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| rainbow |
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| little bit of whale |
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| there was a small shark under this ledge |
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| big turtle sleeping |
After sort of resting up on Wed, Thurs was my diving
day. I got up at 4:45 (yes, AM) and
those of you who know me, know there are very few things I sacrifice my sleep
for, but Molokini is one. So, got up
early, had to drive down the cost to Ma’alaea where the dive shop was and the
boat was anchored. I got there before
the dive shop opened at 6 so sat in the parking lot with my window open,
staring at the stars. They were
spectacular. I think it’s because there
is so little ambient light, the stars really show up. The guys had scrambled eggs, bacon, breads,
fruit and coffee ready for us. There
were about 15 people total, some were diving, some snorkeling and some just
along for the ride with family. It took
us about an hour to get to Molokini, it is a dormant volcano, nearly totally
submerged in the ocean. From the surface
you can see just a crescent shaped part of the lip of the volcano. Some really adventurous people will dive off
the back of the wall where it gets very deep.
Our group went inside where there is a gradual incline to about 50 feet,
and then a giant drop off. The guys on
the dive boat were very nice, I got up on the top deck for the ride, where I
could see and of course ask the captain questions. I don’t mean to be annoying but when I’m in a
new place my mind just spins with questions and I think my head will explode if
I don’t find stuff out. The captain was
a very nice young guy (a total buttered biscuit, too) and talked to me. We saw big wind turbines on Maui as we were
leaving and spotted whales a couple times on the way. Once we got to Molokini, they split the
divers up into small groups by ability.
The dive masters went over hand signals and safety procedures and off we
went. For once I wasn’t the slowest
one. We started to descend and I was so
glad I’d done my pool refresher before I left and my shore dive in Kauai. I just felt very comfortable going down in
the water and was able to get going in the direction I wanted. I stuck to the dive master like glue, we were
down in 45 feet of water and the visibility was fair. We saw lots of cool coral, fish, eels and
other stuff. I hate to sound jaded but
the coral was nowhere near as colorful or plentiful as what I saw in
Belize. However, being inside a volcano
was pretty damn cool. The dive master
kept checking with us about how much air we had and sent folks back up as
needed so the ones who didn’t suck their air up quite so fast could dive
longer. Once we all got back in the
boat, they set out dishes of fruit and we pulled our buoy line and headed to
Turtle Town. This is a place off Makena where a volcano erupted and sent two streams of lava out into the
ocean. The lava hardened with lots of
shelves and caves, perfect for turtles to hide and sleep in. There is also a golf course nearby and the
fertilizer run off creates an algae bloom that feeds the turtles. As with Molokini there were many other divers
and snorkelers there, but here there were also a lot of kayakers here since it
was closer to shore. We did see several
turtles, one big guy all backed in under a rock sleeping and several others
swimming around. They are protected so
you can’t touch or pursue them. One guy
swam right by me and it was all I could do to resist reaching out. After the turtles, we got back on board and I
was pooped, I’ve GOT to get back into better shape. They started the boat and I felt like I was
either going to have a heart attack or puke or both. They passed around water, which helped. Breathing the air from the tanks really dries
you out. Then they put out sandwich
fixings, pretzels and cookies. I made a
little plate and went back up on the bridge with Captain Butter Biscuit and the
food and fresh air made me feel better.
After we got back to shore I noticed that there was a craft
fair on the 2nd floor of the building that the dive shop was
in. I went up to look around and it was
local people selling different things.
Nicer than a lot of the tourist souvenirs you see. Then I saw photos, beautiful stuff, and the
guy who had taken them was right there.
I talked to him a while and picked out some very cool pictures: a whale
with a 2 day old calf, a school of marlin parting like the Red Sea for some
jacks swimming through, a close up of a turtle and a landscape. He told me when and where he had taken each
one. After I got back I had a shower and
a bit of a lie down. My mom wanted to go
to the Sheraton on Black Rock for dinner.
When she and my dad were in Maui 20 years ago they had stayed there and
she wanted to see what it looked like. As
I walked down to get the car there were 3 people at the bottom of the little
hill, they asked me if the trolley stopped there. There is a trolley that circles the hotels
and drops off at Whaler’s Village and from there a bus that goes into Lahaina,
convenient for people without a car. I
really didn’t know, but the lady looked sort of on her own and the Japanese
couple with very limited English seemed lost.
I told them I was getting the car to take my Mom to dinner and would
drop them at Whaler’s Village which was on our way. Jeez, you
would have thought I’d offered to give them a million bucks instead of just
paying forward a few nice things people had done for me. The Sheraton was a very beautiful place and
we had a table looking out over the water.
They do a torch lighting ceremony every night which end in a procession
and a dude dives off the cliff. Pretty
impressive. We had a nice meal.
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