If you're on your way to Hana, you just have to stop in at Paia for an hour or so. Paia is a nice little town of approximately 2,500 - 3,000 (maybe more by now) with about 50 stores, boutiques, restaurants, surf shops, hair salons and a great health food market with organic veggies called Mana Foods. This health food market has it all in the way of healthy groceries. Paia town is quite an eclectic place. Ever wonder where all the old hippies that used to live in communes wound up? A lot of them are here You will also find plenty of musicians, artists, and just some cool people. Close by is another "hip" town called Haiku. A lot of surfer dudes seem to live here. It offers a lot of beautiful scenery, lush greenery, hiking trails, waterfalls, and beautiful country-side. Just outside Paia is a place called Hookipa beach with its great "winter" waves, and a little farther is the home ofJaws. This legendary wave can be 70 feet in height and comes to the North Shore of Maui about a dozen times a year. Jaws also has a Hawaiian name; locals call it Peahi. Jaws can be explained by the unique shape of the underwater ridge here. The height and the form of a wave depend on the sea depth and the shape of the sea bottom. Near the North Shore of Maui there is a large underwater ridge, located about 30 feet beneath the ocean's surface. As part of a storm swell passes over the ridge crest, it slows down because water travels slower in shallow water. Other parts of the swell travel faster in deeper water, causing the wave to focus on the ridge; a process called refraction. The reef squeezes the wave "inward and upward" to form a "peaking wave." I have yet to see it and those fearless (or senseless) ones that surf it; but this will be my 1st "winter" here.
Many Blogstream members are there
already! Quotes from members: "It's like blog lite!" -- "I like the instant
gratification!" -- "Stop spectating, get in the game!"
If you have not joined in, you are really missing out!
You will also find plenty of musicians, artists, and just some cool people. Close by is another "hip" town called Haiku. A lot of surfer dudes seem to live here. It offers a lot of beautiful scenery, lush greenery, hiking trails, waterfalls, and beautiful country-side. Just outside Paia is a place called Hookipa beach with its great "winter" waves, and a little farther is the home ofJaws. This legendary wave can be 70 feet in height and comes to the North Shore of Maui about a dozen times a year. Jaws also has a Hawaiian name; locals call it Peahi. Jaws can be explained by the unique shape of the underwater ridge here. The height and the form of a wave depend on the sea depth and the shape of the sea bottom. Near the North Shore of Maui there is a large underwater ridge, located about 30 feet beneath the ocean's surface. As part of a storm swell passes over the ridge crest, it slows down because water travels slower in shallow water. Other parts of the swell travel faster in deeper water, causing the wave to focus on the ridge; a process called refraction. The reef squeezes the wave "inward and upward" to form a "peaking wave." I have yet to see it and those fearless (or senseless) ones that surf it; but this will be my 1st "winter" here. 
There are no comments.