Swimming With The Fishes...and Turtles!

Hands down, the best thing I did on Maui was go snorkeling. It was amazing.

There are quite a lot of companies that offer snorkel and scuba tours. We went with
Trilogy and it was excellent. The group was about 40 people - some of the other boats have twice that many. Plus we went to two spots, Molokini and 'Turtle Town.'

They give you some good snorkel tips. They also give you a nice lunch!


Molokini is an ancient volcanic caldera that offers some of the clearest water for snorkeling anywhere in the world. It is located about 2 miles offshore from South Maui in the Alalakeiki Channel (between Maui and Kaho'olawe).

The water in the cove is up to about 30 feet deep. Just on the other sidw of Molokini, there is a steep drop-off to 300 feet.

The image on the left is the coral off Molokini. The water is incredibly blue and clear. The water was about 15 feet deep in this shot - but it looks much shallower.

There are all kinds of fish there - they swim right next to you. A number of times, I was surrounded by them.

Unfortunately, the disposable underwater camera I used wasn't cooperating and I only got the shots you see here.

The water and reef at Turtle Town isn't quite as nice as Molokini, but it's where the turtles are!

'Turtle Town' is the long stretch of coastline in between Nahuna Point and Black Sand Beach in the southern district of Makena. That's the coastline you see in the first picture at the top.

We were extremely fortunate to see THREE (count 'em) turtles. According to the captain, they are not always there. The one I got a picture of was right at the top of the water, then he swam down under the coral. I was within 5 feet of him.

The turtles can live up to 200 years. They are majestic in their own way.

And all the time I'm out there I'm thinking...what a life!

Had to throw this in. This is Yr Fthfl Blggr off Molokini. Hey, this was a tough assignment, but somebody had to to it!