A Snorkel from Lahaina

Unfortunately, we did not put all our early morning outings in the first few days of our trip. Now, nearly adjusted to local time, we had to rise at 5:30 to hit the road north to Lahaina. To be fair, we likely did not need to get up this early. However, the hotel suggested we give ourselves an hour, and the booking company also built in about 45 minutes between the start of check in and leaving, so we arrived about 90 minutes before we “set sail”. As for what we were doing, we had booked a snorkeling excursion for the morning. We’d join a boat, the Quicksilver, from the city of Lahaina and head out to the island of Lanai. The trip would be about 5-6 hours, accounting for time moving around on the boat and a few location options.

Lahaina is an old town on Maui, in some ways known for its more historical sites. For us, we were excited to see (and got to walk through between parking and the docks) 

the Lahaina Banyan Court. This is a small “square” or miniature public park, built around an enormous Banyan tree. The tree was awesome! As we approached the park the square looked like it was full of dozens of trees. However, as we moved closer, we saw that it was actually one giant singular tree “system”! The central trunk had limbs that branched out and joined other “trees” that seemed to sprout down and form roots while producing their own canopies upwards. The network was massive, with the central offshoots exceeding 20-30 feet long and sometimes making their own junctions to multiple tree clusters. I’m sure all of these things have more formal names, but I hope this helps you picture it.

At 7:30 we boarded the boat. Breakfast was provided so we had scrambled eggs, coffee (duh), and some pastries. Unsurprisingly, the beginning of the cruise required a 

lengthy list of announcements and safety instructions. If we learned one new thing, its that the captain does NOT like when people mess up the bathrooms! From the docks we set out west across the channel towards Lanai. The trip was a bit rocky (as in we rocked back and forth) but not too bad. En route, we had one of our big 3 sightings of the day though! A pair of bottlenose dolphins came to join us for a few minutes. They crested the water next to us a few times, though never to preform aerial feets, and made some exploratory passes by our sides. It was clear that they were playful and checking us out, and it was awesome to see the sunlight make patterns on their bodies as they swam beneath the water. Dolphins are amazing.

And so, we arrived at a beach off the coast of Lanai. The island is apparently 98% privately owned but the beaches are public access. Here, we anchored above a small coral reef, that by all reports has begun to recover. However, setting out with our snorkel gear was still a humbling moment, as the overwhelming mass of coral was still brown and dead. So, while we were happy to hear that it was beginning to recover, it has a long way to go. In better news, we saw a bunch of fun-colorful fish. The most prominent were always the brightly colored yellow fish, or the teal-blue fish that popped out of holes in the reef. Throughout our swim we saw lots of fish, but mostly in random solo or duo moments. We greatly enjoyed the end of our swim, as we were returning to the boat, when we were passed by a huge school of the yellow fish we’d enjoyed seeing.

Back on the boat we returned across the channel to the Maui coast. This was a bit of a surprise, as we thought we’d do more snorkeling on the small island, but in the end it worked out. This time across the water was much rougher, and combined with fatigue and rubber legs from swimming with flippers, everything felt more unstable. But, about an hour later we arrived outside a dock system just north of Black Rock Beach (also north of Lahaina where we’d originally sailed from). Here, it was immediately apparent that we would be swimming with turtles. As we looked out at the water we could see 2-3 at a time coming up to breathe as their little heads crested the surface of the water. Excitedly, we re-equipped and got back in the water for another hour of swimming. (Sadly, this is the first time we messed up with sunscreen – so if you ever do this – REAPPLY between snorkeling outings!)

We barely had to leave the boat. Under the water there was what may have been the ruins of a boat, with sea urchins and life all about the ruins. But most importantly – Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles were everywhere! We saw easily over a dozen, and in one spot Archer and I could count 9 of them without turning our heads. The turtles were so populated in this area that it was actually difficult to swim for fear of kicking a turtle that might surface behind or next to you. I’m appreciative to Archer who actually pointed out (just in time) that a turtle was about to run into me from the side! They were so cool! In stereotypical fashion, they were slow to move and were just hanging out. It was great.

And so, we boarded the boat again to head back to port in Lahaina. This time we had a BBQ pulled pork lunch available which was perfectly tasty. The bar was also open 

but between the sun and the waves we felt it best to hold off. This brings us to the third highlight of the trip because I (yes – me) spotted a group of dolphins on our port side and reported it to the crew! We slowed down and got a lesson in the kinds of dolphins and got to watch as they got closer and passed. This was a huge group of between one and two hundred dolphins. This kind were called Spinner Dolphins, named after their unique maneuver of popping out of the water, while spinning and “pivoting” on their nose, to reorient themselves within their group. It was a huge group (called a "pod") and it was fun to watch the jump and spin and pass. A few times we saw parents swimming with their babies – and I’ve never seen a baby dolphin before! The whole experience was a lot of fun.

The rest of the boat ride, as well as the drive home, were uneventful. Tired from the early morning, we took a nap before heading out to the resort pools (we felt we’d done enough ocean for the day). We did a few rounds of the slides and waterfalls, but where heartbroken to find out that we were too late for food at the Volcano Bar! We’d been excited about their nachos… Instead, we swam around for another hour or so, and lingered through most of the people exiting the pools so it got a bit more quiet. It was relaxing.

When it was finally time to get out, we returned to our room and got ready for dinner. We returned to the “Shops” where we found a more classic sports bar and had Buffalo Wings and a Burger. It was refreshing to do something more low-key and offered a bit of the feeling of home. Finally, we waited in a surprisingly long line at Lappert’s Ice Cream for a few scoops. It was a tasty dessert and a great way to finish the night.