My aunt Julie and my cousin Zoe came to visit right before school started in July. I loved having family in town! :)
One of the days we went on a Molokini snorkel trip with the Pacific Whale Foundation. I freaking loved it. I hope to go again when Korey and Chris are here, and that way Justin can go. (Last time was such short notice, he couldn't get off of work.)
A little about Molokini: It is a crescent shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater that is 2ish miles from the coast. It is very close to where Justin and I live in Kihei, and we can see it from most of the beaches in South Kihei/Wailea/Makena.
According to Hawaiian legend, Molokini and Pele, the fire goddess were both in love with the same dude. So Pele turned Molokini to stone, and she rests out in the ocean. According to scientists, Molokini was a volcano that erupted 230,000 years ago. I thought it was really cool that ancient Hawaiian used to paddle out to Molokini to fish off of her.
And of course, because we can't appreciate nice things, the United States Navy used Molokini as target practice during World War II, we placed mini-bombs on it in the 70's and 80's, and a lot of coral was harvested from the area, as well as a lot of it destroyed from the bombings.
Despite all that gross history, Molokini is now a conservation area, for fish and coral as well as the seabirds that nest and lay eggs on the top of the crater.
It was a very beautiful area, and I had a lot of fun. We went early in the morning, so the water was a bit chilly. The crew fed us breakfast, let us swim around Molokini for an hour, then took us to another place known as "Turtle Town." We got to see a couple of turtles swimming around, though most of them had tumors on their faces and/or backs. :( The guide said it was most likely from the polluted run-off from the golf courses in Wailea. icky. :(
On the way back to the docks at Ma'alaea harbor, the crew feed us lunch. I had a great time, and I can't wait to go again. And I'm glad we picked the Pacific Whale Foundation as our guides. There are tons of tourist groups that go out to Molokini, but I felt like we had the experts...and it was cheaper than everywhere else! :)
Let the pictures begin!
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| Walking down to the dock |
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| Hanging out on the front of the boat |
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| Zoe, Aunt Julie, and me! |
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| Nearrrrr......faaarrrrrr....wherever you areeeee... :) |
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| Getting closer to Molokini! |
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| Cheesin'! |
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| Posing in front of Molokini |
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| Hi Aunt Julie! |
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| Look how blue the water is! |
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| Swallowed A LOT of salt water. yuummm. |
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| Hello black triggerfish! I guess they used to be feed these types of fish a couple of years back, so they're not shy at all! |
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| Got the whole breathing under water thing figured out. |
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| Coral reef |
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| Baby school of fish |
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| Hi Zoe! |
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| Neon fish! |
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| The moorish idol fish, or Gill from Finding Nemo! :) |
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| Yellow tang fish |
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| Yellow tang fish! |
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| The backside of Molokini. The water is crazy bumpy back here! |
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| Lava ash layers |
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| Some crazy scuba divers come back here and scuba. |
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| A sea turtle! With tumors. :( |
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| The state fish of Hawaii! The humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa |
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| Swim away! |
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| We were at what they call a "turtle cleaning station." The turtles hang out and the fish eat all the algae off the turtles! |
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| Swimming and cleaning |
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