“I have always been fascinated by the ocean, to dip a limb
beneath its surface and know that I’m touching eternity, that it
goes on forever until it begins here again.”
Lauren
DeStefano
We
picked a snorkeling excursion called Molokini Crater and Turtle
Snorkel to go on for our second day on Maui. We got up early, had a
nice breakfast onboard, and then met up with our friends, Sharad and
Jennifer to get on the bus to the excursion. The bus drove us to
town of Kahului where we boarded our boat to take us to our
snorkeling site, Molokini. Molokini is a crescent shaped partially
submerged volcanic crater that is uninhabited. It last erupted
230,000 years ago.
After
getting on the boat, the crew did a briefing on safety for while we
were on the ship and how to use the snorkeling gear and be safe while
in the water. They also explained what kinds of fish we may see and
loaded us up with our snorkeling gear and wet suit top. It was a
nice calm ride out and was relaxing watching the mountains pass us by
and the bird soaring overhead. By the time we got there, we were
ready and anxious to get in the water. They told us the morning is
the best time to go snorkeling since the ocean is calm and there is
less wind. We fortunately scheduled the trip for first thing in the
morning and the timing was perfect.
The
boat pulled up inside the crescent and hooked up to one of the many
moorings. They set these up to protect the ocean floor from damage
from the anchors. We had a choice to jump or take the steps down
into into to water. The first thing we noticed was the clarity of the
water. We were told the visibility is up to 150 feet and there are
over 250 species of fish to see. Joe and I stuck together and we
swam around and pointed out various beautiful tropical fish. What a
joy to see these colorful fish swimming around in their natural
habitat. Unfortunately we didn't have an underwater camera.
This
is a very popular destination to go scuba diving, Snuba, and
snorkeling since the crescent shaped island protects divers from the
waves. It did prove to be an amazing place to snorkel. You could
see how this volcanic crater went straight down deep in the depths of
the ocean where you couldn’t see the bottom of the land anymore.
It was a little scary but amazing just the same.
During
World War II, the US Navy used Molokini for target practice since it
was the shape of a battleship. The south west rim of the islet is
very damaged because of the amount of target practice that was done
during this time. In 1975 to 1984 the Navy detonated, in place, many
unexploded munitions that were found in the crater. They damaged
much of the coral and the public loudly objected. After that, a
thorough search of the islet was done in a very risky manner, by the
manual removal of unexploded munitions. The volunteer divers took
the munitions to deep water.
Molokini
has 23 acres above the water with the highest elevation is 161 feet
and is now a Hawaiian protected seabird sanctuary.
The
Hawaiian mythology states the legend of Molokini was that it was a
beautiful woman. She and Pele, the fire goddess were in love with
the same man. The jealous Pele, cut her rival in two and made her
into stone. The woman’s head is supposed to be Pu’u Olai, the
cinder cone by Makena Beach. There are many legends about Molokini
and this was just one of them.
After
snorkeling for a good long time and enjoying our time here, we loaded
back up on the boat and were offered a drink and some food. Our boat
unhooked from the mooring and we took off towards where the turtles
were. It was fascinating seeing so many turtles swimming and
putting their heads out of the water. They are such beautiful
graceful creatures. Coming back the wind started really kicking and
the waves were cresting with white caps. I now understood the
reason behind going to Molokini in the morning when the water was
calm. I do not think the boat would be able to go out this
afternoon with the winds being as it was. There was even a slight
chill in the air from wind blowing on us.
When
our boat past a point on Maui, the waters calmed and the sun warmed
us up. This was a great trip, with a great crew, and we really
enjoyed our time. The staff on the boat collected our snorkel
equipment and we finished our drinks before pulling back to the dock.
It was a fun excursion and if you like to snorkel, this was the
best snorkeling we had ever done since the visibility was so great.
Till next time. Aloha.
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