Huelo Maui --How's this for a statistic? Ninety-five percent of all visitors to Maui stay on the west side of the island --namely at Kapalua, Kaanapali, Lahaina and Wailea. That's approximately 2.2 million tourists who annually crowd onto roughly eight-plus miles of beach. If your vacation objective is to work on your tan while ordering umbrella drinks, by all means join them. There's a reason everyone congregates there: this is where the sun shines most reliably on Maui.
But if what you're really after is a bit of isolation, some stupendous beauty, and the occasional bout of activity, consider taking a few days to explore the Hana Highway. Most people tackle it as a long, exhausting day trip from the west-side resorts. But, as we discovered, passing through is no substitute for being there.
The eastern and southern coasts of Maui are the preserved Hawaii of Michener tales --waterfalls, rain forests, jagged cliffs and staggering views. What keeps the masses from flocking to this side of the island are the calamitous roads and the tendency toward inclemency. Precipitation can reach up to 90 inches a year in some places, (although most of that falls at night, and, even if it rains during the day, it clears up quickly), and temperatures can plummet to an unthinkable 60 degrees on some winter days....
About 14 miles down the Hana Highway from Paia is an unmarked road leading to one of Maui's most covert utopias --Huelo Point. A tiny peninsula jutting out beside Waipio Bay, Huelo roosts over volcanic cliffs, verdant valleys and a rolling ocean.
Huelo has a number of very private places to stay, from the very affordable to the exotic luxury. We were booked at the Huelo Point Flower Farm, in the tiny, free-standing Gazebo with one of the best views I've ever savored.
For me, one of the most critical aspects of a true hideaway is the nudity radius. In other words, how far can you wander around in the buff without being caught? In the Gazebo, the only things likely to catch you en flagrant are the whales below (Waipio Bay is a preferred birthing spot for humpbacks) and possibly the tourist helicopters which swoop from the sky to show the west-end tourists how the "other-siders" live.
Huelo Point Flower Farm has four options of nightly accommodations, from a three-bedroom house to our tiny studio. Guests can wander around the bounteous garden picking fruits and vegetables, and there is a Jacuzzi and a pool. Owners Guy Fisher and Doug Self dropped out of hard-core city living to come here and live their dream It's very persuasive. ..
Excerpted contents from the April 4, 1999 issue of the San Francisco Examiner Sunday travel section.