Hawaii - Day 3 : 12/16/2008

Woke up early like 5:30 am – the day’s plan was snorkeling at Molokini and exploring the beaches after the snorkeling was done. We packed our stuff that we would need for the trip and started off. It was still dark and silent the sound of the ocean is divine.
For snorkeling we were going to the Molokini crater in a catamaran named Four Winds.




We had to check in at around 7:15 am at the Ma'alea harbor which was a half an hour drive from our place. The whole trip along with snorkeling was going to take around 5 hours. We checked in and the trip started at 7:30 am. Molokini is supposed to be one of the best places to snorkel at – because of the clear blue waters and a wide variety of fish. We were uber-excited as neither of us had ever snorkeled before. We got on the boat, had breakfast. A special mention here for the fruit in Hawaii – wow!! Pineapples are called as Maui Gold. They are perfectly delicious, sweet and juicy. Passion fruits, mangoes, pineapples, guavas – they just taste yummy.




So we had breakfast and settled down enjoying the ride on the ocean and suddenly we spotted whales on the ocean. Everybody got so excited. We were really shocked to see how huge they were. The captain of the boat and the people there told us that they are almost as big as a school bus. And we could see them like less than 100 feet away from us. We were just awed. We saw 2 whales this time, one of them showed us its top part (the mouth) and the other ones gave us a tail spin. It was awesome. When they splash their tails, the tail markings can be seen for every whale – it is unique for every whale, it is quite like their finger print.

We reached Molokini soon enough. We were handed our snorkel gear and we were all ready to jump into the water. I did not even know what to expect. Well, jumped into the water – I did. And boy – the spectacle was just out of the world! There were schools of fish going by. There were fish of every color, it was just beautiful. The coral bed was superb and pristine. Red, green, blue – it was just amazing. Its an experience which cannot be described. The experience of seeing something so beautiful and not be able to talk or exclaim in wonder because of the snorkel gear in the mouth, is an experience in itself :) .

Here are some pics of us snorkeling and some of the water life that we saw.






We snorkeled for about an hour and got aboard – the crew had already started grilling and hot burgers were awaiting us. We tucked in, ate immediately as snorkeling makes you very hungry. Were just lounging around the boat, enjoying the ride back to Maalea and whoa – whales again. We again spotted two whales, one was huge and the other one was a younger one. And then we spotted manta rays in the middle of the ocean (which are beautiful by the way) and after a while, saw the green sea turtles, which were huge. There were around half a dozen sea turtles and I said – “Wow! – they are huge”. Little did I know that I would be snorkeling with them in 2 days J ! Wow… whales, manta rays, sea turtles in 1 trip – and it was not even a whale watching trip. It was one lucky trip. We then just chilled on the boat - it was a beautiful sunny day - calm blue waters - azure skies - with mountains on one side - it was just picture perfect!
Here are pics of us chilling on the boat and a sea turtle.






If you look closely in the above pic, you can see the head of a green sea turtle sticking out!

Done with the snorkeling trip – we were very much energized, happy and totally awed. After the snorkeling trip we decided to explore the beaches on the south side of Maui – Makena and Wailea. Makena beaches are considered among the finest beaches on Hawaii. The beaches are named Big Beach and Little Beach. So we went to the condo and got our beach chairs, umbrellas, books and set off for our afternoon siesta on the beach.



We reached the Big beach, and set up our chairs and umbrella and went into the water. I forgot to mention before, but the ocean water is sooo salty. I knew it would be salty but never expected it to be quite so salty. The beach was awesome. Almost white sands, and the color of the ocean was just magnificent.


Blue – green – to absolute purple. This beach is infamous for being extremely deep right at the shore. We walked all along the shore playing with the water. The weather was perfect to be at the beach – the water was invitingly cold and the sun was hot.






We climbed a few rocks and kept walking as the view was just magnificent. And we found ourselves on another beach which was named Little Beach. Turns out is an optional nudist beach. Needless to say there were quite a few people out there sunbathing in the nude. We were a bit shocked to see that – but after a few minutes, it did not seem odd at all. It just seemed perfectly natural. But after visiting that beach I can say – “Now I’ve see it all!!”



After a short walk we returned to the Big Beach, sat ourselves on our chairs and read our books.
Ahem… ok he read his book while I fell asleep. After a pleasant siesta we drove by the town of Wailea and checked out the beaches there – awesome!!
It was almost evening – and we returned back home! Ate food sitting outside on our lanai.