Another early appointment, this time with Maui Dreams. R was taking an intro dive! He said he was tired if the same old things when we go to Hawaii. So we went through a guide book for ideas and this was the winner! He and I did snuba several years ago and it was fun. He was fine to go without us. J isn't that interested in scuba and even though I have my certification from eons ago snorkeling is enough for me.
We got to the shop at 7am and met our instructor Shad and the other two newbies in R's group. There must have been 4 or 5 other groups. Getting everyone geared up took a while. They are quite particular about fitting masks which is a good thing! Shad gave a lesson in the classroom (I overheard most of it and it was done well.). It was 8:30 before we finally got to Ulua.
J and I set up the chairs. J went snorkeling and I waited to see R's group get in the water for the basics. (R is on the right and Shad next to him.)
Then they disappeared underwater. While R was occupied I went out snorkeling three times. In the second time as I was going out I saw R coming back in didn't see me.
The snorkeling was awesome. Clear, calm water and lots of good things to find. I'll try not to repeat too many that I've shown before except for my beloved Humus and honu!
Goatfish
gotcha up close, my sneaky friend
Unicorn fish
Four spot butterfly fish
a bunch of convict tangs
Moorish Idol
Trumpet fish
Puffer
Millet seed butterfly fish
The third time out I went around the point to the Mokapu side. I saw two honu and this guy almost ran me over. It was coming right at me. I chickened out and dodged!
I was happy just to take in the beauty while we waited for R. There were plenty of people to watch. There were several very brown haole ladies of a certain age walking on the beach in bikinis. I wonder if I would brave enough to do that if I lived here!
We didn't talk to R until the group came out after a second tank. Being a normal teen, we had to probe to get any info. He absolutely loved it and wants to do it more. Shad showed them lots of cool stuff: a variety of eels (R spotted a zebra eel), flounders, harlequin shrimp and mort that I don't remember. They went down to 35 feet or so (too deep for our little camera). Sounded it was great! Hmmm...maybe I'll try this again!
We had lunch at the condo while watching the USA soccer team win. Then I did some shopping in Kahului. My first stop was Paradise Self Storage. I rented a 2x2x3 locker for a "month" for $21. I just needed it for 3 days to stash 2 carry ons instead of dragging them to Molokai. Such a saving instead of $80 baggage fees!
Walmart was around the corner. I always buy little things for goodie bags for friends and family. Then I stopped at Fabric Mart for material so I can make myself a new pa'u (hula practice skirt). I've started making one from each of the four main islands. It was so hard to choose! I found a lovely blue pattern.
Hawaiian Costcos are fun. Just inside the door were the little Fuji underwater cameras with a $50 off! Besides that I bought a pair of board shorts for the kid and a delicious breakfast bread made of pineapple, coconut, and Mac nuts. I may have to buy one to take home!
After hearing so many great things we had to go to. Coconuts. J checked out the review in the blue book to verify it was good. We got there fairly early and most of the dinner crowd wasn't there yet. J was expecting it to be packed like the book said. He seemed disappointed that it wasn't full of people!
The food met his expectations at least. R had fish tacos, J ate an ahi burger, and chicken tacos for me (I don't eat fishy friends). Great fries too. We need one in the south SF bay!
R and I walked down to the beach and walked a bit north. There were some nice colors and clouds.
Kim
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