This morning, pulling ourselves out of bed was a struggle. But the thought of going into the ocean and snorkeling made us remember we are on a holiday!! More fun and more adventure awaits us! Our trip was with the Trilogy Company. They have Snorkeling tours, whale watching during winter, Snuba and scuba diving, and trips to Lanai island also. They sponsor our food, all the snorkeling gear for a price of about $90.
The boat left the harbor at 8:00am. It was a Catamaran with 45 passengers in total. As we sailed away from Maui, the wind picked up and the sail went up! We were heading towards Molokini Island for snorkeling. But first we got a quick guide about what the tour had in store, safety instructions, along with a choice of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or pineapple juice! They were also selling an underwater camera for us for $25. But we didn’t know till the end! So, I’m sorry I have no underwater pics for you. As we reached Molokini, we were taught how to use the snorkel gear and the beginners like us were given a more detailed explanation. There was one lifeguard in the water watching all of us, and we also had a choice of using a floating device(S to XL). I held on to a Bogey board just until I got used to the depth and floating. And kids who were scared or couldn’t float could use this cool bogey board with a window to see the coral and fish through… Wow!! I loved the ocean. Molokini is actually a gas vent created due to the Haleakala volcano on Maui Island. Only one half of it that is in a crescent shape is visible on the surface and the rest is under water. So the area within the semi circle is still and has some coral and fish resting here. We had an awesome time. I never saw bright yellow fish at such close a distance. And the coral was amazing. I have always wanted to see coral reefs and even though this was not a large coral, I was satisfied and happy to have been doing this in HI. The prettiest of colors are in corals, that’s what I say!! And I loved floating across from one end to the other following all kinds of fish. Snorkeling wasn’t that tough at all! The only time I needed the bogey board was when I had to adjust my mask. Otherwise I could manage with my floatation device around my waist.
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| Maui from the sea |
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| Molokini Island |
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| Molokini Island |
After an hour of snorkeling, we come onto the boat again, and we are treated with Mom’s Homemeade Cinnamon rolls and fresh fruit! The rolls were so so good! I can’t describe it. Not so sweet as the ones you eat in a mall, but the right taste at the right time I would say!! We got a second serving too! The crew was perfect too. They were so friendly and served all of us our seconds. While watching over the ocean in the bright sun, guess what we saw? We saw rainbows. Not just ordinary ones. These were on the water! Yes, these rainbows were on the surface of the ocean… glistening in the sun, blinking at us whenever the water splashed against our boat in the afternoon sun. I knew Hawaii was famous for rainbows, but never expected anything like this!!
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| Turtle Town |
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| Food being served |
This time, our catamaran took us to Turtle town near the Maluaka Beach park, to watch turtles! The bay was vast and we were instructed to swim around this one rock that was projecting in the middle of the water. And every 5 minutes we would see a turtle. We spotted a couple of them. Silent swimmers they were. There was a cave underneath the rock from which these turtles would once in a while come out to the surface. There wasn’t much of coral to see here, but It was nice to swim through this water and watch the bed of this shallow patch of ocean. I had a lot of fun. I was so happy I was there! I didn’t want to get out! While everyone else was back in the boat having their lunch, I was still in the water! I was the last one to get out and reach for my plate. They had Salad, Teriyaki Chicken, and Rice. We were also able to get seconds. Water does make you hungry!! So I hogged into my plate. And dessert! Was ice cream! Vanilla topped with the classic chocolate syrup. Ooh it was getting hot. The sun was on top of us and the wind was picking up too! We were enjoying every bit of it. We were supposed to reach the shore by 2pm. So on our way back we just drifted with the wind for a while with both our sails up! And suddenly, something broke! We didn’t know what but something happened and the sails had to be brought down. We were lucky it didn’t happen too far into the sea, but the crew was excellent. They were calm, knew exactly what to do, and brought us back safely with us feeling so happy that we came and it was definitely worth every penny for the snorkeling, food, people, everything. Thanks Trilogy!!!
We were excited, hot, tanned, and didn’t know what to do next. So we did what we usually do when we have nothing else to do! We went shopping!! We like Lahaina the most as a place of activity, eating and shopping so we set out to get some souvenirs, and clothes. There are plenty of stores, and variety for girls we notices. But the one I liked the most was ‘Go Under Beach Style’. This is a store on Front St, a small one with reasonable priced dresses for girls to wear on the beach. Nice patterns, variety, it’s a place girls will like I am sure. For guys, it was a little tough for my choosy husband to pick the shirt of his kind!! There was variety but not as impressive as the girls’. You have plenty of souvenir shops everywhere. Buy ear ring or clips with flowers on them, or huls girl dolls, or sarongs, or shells, everything is available. And we were attracted back to Ululani’s also! This time we shared a cup of Sunset Beach. I don’t have to explain, it wouldn’t be good enough I know. Please please please taste the shave ice here, its amazing!!
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| Shops at Front St |
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| Sunset at Lahaina |
After a nice shower, we decided to watch the hula at the ka’anapali beach hotel. But before that, we went for a walk to Whalers village to browse through the shops. The village had an amazing live jazz band in the courtyard. Made you sway to the music. Back at the ka’anapali beach hotel, they have hula everyday at their Tiki Terrace. No reservation required. They have a grill and a bar where you can have anything from sandwiches to fries with your drink. The show was sweet. They were kids part of a dance group. They were cute. A fun experience it was! The food I must say here was not very impressive. We had spring rolls and a couple of drinks. The drinks were fine but the food was not worth it really. So I recommend safe food like fries or pizza at this place instead of trying something authentic.
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| Live band at Whalers Village |
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| Hula at Kaanapali Beach Hotel |
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After sunset at Ka'anapali Beach
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| Aloha Mixed Plate |
Our dinner was at Aloha Mixed Plate. A favourite restaurant for the locals and splashed in all brochures. It is the management that also organizes the Old lahaina Luau. They are situated right beside the Old Lahaina Luau on Front St. It’s a small place, with a bar and seating on sand too on the beach, and seating was under beach umbrellas and the usual string of lights everywhere. Price was very reasonable, and we could see why there were proper local Mauians were at this place. They had authentic Hawaiian food and the price was right, that’s why! So we had Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple chutney and Hawaiian Spicy Chicken Drummettes. Both of them were good. Drinks were Hawaiian Angel and a beer. Not bad really. Quite refreshed we were and glad that there is one place in Maui that serves reasonable decent food!! Our main course was Shoyu Chicken and Thai Style Chow Mein. Both of them were good, but as I told you earlier I was not a great fan of their traditional food so I couldn’t finish the shoyu chicken. I preferred the chow mein. We were about to skip dessert when we realized they had those amazing Haupia (coconut pudding) with them!! So we couldn’t stop ourselves. We bought 3 and rushed to the hotel to crash again after our tiring day!!
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| Coconut Shrimp |
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| Spicy Chicken Drummettes |
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| Shoyu Chicken |
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The boat left the harbor at 8:00am. It was a Catamaran with 45 passengers in total. As we sailed away from Maui, the wind picked up and the sail went up! We were heading towards Molokini Island for snorkeling. But first we got a quick guide about what the tour had in store, safety instructions, along with a choice of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or pineapple juice! They were also selling an underwater camera for us for $25. But we didn’t know till the end! So, I’m sorry I have no underwater pics for you. As we reached Molokini, we were taught how to use the snorkel gear and the beginners like us were given a more detailed explanation. There was one lifeguard in the water watching all of us, and we also had a choice of using a floating device(S to XL). I held on to a Bogey board just until I got used to the depth and floating. And kids who were scared or couldn’t float could use this cool bogey board with a window to see the coral and fish through… Wow!! I loved the ocean. Molokini is actually a gas vent created due to the Haleakala volcano on Maui Island. Only one half of it that is in a crescent shape is visible on the surface and the rest is under water. So the area within the semi circle is still and has some coral and fish resting here. We had an awesome time. I never saw bright yellow fish at such close a distance. And the coral was amazing. I have always wanted to see coral reefs and even though this was not a large coral, I was satisfied and happy to have been doing this in HI. The prettiest of colors are in corals, that’s what I say!! And I loved floating across from one end to the other following all kinds of fish. Snorkeling wasn’t that tough at all! The only time I needed the bogey board was when I had to adjust my mask. Otherwise I could manage with my floatation device around my waist. 
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