The Best Turtle Viewing on Maui

If turtles (or surfing) are your thing, the best place to visit is Ho’okipa Beach on the North Shore of Maui, a bit past the main strip in Paia. On the final day of our visit, Maui sent us off with the delightful experience of seeing over 200 Green Sea Turtles (Honu) basking on the sandy beach at Ho’okipa.

Green Sea Turtles are protected under the Endangered Species Act and it is illegal to disturb them. During our visit there was a yellow tape line which you could not cross, approximately twenty feet from the turtles.

 

Your opportunity to spot turtles on the beach in greater in the late afternoon/early evening. We were able to watch turtles coming ashore and going back into the ocean, which was incredibly amusing, as they just crawl over one another taking the most direct route to their desired location.

From a distance it is easy to mistake them for large lava rocks lying on the beach. We were amazed at how well they blended into both the volcanic rocks on the beach and the algae covered rocks at the edge of the ocean.

Their progress was quite slow. They would throw their front flippers ahead, pull themselves forward, land with a thump, and rest for a minute before repeating the process. The process was the same whether they were entering or leaving the water.

I love how you can see how well the shell matches the algae covered rocks in this photo. There are three turtles in the picture. Can you find them all?

See if you can find the turtle making it’s way to the beach in the ocean.

The difference in the colors of the shells wet versus dry was also really interesting. When the shell is wet, it blends in better with the algae covered rocks and when it is dry it blends in better with the volcanic rock and sand.

We watched the turtles, took a lot of pictures, and explored some of the tide pools forming at the edge of the beach for about 50 minutes. At one point, one of the male turtles decided he was going to make a move on one of the female turtles. Well, she had no interest and ran (which is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen) away, scrambling over all the turtles between her and the water. She was going so fast that when she hit the algae covered rocks, she just slid across and went right into the ocean. Everyone was laughing so hard. None of us had any idea how fast a turtle could move when trying to get away from an unwanted suitor.

On our way back to our car, we stopped for ten minutes to watch the surfers and windsurfers. Ho’okipa is very popular amongst surfers. I never really watched people surfing before. It was actually much more entertaining than I thought it would be.

There are parking lots at the beach, but they do fill up. Bathrooms, showers and picnic tables in a shaded area are all available. The great thing is you are only about 20 minutes from the airport (depending on traffic, of course), so it is a great place to spend your final day. I would go back here in a second! Do you have a recommendation for turtle viewing on any of the islands?

My final Maui post will be on the condo we stayed at for our final five days and shopping in Paia. As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.

(All pictures are available for purchase as Fine Art Prints or Digital Downloads at full resolution through Alamy. If you see something you like, click on the link. If you are unable to find it, use the Contact Me page and I will make sure the image is available.)

More Maui Adventures!

Waterfalls on the Road to Hana

The Seven Sacred Pools

Visiting the Red Sand Beach

More Hawaii Adventures!

Akaka Falls State Park

Star Gazing Above the Clouds at Mauna Kea

Hiking Across the Kilauea Crater

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