At the town boat ramp the BlueWater Tours guys were there and we'll prepared. We had almost twenty people in a good sized zodiac inflatable boat with twin engines. This was not going to be a multi hour slow boat to the dive spot!
While zipping across the bay we saw numerous whale spouts and could drive closer to investigate. We saw multiple mother/calf pairs as well as single whales and groups of multiple adults.
As the captain told us about the numbers we realized that the humpback whale population has grown by almost 10X since the low point in the 1960's. So there are definitely many more of these whales now than when we last visited Molokini in 1992. That's fantastic! So we are making progress and doing some good things for nature.
At Molokini we all got nice snorkel masks, flippers, instruction and off we went. I love how the sea floor slopes up to the crater edge, giving you closer and closer viewing of the sea life. It was wonderful to float along and see so much activity. Kathy recalled being given heads of lettuce and frozen peas to feed the fish in 1992. Now you can't do that, but the experience was good.
We all got cold and eventually climbed back in the boat. A nasty dark cloud had settled in over us and the wind was picking up. While we saw even more whales in the way back, the highlight was zipping along at high speed through 5'-10' waves in a 30-40' boat. Let's say everyone got a little wet, and everyone got some rollercoaster activity. Fun!
Post-ride lunch at Paia fish market was delicious.
We took a modest walk in the beach, them came back to rest and clean up before dinner. Maui Madness Pizza for dinner with a custom veggie pizza (white sauce, five veggies, nice thick crust, slightly well done). Yum, that was delicious!
Tomorrow looks like a ride on the road to Hana. The following day we depart to Honolulu.
I got some photos on the underwater GoPro, but I need to charge batteries to get them downloaded. Coming soon...
Sounds like fun, Dad! Such a beautiful setting :)
ReplyDeleteJust want to add to Dave’s comments about the boat ride back, which was indeed a highlight. We saw literally dozens of whales slapping, spouting, and breaching. We even saw a full pectoral fin wave at us. (Our boat captain reported the pectoral fin of the humpback whale to be the largest appendage in the animal kingdom.) It was a-maz-ing! And then there was the ride itself, which even though we had carefully chosen seats at the rear — aka the calmest part of the boat — was thrilling to the point that I wondered if I would be the next one to breach out of the water!
ReplyDeleteWow! Sounds incredible
DeleteHaha I was surprised that 5-10 foot waves were described as "fun." I'm glad it was the good kind of thrilling!
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