Launching our pontoon raft.
Sunrise.
Wet suits on and ready for adventure.
We are trying to use our cellphone for underwater photos in a waterproof case. Don't know how that was going to work out. Sadly, not very well. Our guides took off and we were thankful to have the wet suits since it was chilly on the water. Our first stop was on the front (inside) of Molokini Crater. We drop off the side of the boat and again were happy to have a wet suit. Water sure was a wake up call. Coral, lots of fish and waves crashing into the face of the crater was a lot to take in. The inside of the crater is a sloping face and you can easily get pushed onto the rocks. Keeping track of our location in the water in relation to the boat, arriving boats, rocks, tethers underwater, other snorkelers (some of whom had a difficult time realizing there were others outside the field of their Go-Pro camera screen) and divers was a challenge. Bob and I got the hang of snorkeling easily but I lost track of him at one point. A little panic with the breakdown of the buddy system but we found each other.
Additional boats started showing up along with scuba divers. By the time we left, the place was getting crowded. Time to move on.
This is the outside of the crater. The rock face is a sheer drop.
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| A little more choppy seas but look at that blue ocean. |
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| Since the walls were sheer, the waves would not push you right up on the rocks. |
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| Don't want to lose my mask. |
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| Coral |
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| Lots of fish. While we were at the second site, the first sighting of not one but two large, winged, cartilaginous marine lifeforms. That's how our guides described them. They were pretty deep so sadly, no photos. What did we really see? Two large manta rays. The second one was much darker than the first one which amazingly did a barrel roll. WOW!!! Our guides could hardly believe our luck. Not one but two swimming together. How awesome is that?
Heading south, the idea was to maybe see some whales or possibly spinner dolphins. Didn't have any luck but the ride was a blast. Our last stop was going to be turtle town so we turned around an headed back north towards Maui. I just happened to be looking across the water and B-R-E-E-C-H!. A whale breeched and then slapped the water a couple times. Cool.
The arrival at turtle town was somewhat intimidating. The water was only about 20 feet deep but there were several much shallower areas were volcano rock ledges were within three feet of the surface. Waves were crashing into the rocks and the danger became very evident. Turtles like to rest and sleep under the ledges and in the caves around those rock ledges. So we needed to get close to the ledges but not too close. I was within 15 feet of one ledge looking left when off to my right about 10 feet right below me was a sea turtle. It was swimming from my right to left, heading directly towards Bob. The turtle started to rise and Bob turned and swam along with it. He had to break off as the turtle was getting too close to the rocks for Bob's safety. What a great adventure.
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| Pizza night at Manoli's. |
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| I was tired but Bob went to the beach across the street for a beautiful sunset. |