a
bit more impressive than the actual event. Still, it's a fun way to spend an evening, and there's plenty of food, mai tais,
and other mildly alcoholic drinks.
Maui Ocean Center is an expensive but nicely designed series of aquaria and exhibits at Maalaea, with detailed
information about ecology and life histories of marine animals around Hawaii. See their
web site. The big attraction is a 750,000-gallon tank filled with sharks, rays, and other fish, including a 54-ft long
acrylic tunnel for viewing in all directions.
Surf's up!!
"Catch a wave, and you're sitting on top of the world."
Lahaina was originally a whaling village, but has long since been converted to a tourist-trap town with a fair
number of hippie-type residents thrown in. The town square is built around a huge, famous banyan tree. These trees have the
unusual property of spreading by dropping secondary "trunks" from their branches which take root in the ground at
considerable distances from the main trunk. Everything you see in these two photos is a single banyan.
