Little beach is full of… heart. Yeah, you thought I was going to go there, but I didn’t. I say it’s full of heart because entering the beach as tourists I expected to be shunned or stick out like a sore thumb, which couldn’t have been further from the truth. Instead, we experienced the kindness of one big caring community of characters.
We started figuring this out on our sketchy trek over a cliff of lava rock to reach the beach. My friend Diana dropped her thermos of booze (drat!) into the ocean and immediately a stranger who was also making his way over the cliff was on it. We told him not to worry about it, but he insisted. He found the now empty thermos buried in a crag, handed it back over to us and bade farewell with the usual Maui wave – Shaka! What a lovely person he was.
Once down on the beach, we found a spot to lay our towels and take in the last rays of sun for the day. I believe our first thoughts about the sun going down were “Crap, we didn’t bring lights to try and find our way back over that cliff!” I think we all had an “I hope I make it back” thought in our head. Lava rock is sharp, yo!
Little Beach is interesting. I’m not sure how to describe it better. There are a few people sans clothes, but not many. It has about 85% male nudity to 15% female. And some of the men seem like total creepers. But again, not many. One guy just kept on walking, by himself, circling the whole beach, with the same beer can, for the whole time we were there. Not sure what he was looking for, but I don’t think he found it. He’s probably still walking.
When we arrived, the famous Sunday night drum circle was just a couple of dudes throwing out some steady beats. (It was actually Super Bowl Sunday and no one could care less.) As the sun began to set, the circle started to grow, and the drummers delivered the perfect soundtrack to watch it with. The only problem was that Diana and I no longer had a drink. No worries, a sweet topless chick came to our rescue! She walked up to us holding a sign on rainbow construction paper (of course) that read “Mixed Drinks” in light fountain pen. (Maybe not the best signage to see from a distance in dusk.) We asked her what she had to offer and she told us some Strawberry thing, some other drink, and Rolling Rock beer. We went with the beer. When she brought us back the beer she asked for three bucks. Three bucks?! So cheap. Diana gave her five. She was about to run up to her homemade bar and get us change when Diana stopped her and told her to keep it. The way she reacted, you would have thought she was tipped $100. What a lovely person she was.
And as always on Maui, the sunset was spectacular.
Here is Denise’s timelapse video of the sunset. The guy in the water at the end is the best:
Once the sun was gone, well, it was time for the locals to get the fire dancing up and running. I’m pretty sure the dancers are not certified professionals, but they did one helluva job
The dancing mixed with the drumming made for top choice entertainment. (And remember, Maui is not particularly known for its night life.) While we were watching the show, a guy came up to Denise and Greg and asked if they would like to light a lantern and release it in the sky…for five bucks!? That’s a steal! When he gave them their lantern he said something like: “Light it and give it your wish and hold on to that wish until it pulls away.” What a lovely person he was.
Ok, so now it’s getting hella dark. And we have to go. And we have to go over that damn cliff again. Oh, and we forgot flashlights, except the ones on our phones. But do we trust the phones will not go the way of the thermos? It was a risk we didn’t want to take. But we had to go over that damn cliff again; it was our only way out. We made our way up to the top with no problem as that’s the easy part. Once at the top, we were surprised to see a glow of light on the other side. Sweet!
On our descent we came across hippie Isaac from Love Boat holding a torch. An actual fire torch. We asked: “Are you here to light everyone’s way back?” He said “yes.” Denise asked if she could take his picture and he gave another “yes” and a smile. What a lovely person he was.
Photo by Denise Humphreys.
So that’s Little Beach. The community vibe there is super chill and somehow they have all your needs covered: scenery, mixed drinks, dancing, music, interactive fun (lantern releasing) and logistics (lighting the way home). Although we were outsiders, we felt completely welcomed and a part of their community, even it if was for just a short while.
More from Maui 2015: Maui Wowie, Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, go on a beach crawl, Swerving, swerving on that big wave, Oh Hana — Part II.
