Aerial Pictures of the Hawaiian Island of Maui

Narrative

When I travel between the various islands that compose Hawaii I usually take Mokulele Airlines because the small single prop planes fly low and close to the islands providing some great photo opportunities.

One of the islands I have some really good pictures of is Maui:

The 10,023 foot Haleakala volcano is the most dominant feature of Maui when viewed from the air:

This volcano makes up about 75% of Maui and scientists think that it last erupted about 400 years ago:

The lava flows from this eruption can still be seen on the south side of Maui:

Here is a closer look at one of the lava flows:

From the plane it looks like the lava came out of smaller volcanic cones on the lower slopes of Haleakala and not from the summit area:

Here is one last picture of Haleakala that shows how it rises straight from the ocean to a height of over 10,000 feet:

As the plane continued towards west Maui the flat stretch of land connecting west and east Maui came into view:

Looking down from the airplane I could see a beautiful beach down below:

Something that was really cool to see from the air was the partially submerged volcanic crater of Molokini:

Molokini is famous for its outstanding snorkeling and scuba diving:

Next I could see the West Maui Mountains that compose the remaining 25% of the island:

Just like Haleakala, the West Maui Mountains are actually an old shield volcano called Mauna Kahalawai.  However, this volcano has been extinct for approximately 320,000 years and thus subject to tremendous erosion which has carved out many scenic crags and valleys:

From the air the West Maui Mountains looked like an awesome place to do some hiking at in the future:

This next picture gives a good indication of the old shield volcano that formed this mountain range.  The summit of the volcano would have received the heaviest rainfall thus heavily eroding it compared to the lower elevations that still gently slope toward the ocean:

These gentle slopes today are now filled with various farms and ranches:

Some of the farms were very large:

For example here is a picture of the Kaanapali Coffee Farms:

Here is a view looking towards the island of Molokai as the plane I was on takes off from the Kapalua Airport:

The next picture shows some of the resorts on the west side of Maui:

This next picture shows some of the neighborhoods of the Kapalua area of Maui:

Here is a view of some of the beautiful looking golf courses on the west side of Maui:

This next picture shows the view looking back towards the island of Lanai in the distance:

This final picture is the view looking towards Molokai which viewed from the air appears to be an extremely scenic island:

Conclusion

Maui was definitely a great island to view from the air.  I was surprised though that Haleakala really did not appears as interesting from the air as the West Maui Mountains.  Much like the larger volcanoes on the Big Island, Haleakala’s sides have not been eroded into the scenic crags and valleys that can be seen from the air like with the West Maui Mountains.  The flight over Maui though was enough to motivate me to take a trip to explore these mountains in the near future.