I first went to Maui in 1977 on a 6 week assignment to the University of Hawii laser ranging station on Haleakala (boy, that was tough duty). I loved it so much I went back in 78, and moved there in 79. I didn't last very long as a "local", the cost of living was so high we moved back to Texas in 1980. I still continue to visit Maui at least once a year, sometimes two or three times. Friends as me why I love it so much....well, here's a few reasons:

First of all, Maui has GREAT beaches. World class. And, if you know which beaches to go to, you can have the whole beach to yourself. If you end up on the wrong beaches (Kaanapali), you'll be surrounded by thousands of other tourists.

Like waterfalls? We got waterfalls, dozens of them! In some of them, you can swim in the pool at the bottom and get under the falls, but watch out for rocks coming down in the water! The first one on the left is over a 200 foot drop.

We've even got a blowhole!

Sunsets? We got one everyday. We probably have sunrises too, but I've never seen one. Who gets up that early on Maui?

The summit of Haleakala, 10,000 feet above the ocean and usually above the clouds, is a moonscape of volcanic cinder cones. Dress warm!

Haleakala's last eruption was a flank eruption, out of the side of the mountain, in 1794. It is easy to reach, though the lava is razor sharp.

The silversword grows on only two locations on earth, the high volcanic slopes on the islands of Maui and Hawaii.

The erosion carved slopes of the West Maui volcano.

Like to scuba? The diving on Maui is fantastic!! Most dive boats go to the submerged volcanic crater of Molokini, about 4 miles off shore. There you can do wall dives to unlimited depths on the back wall of the crater, and dives to 70 feet or so inside the caldera. Stunning coral, turtles, rays and sharks everywhere.

There's a nice cave to explore. I didn't think I'd be able to climb that rope, but if I can do it, you can do it. Poor Caroline got stuck for a minute in a tight squeeze.

Pretty flowers grow everywhere. I don't know what most of them are.

I'm not much into golf (as you can tell by my swing), but if you are, there are great courses all over the island. I think the PGA has a stop on Maui, I recall Tiger playing here. I'm sure I didn't play that course...they probably require shoes!

There's even an "Indiana Jones" rope suspension bridge.

Maui is a great place to be married; we have weddings here all the time, usually in tradition Hawaiian style.

Maui is also a great place for a memorial, to have ashes scattered at sea. This was the memorial for Donna, a friend of all of us. Her favorite drink was a bloody mary, so we all had to get drunk on bloody marys in her memory (2nd photo). She was quite a "looker" back in the 60s.

Charles Lindbergh also thought Maui would be a great place to be laid to rest.

"I love Maui so much," he said. "I would rather live one day in Maui than one month in New York."

The final reason I go to Maui is lots and lots of parties. We party almost every night. Sometimes, we even drink! So come on out and join the fun!! See you on Maui!