Day 6: Snorkel and Vegg.

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August 31, 2010

Getting up early after a night of mai tais was a little difficult. Combined with the fact that Mom only got one cup of coffee, we were a little slow-going. Our snorkel boat was to launch at 6:45 a.m. and we were to meet it at 6:30 to check in. Ouch.

Blue Water Rafting
When I visited Maui four years ago I went on a snort snorkel cruise. We didn't have much time in the water, but it was so much fun I wanted to maxamize the experience this time. After some comparison, I decided that Blue Water Rafting was the best excursion. It is a little more pricey than others, but you are paying for a more private experience, with only 25 or so people, versus the 100 people on the other boats. We took the 5-1/2 hour Kanaio/Molokini cruise, which was advertised to provide more unique snorkel experiences than the standard cruises offered by every other company.

Getting Under Way
Our captain's name was Dante (like Dante's Inferno) and our guide's name was AJ (girl AJ). Together they brought a lot of humor to the group from the beginning. When the general safety orientation was complete, they went over the proper way to sit on the boat. There was only a small amount of seating in the middle, and about half the passengers had to sit on the outside ledge of the vessle. Mom and I were seated there, and had to slip one foot under a safety rope, and hold onto an inside and outside line for dear life as we surged ahead. I'm really serious, my knuckles were so stiff, set in a clawed grip from holding on. To demonstrate his skill at the wheel, Captain Dante took the boat for a spin around at super high speeds.

Molokini Crater
Our itinerary was a little out of order than what was advertised, due to weather conditions. But that was fine. The guides' jobs are to make sure we have the best experience possible, and if that means hitting up the snorkel spots early, that's how it goes. Getting to the spot early also put us ahead of the more commercial tours that would be coming in later. Molokini is world-renowned for its great dive conditions. Visibility is as clear as glass and the wildlife is abundant. And the water was a wonderful 77F degrees. This was Mom's first snorkel dive ever, and I think she caught on great. We got a full 45 minutes here, which was enough to drift from one side of the crater to the other. One cruise did get there a little after us, and we had to get through a school of floundering tourists with water noodles to continue our drifting. It was kind of like water-bumper cars.

The Crack in the Back
You heard me. Our snorkel boat picked us up and took us to the back side of the crater, a treat typical cruises do not do. I think only divers go to the back side of Molokini, so it was nice to be the only group at the surface. There was a large vertical crack in the crater walls at our snorkel location, prompting the joke by Captain Dante. Here, we saw the cliffs fall away into an abyss below. Visibility was still really good, and I can't guess how far down we could see, but it was far. Following this dive we were served a picnig breakfast of giant Costco muffins and fresh fruit.

La Perouse Bay
We cruised back to Maui island, stopping at La Perouse Bay. We were met by a large pod of spinner dolphins, which was really neat to see. I was using an under water camera for the whole trip, so we'll see if any pictures turned out when the film is developed. The area is protected and heavily monitored to make sure the dolphins are not disturbed in their natural state.

Turtle Town
Another high-speed ride later, we moved south to a bay frequented by sea turtles. We were lucky to see quite a few. Most were on the bottom getting their shells cleaned by the local fish. The guide's joke was that this is a "shell station." Ha ha. One turtle surfaced very close to where Mom and I were swimming, which was really neat. they are very big, and appear a lot more coordinated and graceful in the water than when you see them lumbering around on land.

High Speed Ahead
If I thought our earlier trip was high speed, I was mistaken. For 20 minutes, with a small break, our boat bounced over the choppy waves moving further south along the coast. Bouncing is not the right word - it was mostly doing belly-flops on top of the waves, jolting the whole front of the boat. We were seated somewhere in the middle, which only made a small difference. Those in the back had the least turbulence. However, those in the front of the boat were splashed the least. Along with smacking into the waves, spray would fly up and coat those seated on the middle and back sides, which included Mom and myself. The water was warm, which was a plus. But combine salty spray with feeling like you are on a mechanical bull ride and you're holding on for dear life. That's about what the experience was like. I grinned and beared it. It was actually fun, but I did find myself wishing it would be over soon.

Kanaio Sea Caves
Arriving at our destination, we were treated to unique lava features. It was much different than being on the Big Island, where most of the lava was black or reddish black. These basalt rocks looked like they were bleached white, an effect from the salt spray over so many hundreds of years. We saw old lava tubes and caverns, when rushed with waves, would compress the water and spray outward. Dante positioned the boat so we would all be showered. Over the afternoon, I think salt crystals actually formed on my skin. Mom and I were glistening with salt crystals, after the sun evaporated the sea water from our skin.

Back to La Perouse and Tour End
After the lava viewing and mild geology history lesson, we headed back to La Perouse Bay for a final dive. This location was not as great as the earlier ones only because the wildlife was less abundant. The visibility was still amazing, and we did see an octopus lurking in the rocky coral. After coming back up, we were served lunch of sandwiches and cookies. Yumm.

Coming back was just as choppy as our way there. I had a much better time though, maybe because I knew it would not last forever and that my hand would not retain its clenched position forever. Captain Dante made sure everyone on the boat got a little spray, or in my case, enough waves to look like we had just come out of the water. At one point I was jolted enough to let out the scream usually reserved for rollercoasters - you know, the blood curtling scream heard in the black and white horror films. Yes, I am that girl, but it was not in fear, mostly out of surprise.

When we approached the dock, a bunch of little birds began to land on the boat. We discovered why when Dante held out his hand with some cookie bits and the birds landed right on his hand to nibble at the cookie. Other passengers, including Mom, picked up some cookie crumbs and fed them to the birds as well.

The Aftermath
Wear sunscreen. I thought I had put on enough, and reapplied during the day, but it was not enough to keep me safe from the tropical sun. When we arrived back at the condo, I examined my arms and saw I had a lot more freckles, but not much more red. Awesome! But as the afternoon wore on, I felt my skin getting hotter and hotter, and redder and redder. While it was somewhat inconvenient to get into the dry storage on the boat all the time, I should have taken every chance to keep applying sunscreen. Luckily, I am not so red that it hurts. Maybe except a small amount of skin above my knee which was exposed when we were on our way back to the boat ramp. Oh well. Now I really look like a tourist, a lobster shade of red.

Relax
We bummed around the condo for a bit, then found the local Safeway and picked up breakfast food and wine for the next couple days. After some more down time, we headed to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner, ordering main-stream Asian food which was served with an Vietnamese flair. The host was a funny guy. When I asked for a fork because I am not good with the chopsticks provided, he ordered, "No! You learn how to use those!" and with a smile returned with forks for Mom and me. As we were getting our leftovers boxed up, he fashioned easy-use chopsticks with a rubber band for me, and then prepared a dessert to go for us as well. It was a really nice end to the whole day.

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Photos

Blue Water Rafting
Internet photo, the raft boat

Molokini Crater
Internet photo, as seen from above

Turtle Town
Internet photo, sea turtle at Maui

Kanaio Sea Caves
Internet photo