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.

Maui the Valley Isle

We are now on Maui which is called the Valley Isle since most of the island is a lush valley located between two extinct volcanoes. Our condo in Papakea is located on the North West shore just above Kaanapali beach and has a great view from the balcony. The island in the background is Molaki and just to the south, behind the other building is the island of Lanai.
This area is teaming with Humpback whales and most of the times you look out to sea you can whales or sometimes spinner dolphins playing in the waves. We spotted this really cute mother whale and her baby (on it's side with it's fin in the air) just off the harbour in Lahaina.

Judy and I decided to try snorkeling off the Black Rock just south of our condo and the water was so clear you felt like you were in an aquarium. Just as we were a little ways off the beach I heard Jude screaming into her mouthpiece and pointing at a graceful sea turtle passing right under me.

As I dove down to film it I could hear the whales calling in the distance and I got some great pictures and some videos as well until the turtle got too far ahead of me to catch up.

I think this video gives you an idea of how magical it is to swim next to these beautiful creatures!

There are lots of other fish on the reef like these triggerfish.

Or this spotted trunkfish.

We also drove up the North shore to a famous bay called Honolua to watch the surfer boys .

There were a few surfer girls as well.

We caught another great sunset and then headed downtown to listen to live entertainment at some of the waterfront bars and restaurants.

We are really looking forward to sharing some of these special moments with the girls when the arrive next week.

Last Days on the Big Island

It took 5 days but finally the high surf conditions came down enough that the scuba diving charters were running again. All the books and everyone I talked to said if you only do one dive, make sure you do the night dive with the Manta Rays so off I went to hopefully get up close to these huge but gentle creatures. We boarded a catamaran in Keauhou bay and made the short trip out in front of the Sheraton hotel. After all the rough seas they were not sure if the Manta rays would show up but I guess not being fed for a few days helped because we had four big ones show up that night!

The catamaran has lights and each of us carried a flashlight to help attract plankton which is what attracts the Manta Rays. They circled and looped the loop around us as the four scuba divers stayed close to the bottom and a number of snorkelers floated on the surface. The 5 to 6 foot wide rays pass so close that it's hard to get a clear picture and they sometimes brush against you as they go by so they wouldn't let us wear snorkels. The dive master said that there are some dives when he comes out with Manta slime all over his dive cap!

I took a number of videos so I posted a few to try and give you an impression of the amazing experience I had diving with the Manta Rays. By the way, these gentle giants have no teeth (they eat the plankton by filtering through their huge mouths) and have no barbed stinger like the Sting Rays.

Here is another website that talks about diving with the Manta Rays in Kona:

http://www.5min.com/Video/Manta-Ray-Diving-in-Kona-with-Wayne-Levin-21293003

We decided to head downtown for some life entertainment at Bongo Bobs and dinner at Lu Lu's upstairs. It was another beautiful night, the stars were shining, the surf was pounding and the street was packed. Above our 2nd floor patio seats in Lu Lu's the ceiling, posts, walls and even the surfboard sign were plastered with dollar bills signed by everyone from famous celebrities to kids on their March break.

After a hearty dinner we checked out the local band at Bongo Bobs, sipping Mai Tai's and sitting next to a palm tree sticking through the roof (by the way the Mai Tai's were good but not anywhere near as good as Nick's!).

The band played Hawaiian versions of songs like Over the Rainbow, Hawaiian Superman or songs from groups like Doobie Brothers, U2 and Santana with a Hawaiian twist. The guys were great entertainers and everyone enjoyed their sets and added a lot of requests as well.

I thought I would finish our Big Island adventures with a parting shot of the catamaran just as we headed out for the Manta Ray dive. Now it's on to Maui!

Andy and Judy versus the Volcano

No trip to the Big Island is complete without going to see the Kilauea Volcano so we booked a helicopter ride with Safari Tours and headed off on a two hour drive to the Hilo airport. Along the way we stopped at Rainbow falls which is only about 4 blocks away from downtown Hilo.


Here we are with our little yellow life jackets, air sickness bags in hand (which thankfully no one tested out) ready to climb aboard and head off across the Macadamia nut fields to battle with the volcano.

We flew around the Pu'u'Oo Caldera which is a currently an active volcano spewing noxious fumes and sending hot lava through about 6 miles of underground tubes to the sea.

It was a really clear day and as we circled the crater you could see right inside to the bottom of the caldera and the multicoloured rock layers inside the rim. The crater is huge and at least 1 or 2 kilometers across.

The lava then flows through tubes just under the surface of previous flows which insulates the lava and allows it to flow all the way to the sea without cooling down much. In some areas the crust on top of the tubes collapses and you get round "windows" which let you see the red hot lave inside. The hole in the picture below would be big enough to fly the helicopter into, although I guess it would melt if you ever tried it! The picture hardly does justice to the red glow plainly visible in the midday Hawaiian sunshine.

At the end of the tube the lava flows into the sea in a big cloud of steam. This is where the island is growing day by day adding about 600 acres in the last few years.

After the helicopter tour we drove 45 minutes to the Volcano State Park and hiked about 4 kilometers around the top of the rim of the Kilauea Iki Crater which has a 100 year old lava lake at the bottom. You can actually hike across the floor of the crater but it was closed when we got there due to poor air quality because of the active vent seen on the far side of the crater which is about 2 miles across.

We then drove down the chain of Craters road to the ocean and hiked across roads covered by previous lava flows to get a view from the ground of the same lava flowing into the sea that we saw from the helicopter.

The lava covered the highway, destroyed hundreds of homes, acres of forests but enough warning was given to prevent any loss of life. We wanted to drive down highway 130 to the other side of the lava flow but the wind direction was unfavourable and viewing there was closed. The fumes really stink and can be very harmful and even fatal if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hiking across the lava is slow and tedious especially since the ground is very uneven and if you fall it is as sharp as glass (as Judy's knees can attest to!).

The next day we decided to drive up snow topped mount Mauna Kea which is 13,796 feet high but has roads all the way up to the telescope observatories at the top.

Sorry that we don't have any pictures of the last part of the gravel road, which wound steeply back and forth up the side of the mountain without guard rails, because Judy had her eyes closed and refused to look and I had both hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. For some reason everyone else there had a 4 wheel drive truck while we just drove up in our Chevy Cobalt compact car! At the top I made snowballs and played in the snow and was out of breath in 2 minutes. Above 13,000 feet there is not much oxygen and you can suffer from altitude sickness very quickly.

Someone else made a nice Hawaiian snowman and you can see the other mountain peak, Mauna Loa (13,677 feet high) in the background.

After our day on the mountain we drove back to the sea, lay out by the pool and watched the sunset to cap off a few more great days in the sun.