We hit the beach first thing in the morning again today, only this time we rented paddle boards! We played with those all morning, until the wind started picking up and a slight rain started. Then we went in for lunch.
We dropped my brother off at the airport after lunch, since he has to go back to work tomorrow. We intended to do a few outdoorsy things afterwards, but it was raining on and off at this point so we spent the afternoon at the Maui Ocean Center Aquarium instead. They had several of the fish that we saw while snorkeling the other day, but they also had an entire exhibit dedicated to whales, dolphins, and other sea mammals. They didn’t have any living mammals, however, due to a ban passed in 2002.
As always, here are a few photos from throughout the day:
We didn’t have anything planned for this morning, so I let myself sleep in … until 5:30. I’m still waking up with the sun, even when I’m on vacation. We spent the morning swimming at a couple of beaches that had been recommended to us. Then we got ready for today’s main event: the Grand Luau at Honua’ula.
The luau started with a Hawaiian imu ceremony, where a whole pig was unearthed from the ground. Afterwards, we enjoyed a feast with several traditional Hawaiian dishes. The luau concluded with a live performance detailing the history and myths of the Hawaiian islands.
It’s a good thing we haven’t adjusted to the Hawaii timezone yet, because today we got up early to go snorkeling! We went on a tour guided by the Pacific Whale Foundation, an organization dedicated to saving endangered species of whales from extinction. Our first stop was at Molokini, a volcanic crater formed around 230,000 years ago. We snorkeled for about an hour and then moved on to Maluaka Beach, nicknamed turtle town due to the large number of green sea turtles found there. After another hour of snorkeling, they fed us lunch and then returned to Maui. By the time we got back to our timeshare we were exhausted from a morning full of snorkeling!
The rest of the day was more relaxing. We hung out by the beach, grilled kabobs, and watched the sunset.
Here are some photos taken during the day, mostly taken with an underwater camera that I rented:
Maalaea Harbor, as seen from the boat.
Molokini, a crescent shaped volcanic crater.
My Mom on the boat on our way to Molokini
Fish!
More fish!
A red sea urchin
Some of the fish get really close!
Obligatory underwater photo
Boo!
Just Kevin swimming on by…
Frigatebirds circling the crater. They don’t live here, but they eat things that do!
I’m in Hawaii this week for a family vacation! We flew in late last night, and checked into a hotel near the airport to get some sleep. Today we moved on to the timeshare unit we’re staying in for the rest of the week.
We had a bit of time to wander around the hotel grounds this morning before checking out and driving to Paia to pick up my brother. Then we went up into the mountains for zip-lining shortly after lunch!
