7/30 snorkeling at Molokini Crater

It took us an hour to get out to Molokini Crater. It's only 1 of three volcanic craters in the world submerged in water. The snorkeling was pretty good - saw some beautiful butterfly angel fish, parrot fish, lots of sea urchins, coral, and a bunch of friendly little black fish with a white stripe where the tail meets its body. It got to be pretty crowded out at the crater by the time we left. Most of the tour boats have their own 'area' to try and stay within, but as you get floating around, there is always going to be someone bumping into you.

From there they took us to what they called 'turtle ghetto', rather than the 'turtle city' that all the other boats take people to. Just as we arrived there was a sea turtle at the surface, making his way back down below. After swimming around for about 20 minutes, we finally saw one turtle snuggled up under the tire that held the buoy in place. Austin swam down and dropped the GoPro camera right next to the big guy to get some footage. The ride back to harbor took FOREVER, since we were working against the wind and waves the whole way. I just wanted to take a nap! Being on the water is so tiring.

 

After some rest and packing, it was beach time - we finally checked out the beach park right across the street from our condo.

It didn't look too promising from our point of view on the 4th floor (not much beach and rocky), but it turned out not to be a bad beach at all. It was very windy, which seems to be the general rule in Hawaii. The kids and Mike had fun using the boogie boards. Apparenty I missed the drama while I was still at the condo - Mike saved some guy who was drunk and falling off his surf board in the waves. Mike brought the guy into shore, and the surf board ended up on the rocks. The lifeguards drove down with their 4-wheelers and applied first aid, then saved his surf board. All in a day's work!

The kids wanted Hawaiian pizza, so we made our way down the street to find out if Hawaiian pizza is an American thing, or if there is an 'authentic' Hawaiian pizza. I don't think we went to the right place for any kind of 'real' Hawaiian pizza. They had it alright, with pineapple and ham, but you could tell they used canned pineapple chunks (with the taste of Maui gold pineapples, that should be a crime on this island!) Oh, and we had to send it back because it had a nice, juicy, black fly baked right into the cheese! Of course that didn't stop Mike and Austin from having a slice first!

 

Last sunset in Maui - on Big Mekena Beach. Mike and the kids did some boogie boarding - the waves were pretty big and the undertow was harsh. Emma got tossed under and decided she isn't going to boogie board ever again!