Hawai'i 4: Maui, Day 3

Today I had an even earlier start - I had to check in at 6:30am for the 7am tour. Merrill had booked me on the 5-hour snorkel trip with the "famous Makena Forestell on board"... Well, I was certainly looking forward to both - the snorkeling and meeting Makena. Check-in was quick and easy as always, reef-safe sunscreen was provided again, and Erin gave a quick briefing before we headed down to the harbour and boarded the boat. This was a much larger cat, and with many more people and crew on board. I felt like a frequent flyer on United, because the lady at the check-in put a "V.I.P." stamp on my boarding pass, which allowed me (and the few other VIPs, i.e. PWF members) to board first. We headed out of the harbour and - in contrast to the last couple of days - there was no wind, and the sea was calm. Perfect conditions! As soon as we left the harbour, the crew came around and offered drinks and a muffin (is this really United?). After just about 30 minutes (I think) we reached Molokini, a semi-submerged crater, which seemed to be the perfect, sheltered spot for snorkeling. Click here for a nice photo and description of Molokini. We were the first boat to arrive this morning, and that was smart - very smart! There was enough space for all snorkelers, and I think everybody had a great time. The crew took good care of everybody, from helping with snorkel gear, to being out on kayaks as "safety patrols". Snorkeling was nice in the warm water, but the marine life was a bit limited. I have seen more interesting places, which doesn't mean that I didn't thoroughly enjoyed this experience. Towards the end of our 30-40 minute snorkeling time, more tour boats arrived, and quickly the whole area was swamped with snorkelers and swimmers. In order to get a bit of an impression you need to enlarge this photo (by clicking on it):

But we left and went towards the next site, called Turtle Town. Here we had much stronger currents, and a bit of a swell, and thus visibility wasn't that great. But the big plus was that the place doesn't have that name for no reason! We saw plenty of turtles, some already from the boat, others under water while snorkeling. A great experience! A bit disturbing was the fact that there were spear fishermen in the water at the same time, and I overheard quite a few people saying that they were scared they might be speared by accident. In fact, these guys literally swam among the snorkelers, and even I got once entangled in their lines that connected them to their floating containers (where they store their prey).

We also had plenty of time for an excellent BBQ lunch on board, including chicken, hot dogs, pasta salads, bread rolls, etc. Very yummy, and well prepared, especially given the fact that we were on a boat! And even Mai Tais and beer were included!

During the whole trip the crew was outstanding! They talked to the people on board, offered a "marine ecology class", and a kid's club with activities. They were always open for questions, helped wherever they could, served drinks and food, let kids (and adults) on the bridge, etc etc... And the "famous Makena Forestell" was one of them. I enjoyed the trip, and had a good chat with Makena and also talked a lot with Casey (the captain). On the way back to Ma'alaea we passed an area where we could see quite a few sea turtles from the boat. I guess it were about 10 turtles, popping their heads out of the water, taking a breath. Here are a few of them:

Back in Ma'alaea I just thought: Great fun, great weather, great crew, great water, great snorkeling = great success :)

We were back at the harbour at noon, and I had three hours time before I had to be back for my next "appointment". So I thought I'd drive down to Makena and have a look around there. This is the place where the lava flowed into the ocean during the latest eruption of East Maui Volcano (Haleakala). Apparently that was some time between 1480 and 1600 A.D. The weather deteriorated and we had frequent showers there. Thus, I kept my walk there to a minimum.

My rental car (Saturn Vue)

This was my favourite spot. Some really cool blowholes, and due to a good swell, the water smashed all the way into the last corner and was then pushed upwards, causing a hug blow and spray.

I was standing for a while exactly where the guy on the next photo is standing. It was fascinating being that close to the massive forces of the sea. His girlfriend was standing close by (in the photo behind the water). The funny thing was that suddenly there was a much stronger blow than the 10 minutes I have been there before, and the guy got a good shower. He was soaked and had not a dry spot on his body. He and I were just laughing when the spray disappeared and gave view on his girlfriend. She stepped backwards while taking a photo of him, and unfortunately fell over. Not very nice on the sharp edges of the lava rocks everywhere...

At 4pm, I was back at the PWF HQ for a workshop on Invasive Species. It was actually quite interesting to learn about these species, and it was also interesting to see the parallels we have in New Zealand. Both are islands, and thus have plenty of endemic species, no native terrestrial mammals but bats, and lots of introduced species, some of them harmful to the local environment.

I was back at the hostel at about 6:30pm, had some dinner and went to bed early...:)