A stay at the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa takes on a mystic feel as you gather at sunset to experience a bit of Hawaiian legend. Hawaiians believe that Pu’u Keka’a (or Black Rock) is one of three places where souls of the dead leap from earth into their ancestral spirit land. Only a person with great spiritual strength can enter that world and return, and that person was Maui’s last chief, King Kahekili.

Kahekili gained much respect from leaping feet first from heights as high as 300 to 400 feet, plunging into the water below, and returning unscathed. His greatest leap was from Black Rock, where the Maui Sheraton now recreates the honors of this rich tradition every sunset. The nightly ritual of Lele Kawa, or cliff diving, begins just before sunset. A chant of old Hawai’i signals its start, and the echo of a conch shell announces the arrival of the young cliff diving warrior.