Maui Travel Journal-Monday

June 19, 2006
Sunny this morning and out the door around 7am. Headed over to Honokeana Cove. The turtles were hanging out on the surface. There was only one other snorkeler there and he was getting out. There is a little inlet to get in/out the water and he asked if there were any turtles there since he didn’t want to scare them. He said that they hang out in the inlet early in the morning. No turtles, so he got out and we got in. Getting in and out posed a bit of a challenge. Had to slide down the ledge into the little channel. There are slippery algae covered rocks on the bottom (guess that is why the turtles like it there). The channel is really narrow with not a lot of clearance. It would probably be easier if the tide is higher. The surge kind of pushes you back as well, best to try to work with the current. We were in the water about 30 seconds and the turtles were on the surface again. One of them was huge, had to be about 3 feet long. He dove back down and sat in a little hole in one of the large coral formations. There was smaller turtle sitting on top of the coral. The larger turtle really kept an eye on us as we swan around. Swam a little further out into the cove and saw another turtle making its way to the surface. I tried to give it space but it kept swimming toward me, I guess he was as curious as me. Turtles are protected in Hawaii and you can’t chase them down or harass them but if they are interested in you, they will come to check you out. Matt in the meantime is exploring other parts of the cove and spotting turtles as well. He pointed one out right under me. The turtles kept surfacing from time to time. They were very clean so there must be a great cleaning station there. There was a terrific mix of fish there although not in large numbers. We saw Moorish idols, Achilles and convict tangs, cleaner, ornate and yellowtail wrasse, raccoon and millet seed butterfly, blue parrotfish and sergeant majors. The cove was very calm. Extremely clear in places but there must be freshwater springs underneath since the water got ‘fuzzy’ in places. Not murky at all though. Our excursion was cut short by this totally irresponsible man with 2 boys that barely knew how to swim. Each boy had a mask but no snorkel. They started chasing the turtles around and hovering right above them. Turtles will not come up for air if you are right above them. I had a feeling this was going to turn out badly so we decided to cut it short. On our way back to shore Matt pointed out another turtle under a coral ledge right under us. As usual, I ran out of film in the underwater camera since I figured that we couldn’t possibly see any more turtles. As we were looking at this turtle it turned around to look at us and it looked like it waved its flipper at us. How cool! Getting out is a bit easier, just let the surge push you in, take off the fins and when another surge comes in haul yourself out. Helps loads if Matt gets out first! Went back to Maui Dive Shop to drop off the snorkel gear. Bought a really cool fish guide for next time. Off to Longs to drop off the camera, were told the photos would be done about 4pm. Then, oh darn, back to AMP one last time. Coconut prawns for me and the mixed grill for Matt (had to break him of the Kalua pork addiction). The island chutney that came with the prawns was pretty tasty. Perfectly spice for the sweet prawns. I am gonna have to figure that recipe out. No room for the Naughty cheesecake so add that to the list for next time, that list is getting long. Back to the condo to wait for the pics to be done since it is much cooler in Napili than Lahaina, plus it is only a 10 minute drive. Since we had been mosquito free since moving from Ka’anapali to Napili, we decided that Ka’anapali must be Hawaiian for Mosquito ;) Back to Longs and then Safeway for water and sandwiches. Got most of our things packed up and it all fit. All the new stuff went into the carryons since who cares if your old stuff gets lost. We spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out and enjoying the rest of the day. We went back over to Honokeana around 5:30pm. The turtles were just bobbing away out there. Took loads of pictures just trying to catch one. I need a faster camera. We walked over to the inlet and there was a turtle swimming there. I got a few decent shots before some kids jumped in and started chasing it. We decided to go back in the morning to see if we can catch some there before the tide goes out.