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You know that almost everything in Hawaii has a legend associated with it. So some of you might be askin’ yourselves… “are there any Hawaiian legends about the Haleakala volcano?" The answer, of course, is most definitely! 

Let us start out by telling the story of how the island of Maui came to be. According to one legend, Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, lived together with her older sister Namaka, the goddess of the ocean. One day, Namaka became very angry with Pele because she had seduced her husband. Namaka chased Pele out of their home on the island of Kauai, the oldest of all the Hawaiian islands. Homeless, and with nowhere to go, Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, plunged her digging stick into the earth to build a new home, made out of volcanoes. She started on the islands of Kauai, and then on to Oahu. But with each attempt, Namaka, with the power of the ocean, would flood the pits - destroying Pele’s new home.

RELATED: Pele and the Creation of Hawaii

Pele next landed on Maui, where she dug an even larger and deeper pit to create a large volcano, in hopes to keep her sister out. But again, the goddess of the ocean, out of her wrath, flooded Pele’s newly dug pit. After the water receded, what remained of the pit was the massive crater we know as  Haleakala. So, why not take the opportunity on this majestic mountain to enjoy Pele’s handiwork?

When it comes to the creation of the island Maui, you can probably understand that science doesn’t quite agree with the Hawaiian legend of Pele and her digging sticks.  

Instead, the scientific version would have you believe that all the Hawaiian islands were formed as magma spewed out from the earth’s molten core through a hole in the earth’s crust. Over millions of years, as tectonic plates moved away from this hotspot like a floating eggshell, a chain of volcanic islands was created.

So, yes, you can say that even though science and Hawaiian legends don’t quite agree on the details, at least they both do agree that Hawaii was formed from volcanoes and molten lava.

RELATED: Volcanoes in Hawaii: Breaking Down Volcanoes by Island

When it was first formed, Maui and the smaller neighboring islands of Lana’i, Moloka’i, and Kaho’olawe were actually all one large island known as Maui Nui. So, if you had a chance to visit Maui back then, you could have actually driven your rental car to visit all 4 of these islands with no problem! Of course, through time and erosion, Maui Nui has broken apart into separate islands where they lie today. 

In fact, if the ocean were to rise just 70 feet or 20 meters, the valley area in central Maui would be submersed, and Maui would in fact become two separate islands. But for now, thankfully, Maui’s central valley is safely cradled by these 2 volcanoes, Haleakala in the east and Kahalawai in the west.

Visiting Maui? Check out our Haleakala National Park Sunrise and Sunset Tours!