Epic Round The World Trip Adventures! Stunning Photos & Articles - A fascinating gap year travel journal covering every stop of their journey.

West Maui - Hawaii
Gap Year Travel Journal

Text By Jo & Photos By Mike

(22nd June - 10th August) Maui, Hawaii - West Shore
The west coast backs onto the leeward side of the West Maui Mountains and is generally drier and more arid as a result. It is also hot, hot, hot here because there's less wind - the main tourist town here is Lahaina but there are loads of huge resorts along this section of coast. Mike did some snorkeling at several locations along this coast and his favourite was at Honolua Bay - the water was very clear with big shoals right in the bay. Although he didn't see any turtles, he did see the bizarre unicorn fish here, see photo of fish with a long nose! There are some beautiful beaches along this stretch and we spent time at Ka'anapali (backed by resorts like the Sheraton) and Napili (smaller and more intimate). West Maui is surfing central, you can drop in the water anywhere along this stretch of coast and are more or less guaranteed to catch a few waves. Lahaina appears to be the main place tourists go if they fancy a few surf lessons. We've seen loads of people paddle-boarding out in Maui (see piccie of a surfer with a paddle!) - it's really taken off as the latest sport to be seen doing. We managed to route out a few great eating houses in Lahaina aswell: you must go to the beachside restaurant Pacific'o if in town, (see pic of Mike looking very happy after a good nosh up there). We were also impressed with Tony Romas with another great view of the ocean - Mike loved their ribs and claimed the meat literally leapt off the bone! On the drive to Lahaina from Paia we passed the Maui Ocean Centre which Mike thought was well worth a visit. He got quite excited about seeing a tiger shark in the main tank, as we'd never seen one in real life before! And to think he is probably windsurfing over these fearsome creatures most days he's wavesailing on the outer reef - too scarey (see pic).

Highlights of our gap year travel adventure:

Stop 1 - Capetown---> The City | Simonstown Penguins | Table Mountain Cable Car | The Waterfront Seals | Windsurf Action.
Stop 2 - West Australia---> Perth City | Perth Zoo | Cohunu Animal Park | Rottnest Island | Rockingham Penguins | Yanchep Park Koalas | Cervantes Pinnacles | Geraldton Windsurfing | Kalbarri Gorge | The Pink Lake | Coronation Beach Windsurfing | Gero Road to Cervantes | Carnarvon Jetty & Quobba Snorkel | Denham Lagoon | Monkey Mia Dolphins | Coral Bay Termite Hills | Coral Bay Quad Biking The Dunes | Exmouth Kangaroos | Mandurah Canals | Margaret River | Margaret River Wine Tour | Margs Windsurfing | Bunbury Windsurf | Bussleton Pier | Towns near Bussleton | Augusta Nature | Pemberton Camping | Pemberton Tall Trees | Cape D'Entrecasteaux | Walpole Tall Trees.
Stop 3 - East Australia---> Cairns Sky Rail Cable Car Over The Rainforest | Mossman Gorge | Cape Tribulation Rainforest | Port Douglas | Daintree Crocodiles | Captain Cook Highway | Beaches Near Cairns | Atherton Tablelands Fig Trees | Bowen Beaches | Airlie Beach | Whitsunday Islands Boat Tour | Great Barrier Reef Snorkel | Whitsunday Snorkelling | Town of 1770 History | Fraser Island Beach Driving | Tin Can Bay Dolphins | Noosa River | Australia Zoo Wombats | Sunshine Coast | Nanango Bush | Gold Coast Beaches | Byron Bay Beaches | Woolgoolga Beaches | Coffs Harbour | Port Macquarie Cafes | Forster Pelicans | Great Lakes | Nelson Bay Dolphins | Sydney By Day | Sydney By Night | Sydney's Manly Beach.
Stop 4 - New Zealand---> Auckland Revolving Restaurant | Rotorua Volcanic National Park | Lake Taupo & Waitomo Glow Worms.
Stop 5 - French Polynesia---> Tahiti Island Waterfalls | Moorea Island Water Bungalows | Moorea Shark Feeding | Bora Bora Island Buggying.
Stop 6 - Hawaii, Maui---> Maui Snorkel Videos | Maui Snorkel Photography | Maui Windsurfing | Maui East Coast Hana Highway | Maui North Beaches 1 | Maui North Beaches 2 | Maui West Coast Surfing | Maui South West Lava Fields | Haleakala Volcano.
Stop 7 - Hawaii, Oahu---> Kailua Beaches | Round Oahu Island Drive | Honolulu Pearl Harbour | Oahu Snorkel Videos.
Stop 8 - West USA---> Los Angeles City Tour | Venice Beach | Long Beach | Queen Mary Tour | San Onofre Surfing | Route 66 Drive | Las Vegas Casinos | Grand Canyon.
Stop 9 - East USA---> Miami Beach Art Deco.
Stop 10 - UK, HOME---> Back To Heathrow, Bringing To A Close Our Amazing Round The World Trip.