Don’t crash into those rocks

One of the things that we wanted to do in Hawaii was to go kayaking.  We decided to take a whale watch/snorkelling tour with South Pacific Kayaks.  We met up with Mike who was our guide at Makena Landing at 7am.  Before heading into the water, he gave us the basics of kayaking (how to get in and out, paddling, etc).

Karen and I got into the kayak and started paddling.  Just a few feet out, we started heading towards some very large rocks and all I could hear from the shore was Mike yelling “paddle right, paddle right, paddle right”.  Not a good way to start the trip.  Once we got our rhythm, we met up with the rest of the group which was about 60 yards from shore.

The first part of the trip was to kayak out into the ocean about a mile and a half and look for whales.  Unfortunately for us, we didn’t see any whales, although others saw some spouting out near Molokini.  Kayaking is really hard when you have the waves and wind moving you in a completely different direction than you want to go.

The second part of the trip was snorkelling.  That was alot of fun as well.  Thanks to Paula loaning us her waterproof camera, we were able to get lots of pictures of the reef and the fishes.  We saw Black Durgeon, Yellow Tang, Red Sea Urchin, Black Sea Urchin, Moorish Idol (angel fish) and Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles.  The area where we snorkelled is called Turtle Town, and the huge turtles just swim by with their heads poking out of the water.  All of a sudden, it was time to go.  Time sure flies when you are having fun.  We managed to get back to shore without getting anywhere near those pesky rocks.  We definitely needed a rest after that so we went back to the condo to lay around the pool.

In the afternoon we decided to go explore upcountry.  Our first stop was Maui’s Winery at Ulupalakua Ranch where we sampled a wine called Maui Splash!.  It was so good, I picked up a bottle.  The next stop was Ali’i Kula Lavender farm.  There sure is alot of lavender in Maui.  On our way to Hookipa Beach Park, we found The Maui Surfboard Fence.  The fence is made up of surfboards that surfers no longer need.  It’s quite a site.  There were tons of surfers in the water at Hookipa Beach Park.  The waves were pretty big and it was nice to watch the sunset from there.

Our friend Patti from work recommended a place called Pizza In Paradise in Kahului.  When we arrived, it looks and actually it is a dive.  It takes a while to get your food but in the end it’s worth it.  Awesome pasta!

We ended the night with a small shopping excursion before heading for bed.  We need to get up really early tomorrow morning.