catching up

It's Wednesday morning. Today we are looking at heading up the coast to the Kapalua area and doing some snorkeling at Honolua Bay. It's one of Maui's four marine preserves. And then on the way back we'll stop off at the Aquarium.

Yesterday we snorkeled at two areas not far from where we are staying. The first stop was Makena Landing, also called Five Caves because of the underwater caves in the area. The coral was amazing. We also saw 8 turtles. Three were sitting on top of a coral shelf in about 10 feet of water. It was really cool to dive down below them and look into their faces. They really are amazing creatures. We also had one swim right under us.

The second place we stopped was Ulua Beach. You know the funny thing is each time we go out I think, "This is the best spot." But really each spot is so unique and different. Ulua had by far the best coral. We started to make our way out to the deeper reef, but Deanna didn't feel so comfortable. The water was about 25 feet, and to really get a good perspective you needed to go down there--Deanna doesn't go under water, so we stayed on the inner reef. Still, there were some 10-15 dive spots where you could look up at the coral and follow these valleys through the coral heads. There are so many little things going on when you get close up that is easy to miss from the surface.

Anyway, here are some more photos with some captions:

Here's a picture of the Lava flow that's about 3 miles down the road from where we are staying. It is very "other world" looking. It's hard to get a perspective in the photo, but some of the formations are huge.
Five in the morning and on our way down to the start of the race.
We rewarded ourselves with pizza for dinner. You can see the results at MauiMarathon.com on the home page they have a link to the Half Marathon overall, as well as division results.

This is ONE tree! It was only 8 feet tall when it was first planted back in the lat 1800s. This Banyan Tree is the landmark of Lahina Town.

We're on our way out to the Submarine for our undersea adventure.
This the Atlanta's 9.
Through the viewing porthole. The Plexiglas was 3 1/2 inches thick.
Schools of fish around some coral.
Twenty-four years ago when we came here on our honeymoon this boat was moored on the docks in Lahina and was a whaling museum. Deanna and I toured through it. About 6 years ago it was in danger of breaking it's mooring and causing damage if a storm came. They decided to scuttle it in about 95 feet of water to serve as an artificial reef, and a new diving destination.
This is algae growing on the ocean floor at 135 feet. It's amazing, but 30% of all the world's sand comes from algae like this. They loose a calcium exoskeleton and that's what forms the sand. Also, if you notice the water is a little murky looking. Monday night was a full moon, and with each full moon the coral reproduces. It sends out spores, and these spores look for something solid to latch on to.
This is coconut shrimp with a pineapple chutney. We at at the Aloha Mixed Plate Grill in Lehina after the Sub trip. When we pulled in the car wouldn't turn off. We had to call Avis, they came out, couldn't fix it, so we got a new one. Kind of cool, though, we ended up with an upgrade and an extra half a tank of gas. And with gas at 4.55 a gallon, that's a pretty good deal!
Monday night Sunset from the lanai.
Last night we went to Buzzes Wharf for dinner. We both had the special: Mahi Mahi with 4 prawns seared in Parmesan with a red pepper sauce... yum!

Well, I guess that's it for now. If anyone is checking out the site, you can always leave a comment and let us know what you think. We are thinking about and praying for you guys every day. Aloha

John