Maui 2

Saturday was our scheduled snorkel tour to Molokini and Turtle Town! We got up bright and early to jump in the Jeep and head over to Ma'alea Harbor (about 20 minutes from Lahaina) to catch our Trilogy boat.

Such a happy license plate design.

Heading out of the harbor. We were served fresh cinnamon rolls and coffee for breakfast on the boat.

The boat had two big props that motored us around most of the day, along with sails that they let loose later on. We had about 40 people on the boat with us.

On the Trilogy boat in the a.m.

November through March/April is whale-watching season in Hawaii! The whales give birth in the warm waters of the islands and then move on to Alaska in the summer to feed on the abundant seafood. Kinda neat to think that the whales we saw around Maui may be the same ones we see in Prince William Sound or Kachemak Bay this summer.

I thought we would have to look hard to see the whales but they were EVERYWHERE. Even just driving along the coast we'd look out the window and see them breaching, spouting or flapping a fin.

The coolest thing about the whales is that we could hear them calling to each other while we snorkeled! You had to stop breathing and block out any noise but their whale songs were audible. Really, really neat experience.

This is below deck on the boat. We stored most of our stuff down here and sat upstairs on the deck in the sun.

Looking out the window, from inside the boat.

The first stop of the snorkel tour was Molokini, a volcanic crater shaped like a crescent. The boat connected to its mooring buoy and we all jumped in the water. Some of people on the boat opted to scuba dive and a few tried snuba.

Molokini from the air (not my photo!)

One edge of Molokini island.

 

The water was SO blue and clear here. We could see very far underwater.

This area is extremely poplular with tour boats.

Along the outside edge of Molokini.

Bye Molokini!

The second stop of the day was a place just off the southwestern shore of Maui called "Turtle Town." Supposedly there are tons of turtles living in the coral and rocky caves on the sea floor. We saw a grand total of 2 turtles and like 100 other snorkelers. At one point D swam up to me and said it looked more like Snorkel Town than Turtle Town. So very true. But one of our turtle experiences was very cool - the huge turtle slowly circled as he approached the surface and we both were able to watch as he got closer and closer.

Leaving Turtle Town.

Time to unleash the sails and head back to Ma'alea Harbor.

After Turtle Town the crew fed us a very yummy lunch, with seconds even. I was feeling a little woozy coming out of the water - too much sun and not enough food I think. It was a nice breezy ride back to the harbor with some whale-watching along the way.