My husband insisted we couldn't go to Hawaii and not go in or o the water so he booked us all a snorkeling tour. We walked down to where we pick up the boat for Blue Water Rafting company from out rental to be there for 6:30-- it was a 5 1/2 hour tour so we were gone through lunch. The boat provided muffins and fresh fruit for breakfast, sandwiches and cookies for lunch and lots of drinks as well as all of the snorkeling gear, of course.
It was a beautiful morning on the water. We had such calm seas and I was told by several people all day that it is really quite unusual for this time of year. I was relieved because I was dreading this tour after our snorkeling adventure in the Caribbean earlier in the year. Seriously, I was hoping that one of the boys would veto this idea and while I had that pit of dread in my stomach most of the day I refused to voice any negative thoughts aloud since I didn't want to ruin any of their fun and it does seem like the boys really enjoyed it so much. I am so glad we went.
We all climbed onto the large raft boat.
Almost as soon as we started out we stopped to watch some whales; this is humpback whale season for Maui and we saw a lot of whales (even though this wasn't a whale watch trip).
We learned a lot about lava, volcanoes, how the island was formed and grown, and lava formations themselves.
I thought the caves were the coolest part; many of them make loud noises and spray water when a large wave hits.
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| They refer to this formation as "the sorting hat"... it has withstood endless storms and strong waves even though it's quite small. |
It was such a calm day at sea we were able to nose our way into this large cave.
We snorkeled near the lava formations since there are lots of small animals that make the lava rocks their homes. It honestly looked a lot like a coral reef... but all my photos came out much too blurry to see anything-- sorry!
We got back on the boat and headed out to the Molokini crater for some more snorkeling but on the way we saw some more whales. These whales were so much more active than the ones we saw earlier.
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| flipper slapping.. |
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| breaching |
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| more flipper slapping |
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| It was like they kept waving to us over and over |
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| before they'd round out and dive. |
We continued onto the crater and while it's a bird sanctuary on top it's also got a reef like atmosphere below water.
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| our boat from the water |
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| Lots of sea urchins this time! We saw some larger black fish too but apparently I missed them in the photo! LOL |
From the crater we headed to our final snorkel spot-- turtle cove! We saw tons of turtles, some swimming, some being cleaned by other fish, and some just hanging out on the bottom.
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| My only (slightly blurry!) photo-- see the turtle? |
My only complaint was that I wish our boat had a bathroom; 5 1/2 hours is just a long time! I was regretting that one bottle of water I drank by the time we made it back to the dock.
But overall it really was a fabulous trip and Captain Mikey and Kanoe (pronounced like canoe) were great!
We walked back home (after using the public restrooms) and got a Dole whip on our way. Then I took a nice, long hot shower, changed into comfy clothes and hung out on the lanai for a few hours.
The boys and I took off for an hour or so to go souvenir shopping-- I picked up a dress and a jumpsuit. Then we came back to the condo, got my husband and headed for dinner. Peggy Sue's might not have looked like much but they had delicious burgers and I was told their shakes were really good too!
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| The Good Golly Miss Molly is a burger with teriyaki sauce, pineapple, lettuce, tomato, onion, and cheese. I was starving after having skipped lunch and it was delicious! |
Others in this series:
Days 1 & 2 here: Arrival and Haleakala
Linking up with: Thinking Out Loud,
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Looks like it was a super fun excursion! How neat to see all of those whales... and that burger looks good, too.
ReplyDeleteIt was really neat to see the whales (and selfishly I did think the more time we spent watching them the less time we were in the water!).
DeleteOh I am so glad this was a great experience for you! The water is just breathtaking!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It definitely made up for the last snorkeling adventure.
DeleteWow- I'm blown away with your photos. I never had an interest to go to Hawaii but. you have certain wowed me. I may have to reconsider. I would love to see whales. What a trip!!
ReplyDeleteIt's Judee from Gluten Free A-Z Blog
DeleteAw, thank you!
DeleteHow exciting to see whales and sea turtles. I can't swim, so I will have to enjoy your photos. The caves remind me of what we have here on the National Lakeshore in Wisconsin.
ReplyDeleteI was really enjoying watching the turtles and the whales were so neat to see.
DeleteI am awful at snorkeling and never quite figured it out. When we went, something with the weather kept us from getting close to Molokini, but we did see fish, from what I remember.
ReplyDeleteWe really did have such perfect weather with really calm seas which I was so thankful for.
DeleteLooks like a fun adventure! I love the whales: that would be a neat experience. The coast line is really cool and I am sure I would have been nervous snorkeling too!
ReplyDeletewww.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
It was a really neat experience.
DeleteWhat a wonderful experience for all of you. I would love to see whales, but I'm not too sure about snorkeling. That burger looks great too!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I was trying to get them all to do a dinner cruise along the water instead; which is far more my speed! :)
DeleteAwesome you saw so many whales, turtles and fish! I had to laugh about the bathrooms, just pee while you're swimming!!! (Unless of course you didn't get in the water in which case I have sympathy.)
ReplyDeleteLOL! I did try a few times but I was so cold and shivering so much that I just could not relax my muscles enough to pee! I mean the water temps were supposed to be around 75 which I thought would feel cool but nice but I guess as I've gotten older my tolerance level has dropped significantly. Heck, I used to swim in Maine in summer and it wasn't even 70! Of course I do remember wading it waiting for my body to go numb but still.
DeleteA very nice day (save the restroom part!) and I love that you got to see that much whale behavior and action!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat a great snorkeling trip...much better than the last one! How lucky to see so many whales.
ReplyDeleteOh it was definitely much better than the last one!
DeleteMaui looks so pretty. And your snorkeling sounds like it was a success!
ReplyDeleteIt really is such a beautiful area.
DeleteI am beyond delighted that you had such a wonderful time here in the islands! Aloha from Honolulu
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you! We really did have a wonderful time.
DeleteI'm so glad this was a better experience, but no bathroom?? Eek.
ReplyDeleteXoxo
Jodie
Right?! That was my immediate thought when we walked up to the boat!
DeleteLooks like so much fun. I expected a bigger boat, even if it didn't have a bathroom but not a raft.
ReplyDeleteOh I definitely did too! I was a bit skeptical of the raft but it really did work out just fine.
DeleteA fabulous day! Seeing the whales would have been my highlight. Thanks for sharing all the lovely photos from your snorkeling journey with us.
ReplyDeleteThat was a definite highlight for me too!
DeleteWhat a fabulous trip! I'm getting all excited when I see dolphins in the see, let alone a whale!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous trip! I'm getting all excited when I see dolphins in the see, let alone a whale!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't think I have ever seen a whale before when out on the ocean so I was pretty excited about that.
DeleteMy husband and I are will be going to Hawaii next year so we will be doing this too! Looks so amazing!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Oh you will have so much fun!
DeleteOh wow! What a fantastic adventure. Seeing the whales must have been amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt really was!
DeleteLove that clear water! And love a good burger, looked delicious!
ReplyDeleteThe water was so clear! Even from planes or just driving we could tell where deep and shallow spots were so easily.
DeleteGlad to hear you had a good experience snorkling this time. And I am sure the whales were such an amazing sight too! What a fun day!!
ReplyDeleteIt was really neat!
DeleteWhat an amazing experience!! That is just so neat that you got to see whales! That is on my bucket list!
ReplyDeleteBoth our rentals faced the ocean too and came with binoculars so that we could watch for whales right from our decks/lanai.
DeleteGosh, even if you didn't get any photos of underwater, you still have the memories. And, the whales! I've always wanted to go on a whale watching trip. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletehttps://marshainthemiddle.com/
You're welcome!
DeleteSo very beautiful. What a great time.
ReplyDeleteWe sure did!
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