Should you type the words “best beaches in the U.S.” into any standard search engine, your inquiry will result in two inevitable outcomes. The first is that you will be directed to numerous websites, articles and blogs featuring subjective lists of the country’s loveliest coastlines. The second is that, regardless of these list’s subjectivity and diversity, you won’t find one that doesn’t include at least 3 Hawaiian beaches. Not a single one. It’s almost unfair.

Have you ever found the perfect specialty gift from the place you live or are traveling, only to discover those tiny and all-too-familiar words written somewhere across one of it's surfaces: "Made in [insert country located roughly 1 million miles away from the place you are buying the gift]".

Now that Regatta season is over, paddlers are getting ready for OC1 season. OC1s are the long, skinny, 21’ canoes adorning the tops of cars and trucks around the island. They have detachable amas that make them outriggers.

Those of us who live on Maui are oftentimes convinced we have "done it all". It’s easy to be fooled by the comforts of familiarity, to allow routine to blind us to the innumerable new experiences offered by the Enchanted Isle.