On Site: Four Seasons Maui, Canoeing and Cultural Garden Tour

by Ryan Rudnansky
Last updated: 2:36 PM ET, Thu May 1, 2014

PHOTO: Wailea Beach at Four Seasons Maui (courtesy Ryan Rudnansky)

To start my second day off at Four Seasons Maui, I set out on the beautiful waters of Wailea through the Outrigger Canoe program, headed by the resort's Director of Hawaiian Canoe Operations Gary Saldana.

Before the experience, Saldana taught participants the basics of canoeing on the beach, while teaching us some Hawaiian words in the process. A couple from Georgia celebrating their third anniversary were in my group.

After that, we headed out to the ocean, accompanied by Saldana and one of the crew members.

PHOTO: View of Four Seasons Maui from my outrigger canoe

It was a particularly choppy day out on the water, so I'm glad Saldana educated us thoroughly. The lead instructor at the front of the canoe issued out commands along the way that would prompt us to either switch sides with our paddles or take a break. All the while, Saldana taught us about the Hawaiian canoe culture.

For example, there's only an outrigger-or stabilizing hull-on the left side of the canoe, which goes back to early Hawaiian sentiment that the left side was the weak side. Having only one outrigger also reduces the weight of the canoe and makes it easier to swiftly glide across the water. On the other hand, don't lean over the right side of the canoe or you'll be swimming with the fish…or turtles…or whales.

You can see why Saldana would stress the latter part. There is a variety of marine life along the reef area. Saldana has documented whales swimming by the canoe (prime whale watching season is generally from December 15 to May 15) and a large turtle swam right under me when we were canoeing. It took every bone in my body (or logical part of my brain) to resist leaning over to get a closer look (although, to be honest, I was more worried about the turtle capsizing our canoe like Moby Dick).

The canoe ride was about 45 minutes. Along the way, we saw two turtles, coral reef, black volcanic rock along the shore and the resort area just north of Four Seasons Maui, which holds Grand Wailea and surrounding private condos (Andaz Maui at Wailea is a bit further north). Off in the distance, you can see the island of Kaho'olawe (more on that later).

To top it off, the Outrigger Canoe program is complimentary through Four Seasons Maui. Any guest can go on this adventure for free and, if you're lucky, catch sight of some amazing marine life.

And, believe me, it's a great way to start your day.

Next, I was given a cultural garden tour by Kevin Gavagan, Four Seasons Maui assistant director of grounds and landscaping/Hawaiian storyteller.

Gavagan was an interesting fellow. He grew up on a farm in Maui and decided to study horticulture after a botany class inspired him. You can tell he's passionate about horticulture and the Hawaiian culture. As my tour continued, he grew more and more animated. Before long, he was teaching me a Hawaiian chant, playing ukulele and playing a flute…with his nose (more on that later).

I received a proper lesson from Gavagan on the exotic (foreign), indigenous and endemic (uniquely Maui) species of plants on Maui and the surrounding Hawaiian islands.

Sandalwood, for example, has been highly coveted throughout the world for years. Chinese culture praised it for its fragrance and entire forests used to be burned to "smell it out." Now, Gavagan, along with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, is restoring the endemic genus, as well as a variety of other species. Four Seasons started an initiative to plant 10 million trees in 2011 and Four Seasons Maui has already planted about 8,000 trees by itself, according to Gavagan (with 10,000 being the goal for the resort).

Only about 10 percent of plants on Maui are endemic, mostly due to the fact that the plants had to survive across the vast ocean before landing on Maui's doorstep, Gavagan said. That makes restoring plants like sandalwood even more important.

Gavagan is also part of the movement to restore Kaho'olawe. The island of Kaho'olawe was used as a Navy testing ground for decades, dating back to 1920, before President George Bush put an end to the bombing in 1990. Control was then restored to the Hawaiian people in 1994.

The chant Gavagan taught me was originally used by Hawaiians as a motivational tool for bringing wood down from the mountains to make canoes (Gavagan calls Maui the "Detroit of canoe building"). One of the chant's phrases, "Come and stand with us" ("in the forest") is now used as a unifying chant among Hawaiians.

Gavagan also talked about Hawaii's "May Day," which I celebrated on Day 4 at Four Seasons Maui. May Day is a day that signifies the rebirthing of the earth. There's an ancient Hawaiian legend that tells of the star cluster of Pleiades. The legend goes that a Hawaiian chief put food in a basket up in the stars during spring. He then released a rat, which gnawed at the bottom of the basket before the food came tumbling down to the Hawaiian people. There's a Hawaiian custom where Hawaiians hold a net of food high over their heads, slap their armpits and then drop the net to signify the day.

And did you know one of Maui's first tourist attractions was a rose garden? That's right, a rose garden was created after the historic Rose Ranch was bought by Captain James Makee around 1860, and people came from miles around to view the spectacular sight.

Gavagan also talked about Hawaii's lunar cycle (every 10 days is a week, and certain weeks are specifically meant for fishing, planting, relaxing, etc.), Hawaiian royalty and the history of the women of Wailea (which is celebrated at Four Seasons Maui's main garden), and the promising period Hawaii now finds itself in, where it is beginning to finally rediscover its roots (no pun intended, OK, pun intended) after former rule.

Gavagan even played the Hawaiian nose flute (according to Hawaiian culture, "what comes out of your nose is more pure than what comes out of your mouth") and played ukulele while a Four Seasons Maui employee did a traditional Hawaiian dance.