Diving on Lana'i and the Luau

I have to write about our diving trip to the Island of Lana'i to a site called Cathedral I. It was Amanda and Nick's first 2 dives after being certified, their first in the ocean and their first in warm water.


We went with a company called Extended Horizons and our guide, whose name was Maren, did a really great job of showing us many different types of Marine life including the Ghost Shrimps below. These are nocturnal and we found them inside a cave which was another first for Amanda and Nick.

We also found a Tiger Moray eel with strange markings, large spots over most of it's body and smaller spots on it's head.

Later on another Moray Eel popped it's head out to have a look at us and I managed to get the camera in for a close up without loosing any fingers.

Here is a video of our group swimming along enjoying all the marine life. Maren carried an underwater whiteboard which she used to point out things like a sea turtle eating a jellyfish, weird little sea slugs which are only found around Hawaii, raccoon butterfly fish and an octopus.

I also got a video inside the Cathedral so you could see why it's called that. The light streaming through the holes in the lava rocks make it look like stained glass and there were other unusual fish inside of the lava tube cave.

After Jess headed back to Victoria, we went to a traditional luau with the roasted pig, hula dancers and all that. We were given fragrant leis when we walked in and the show started right around sunset with a beautiful pink sky as a background.

Most of the cast and servers are native Hawaiians and Judy seemed to have no trouble making friends with the guys. She seemed to really like their authentic costumes, tats and the dancers muscles!

Of course I didn't mind posing with the Hula dancers as well in their grass skirts and coconut bras. I couldn't help but notice that some coconuts were bigger than others for some reason.

Here is a video of one of the traditional native dances. The announcer told us the whole story behind it all but I can't seem to remember much of the details. That may have been due to the Mai Tai drinks (but they still weren't as good as Nick's, right Roy!)

I thought Charles would appreciate a closer video of the Hula girls shakn' their booty

As we headed back to the condo this afternoon we were treated to a rainbow in the hills right behind us and reminded again what a magical place Hawaii is.

Fun in Maui

I got some feedback from my Mom that she wants to see more people pictures and less fish pictures so I thought I would start off with something she also hates : the Superbowl, especially when it's in Tampa (which is close to where they spend the winter). We spent the day at the beach on Superbowl Sunday so we held our own game while we could hear the crowds cheering in the bars just off the beach.


Here is a shot of Nick going for a pass and Amanda trying to defend. Nick seems to be having problems keeping his eyes on the ball in this picture for some reason.

Here is Nick going for the over the shoulder pass, just like in the touchdown Pittsburgh scored to win the Superbowl. Tim A., was there more winners or losers at your party with that spectacular play with 35 seconds remaining?

Just like Santonio Homes on the play previous to the game winning catch, Nick drops the ball!

Here I'm showing Nick how it's done, stretching out to make the play. See Nick how easy it is if you only focus on the ball and not let your eyes wander (but thats just a Dad talking)!

That same night we got changed and went out to take some sunset portrait shots. Almost every sunset on West Maui is gorgeous and dozens of people stop along the road to watch the sun go down every night.

Here is a great shot of the kids when they were behaving and not trying to throw each other into the ocean.

One night, we toured around the town of Lahaina and the girls got a great portrait done by an artist who works right off the sidewalk downtown. Every girl walking by stopped to watch and say how nice the portrait was and every guy walking by said I was a lucky man.

No matter where you look in Hawaii there are flowers blooming everywhere. On the side of the road, in gardens and next to the rivers.

Even exotic flowers like the bird of paradise are found everywhere.

Once we stopped for lunch at the Kanaha Beach park, because it's only 3 blocks from downtown Kahului (the main town that has the airport, shopping malls etc.) and watched the Kite Surfers out on the bay.

I'm not sure who has more guts, the surfers when the big waves are out at "Jaws" or the Kite Surfers when the wind is blowing and they fly 40 feet off the water, but both are fun to watch.

At the end of the day we usually head back to the condo to catch the sunset. Here is a view from our balcony towards the island of Lana'i as the sun drops behind the clouds.

Finally we ended another great day in the sun with yet another incredible sunset as we sipped our wine and toasted to a vacation we will remember for a long time.

Snorkeling on the Island of Molikini

The day after Nick and Amanda arrived we booked a snorkel tour for the five of us to Molikini, a small island a few kilometers of the coast of Maui which was formed by a now dormant volcano crater. It is ranked as one of the top diving and snorkeling sites in the world due to the very clear waters and range of marine life.

Bright and early at 7:00am we set out for the island on the Four Winds II, from the Maalaea Harbour watching whales blowing and trying to keep our breakfast from doing the same.

As we approached the crater, four air force helicopters passed by and buzzed overhead.

We all jumped in the crystal clear waters and set out in search of interesting fish and other colourful marine life.

There were a number of black durgons.

Various colours of triggerfish.

The kids had a great time just diving down in the warm pacific waters.

All of us had fun just floating around and looking down to the bottom which even in the snorkeling area was over 60 feet deep.

The visibility was good to at least 100 feet and you saw all sorts of interesting sea anemones, coral and different kinds of sea urchins.

After we dried off and had lunch we headed back and stopped a number of times along the way to watch the whales. They came quite close to the boat and gave us a great show.

This is a baby whale copying it's older mates in breaching and splashing around. The mothers exhibit various behaviours as they teach their young how to get along and communicate with the other whales.

Some were quite curious and came very close to the boat so you could plainly see the spots and bumps on their heads.

We also stopped on the way back and a flock of turtles swam by giving us a great photo op.

As we were leaving the channel, finishing another great adventure on the water, a humpback whale started waving and slapping it's tail time after time on the surface of the water as if to say "bye for now".

Jess Swims with the Turtles and the Sharks!

Once Jess arrived, we planned to return to the same spot I scuba dived before as I enjoyed it so much.

It started out fairly tame with a spotted Box fish.

Then a huge bright yellow trumpet fish came along. This fish was about 4 feet long and is apparently quite rare.

Jess had always loved Green Sea Turtles so when we came across one sleeping I knew she would be excited!

He or she looked so peaceful just lying there on the old concrete pier. You can see the green algae growing on their shell.

I took a few videos to give you a better ideas of how large and how graceful they are.

The last one is a different type of turtle, it's a hawksbill turtle.

Then we swam a bit further and came across a seven foot reef shark hiding under the concrete. I managed to get Jess and the shark in the same picture.

Then the shark started to move so both of us backed up to give it some room. I don't think either of us wanted that shark to feel that we were trying to box it in!

It moved on a little ways and joined another shark circling under the pier. They both looked a little mean but our diving guide swam right under with them to try and get a better picture. He was a laid back surfer dude kind of guy and the sharks didn't bother him at all!

We ran across one more shark on our way back to shore.

It was quite exciting for Jess's first dive in Maui and her first in two years with a number of different fish, 4 or 5 turtles and 3 fairly large sharks cruising around.

Diving in Maui

During our stay in Maui I decided to complete my PADI Advanced Open Water certification and I thought you might be interested in seeing some of the pictures from my dives. One of the qualification requirements is a night dive so we went out to the Black Rock, which is a site close to our condo where Judy and I went snorkeling. It's quite a different feeling at night with only a small flashlight to help guide you. You can hear, even more clearly after dark, the humpback whales calling to each other but you can see things you don't see in the daylight. The first creatures we saw were several translucent cuttlefish swimming by which have fluorescent colours and seem almost curious about human divers as they hover close by.
We saw several different types and colours of Spotted Moray Eels.Some of them didn't seem to be very happy about being disturbed as they waited to pounce from out of their hiding spots in cracks in the rocks.

We also ran across at four or five turtles sleeping under the rocks. They are an endangered species so you are not allowed to disturb them so I could only take a few quick photos and not get too close.

The next day we dove on a pier that was destroyed by a hurricane several years ago. It makes an ideal spot for a shore dive because the large chunks of concrete that formed the pier make a great habitat for the fish and yet it's still close to shore. After a few minutes the dive instructor stopped and stuck his arm under a rock. At first I couldn't tell what he was trying to grab until a large cloud of black water jetted out and then I saw an octopus stuck to his hand.
Later on he found another well camouflaged creature. Believe it or not the picture below is of a frogfish which looks so much like it's surroundings that it is very difficult to see unless it is moving. You should be able to make out the mouth and the two pectoral fins, the left one is resting on a white piece of coral.

The turtles here are quite tame and let us get very close. Two of them were resting on the bottom letting "cleaner" fish remove the parasites from their shells.

Right at the end of the pier we spotted a six foot white tipped reef shark sleeping close to the sandy bottom. As I moved in for a close up I woke it up and although it wasn't as grumpy as my kids when I wake them up on a Saturday morning, it started swimming around in a bit of a state.

I followed it around for a while trying to get a better picture but eventually it settled back into the same spot. Next time I run into a shark I'll try and remember to get a video, I was a little too preoccupied chasing this one around to remember to switch the camera over.

It was really amazing to see the variety of marine life so close to the shore and yet hidden from view above.