Maui 2008 - Day 3

On Tuesday (September 30, 2008), Louis and I went scuba diving with Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures. We had to be at the Kihei boat ramp (map) at 06:30 AM so that the boat could leave at 7:00 AM. We arrived at a little late, at 06:40 AM, but no one seemed to mind. It's difficult to get around Maui when you are in a hurry. We booked a dive trip to the Molokini crater. Molokini is an offshore crescent moon-shaped volcanic crater south of Ma‘alaea Bay, Maui, Hawaii and part of Maui County. It is a popular destination for scuba diving, snuba and snorkeling with many tourist boats coming each day from the south coast of Maui. Unfortunately, due to strong northerly winds, this popular dive site was too dangerous to dive. The captain picked another spot and we headed south, to the very southern tip of Maui. The seas were rough. We stopped at a site called Pinnacle Point. According to Ed Robinson's site:

"Pinnacle Point has some of the most dramatic shallow lava formations Maui has to offer: arches, valleys, canyons.... It's shallow enough for new divers (10 - 60 ft.), but will intrigue those who are advanced. If you're lucky, there may be turtles and the Queen (Golden) Enenue about. This is a great place for Photographers and divers looking for new places to explore."



We suited up and jumped into the water at 8:04 AM. The dive company provided us with 5mm wetsuits since the water was 80F (I'm used to diving with 12mm of neoprene in Monterey, CA where the water is 51F). This was nice because I only needed 16 lbs of weight. Louis and I and a few others were assigned to stay with Will, one of the dive masters. As we descended, I knew we were going to have a great time. The water was so blue and clear. As we headed a bit north, we saw the lava formations. Visibility started to decrease at this time, down to about 40'. There was a lot of surge in this area, but it was manageable. We saw quite a few interesting looking fish.







We also saw 3 moray eels on this dive.





But nothing could compare to the 6 ft wide Manta ray that came up to me. The Manta came within a few feet of me as a snapped some photos and a brief video clip from my Canon SD 790. Notice the purple and yellow striped fish around the Manta. These are "cleaner wrasses"



This dive lasted 43 minutes at a max depth of 54 feet. The air temperature was 81 F and the water temperature was 79 F. I wore a 5mm wetsuit, no gloves, no hood. I needed 16 lbs of weight.

For the second dive, we left this area and headed north to a spot called La Perouse Wall, in La Perouse Bay. La Perouse Bay is located south of the town of Wailea-Makena, Hawaii at the end of Makena Alanui Road (State Highway 31). The bay's Hawaiian name is Keoneoio. It was later named for the French explorer Captain Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse. In 1786, La Pérouse surveyed and mapped the prominent embayment near the southern cape of Maui opposite the island of Kaho'olawe. The bay is the site of Maui's most recent volcanic activity.

We jumped into the water at 10:05 AM. During this dive, we say a number of beautiful fish and some in schools. We did notice a lot of fishing hooks, leaders, and lead weights strewn about the ocean floor. This was a disappointing reminder of how man continues to ruin the earth. Towards the end of the dive, I found two moray eels in a hole together. One was black, the other was white. I still need to identify these. This dive lasted 53 minutes with a max depth of 49 feet. The air and water temperatures were the same as the first dive. Visibility was also about 50 feet. Surge was high though.







While we were diving, the girls were enjoying a breakfast and a spa treatment at the Spa Grande Wailea.



After we met up, we ate a late lunch at Cheeseburger Island Style in Wailea.



Afterward, we did some very brief shopping at Wailea shopping center. Then we headed back to the hotel and cooked our own dinner.