No sleeping in for us today - we left for snorkeling at 6:50 am! Yeah, that's awfully early, but there's good reason for it. For one, we picked this day as we'd still be somewhat on California time, so we'd be up pretty early anyway. For another, the wind on this side of Maui tends to pick up a lot in the afternoon, and that makes snorkeling problematic. So all the excursions go early and are back sometime around noon. We drove to Ma'alaea in about 10 minutes and got to the Four Winds II in plenty of time. Pretty big boat, but that's all to the better for me. I was glad for the shaded areas, as I knew, even with SPF 50 sunscreen, that I wasn't going to last five hours in the sun without burning. We set off and ate - they provided a continental breakfast. We were supposed to go to Molokini, a crescent shaped, partially sunken volcanic crater with coral reefs and sea turtles and all kinds of stuff to see. But pretty soon the captain began to see other boats turning west, away from Molokini. He quickly found out that the winds were coming out of the north - not their normal direction - and causing rough conditions near the island. It's not only less fun to snorkel in those conditions, it's dangerous there, given the extremely jagged and sharp rocks that make up the coast. So we turned west and headed to another reef, one this captain actually liked better (or at least he said he did). It did have the advantage of being closer, so we got longer in the water. We did not, however, go near where the sea turtles tend to congregate, so missed out on that.
Joe decided to snuba. It's a combination of snorkel and scuba. You are connected to an air tank, but instead of having it on your back, it floats on an inflatable raft. You are limited to about a fourteen foot hose, so you can't go deep enough to get into decompression issues (the bends). He was able to
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| sea urchin |
swim down the ravine below (see the two fish in the middle?) and get really up close and personal with coral and other critters. Hooray for our new underwater camera! We all had a blast. I'd never snorkeled before (nor had Joe - the snuba part only lasted 40 minutes). James and Kendra had tried it before, and, although Kendra struggled with some claustrophobia the first time, she was able to do it without issue this time - once she got her torn and leaking mask replaced! The crew was fabulous - so friendly and accommodating. And they had all kinds of stuff to make the experience better, including an assortment of prescription goggles. Kendra and I were able to wear our contacts. I could have managed without, but she'd have been utterly lost. They had what I'd call wetsuit jackets, too, which you might not think you'd need in Hawaii, but the water that day was only 73 degrees. That's not cold by any stretch of the imagination, but it's cool enough to perhaps limit your time in the water, especially as we were often in the shade of the hills on the shore. I know having the jacket on extended my time in the water. I also used a floatation belt. I'm a good swimmer, but they said we might want one as we'd get less tired if we didn't need to work to stay afloat. So after our 10-15 minute lesson, in we went (Joe's was longer, and he got in before the rest of us). I must confess to a moment of panic when it came time to put my face down. Would I be able to manage breathing through my mouth? Doing so consciously is a different experience than our normal nose breathing! I decided to exhale on the way in and that was all she wrote. It was amazing - so incredibly gorgeous 
and so different than anything I've ever experienced. Crystal clear water, showing coral and fish and other creatures. I couldn't tell how deep anything was, as depth perception is different underwater. Moving was so effortless - I was riveted by what I was seeing. My favorite was the black durgon. I ended up swimming with a school of them! It felt like I was right on top of them, but I probably wasn't.
It's amazing how fast you get hungry doing this, especially considering we'd already had a small meal on the boat. We all ended up back on board about the same time. You turn in everything but your mask and mouthpiece - imagine using someone else's! Ewww. We had a great lunch, and only then realized it was just about 10:30! So back in the water we went. I don't think the crew had to work very hard to get everyone back on board. With the longer time in the water, everyone was pretty tired. We all covered up - none of us got sunburned and that's an accomplishment - and headed back. And that's when we saw the whales. We didn't get really great shots of them - kinda hard to do when you don't know just where and when they'll appear - but we saw a mama and her baby together and I gather that's not an everyday thing. I promise, there are 2 whales in this shot below. We did not see any breaching whales. Joe told us later that the captain stationed one crew member to watch out for sharks and warn us if any showed up. The guy instructing them on snuba told that group about it, as they wouldn't be able to hear the shark warning underwater, so he had a different one for them. I'm SO glad I wasn't worrying about sharks whilst in the water...
I think it won't take any great stretch of imagination to realize that after this outing, we all needed showers, especially as our plan for the evening included a luau with other people present! The condo shower worked really well in Hawaii, and certainly would be good in other warm climates, but I'm glad ours isn't like it. It had a clear glass wall that went across about 3/4 of the shower, but left the other 1/4 open. That'd be darn chilly on a below zero night in MN! All your heat would go out the opening. I can attest that's true after using a similar shower in London, where rooms are kept at 60. Let's just say you don't linger.
The Old Lahaina Luau (in Lahaina - go figure) is recommended in every guide book or website we researched - and for good reason. We had a wonderful time - ate great food, got to see some old customs, and then watch a lot of hula dancing. We'd heard to show up early, so we got there before it opened. A bit of a mix up - the site opens about an hour before the luau starts, so you get there then, not ahead of opening! But no biggie - we weren't all that early.
We got our mai tais and went to our table and then did some wandering. We watched a man grind kalo (taro) into poi. Kalo is the staple starch of Hawaii. It's purple. And not very tasty. None of us cared for it - but we tried it! Kendra and James tried hula dancing. I bought some shell earrings from the woman who made them. We watched them unearth the pig from its pit. That's a lot of pig. All the while, we're basking in warm sunshine with light breezes, with the ocean only a few steps away, smelling the lovely scent of the tuberose we each got upon arrival - yeah, it was tough.
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The dancing started after we ate. It's amazing what they can do with their hips. None of our pictures do it justice - you really have to see it. Hula dancing tells a story, but (this was the one thing I wish they did differently) they only told us one or two of them. The singing is in Hawaiian, so of course we didn't understand it. The mistress of ceremonies, I'd guess you'd call her, changed costumes with just about every dance, with her floral headdresses getting larger each time. I'm not sure how she held her head up by the end! I must admit to having had enough hula music by the time it was done...
Dessert came during the dancing. Now you might wonder why I'm posting about dessert. Well, I don't know about you, but I'd never seen coconut jello before... Didn't eat it. But a man at our table ended up with this little gecko trying to share his plate! It just sat there and sat there. Our server got him another plate, and I asked her how often that happened, as the geckos are everywhere. She said it was only the second time she'd seen something like it.
On the way back to the condo, we pulled over and got out to look at the sky, Now I've been in remote places with no light pollution before, but I've never seen a sky like this. It really looked like black velvet - somehow softer. And it was odd to realize all the constellations were in different places!
Altogether a lovely day - it would turn out to be my favorite. As Kendra said, even if all the other days are just OK, we'll still have had a fantastic vacation.
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