Today, I went on a catamaran to Molokini Crater to go snorkelling, hoping to see lots of fish and some turtles.
Molokini Crater, Snorkelling Trip.
Today, the NCL Spirit made port in Maui, Hawaii. After a hearty breakfast, I eagerly joined fellow passengers for an exhilarating catamaran trip. Our destination? The Molokini Crater, where we hoped to encounter the vibrant marine life that inhabits its waters.
We had a short journey by coach to the port, where we joined the catamaran on which we would go to the Molokini Crater. When we arrived, we were met by one of the crew members, who gave us all a safety briefing, described the boat, and told us what we would be doing. We were then led to the catamaran, and once everybody was onboard, we set sail for the Molokini Crater.
Though rough, the journey offered breathtaking views of the Maui landscape and the majestic windmills that dotted the terrain. I ascended to the top deck for a closer look at Maui, but soon, we were all advised to move below deck due to the increasingly rough waters. From my vantage point, I witnessed a few unfortunate falls as people navigated the steps to and from the upper deck.
After a while, we were allowed back on deck, but a few people lost their balance in the rough sea and fell. I went onto the top deck and saw a helicopter approaching a small boat in the distance. As I watched, a crewman from the helicopter was lowered down to the boat on a winch to help people be evacuated. As I watched it, the Captain of the catamaran I was on announced for people to look at what was happening. He informed us this was a training exercise, not a real rescue. It still looked dangerous, whether it was real or not, and the helicopter crew had my admiration.
We continued towards the Molokini Crater, but as we approached, our Captain announced that he had heard from the Captains of other boats at the Crater, and they had all said the same thing. It was too rough for people to go snorkelling, and no one had been allowed in the water from any of the other boats. Our Captain changed direction and headed towards a bay on Maui that he hoped would be okay for us to go snorkelling.
We travelled to the next spot, and a few of us were allowed to get into the water, but within a few minutes, we were told to get out of the water because the current was too strong. I climbed back on the catamaran, disappointed that I had not seen anything so far. As we began moving away from the spot we had just been at, we saw a turtle swimming on the water's surface but didn't get a good look at it before we moved to another, hopefully, calmer spot.
We seemed to travel quite a distance to the new spot, and we all managed to get in the water this time. The sea was still rough, though, and snorkelling was very difficult. The waves coming over the top of us kept filling our snorkels with seawater, and I spent more time getting rid of water from my mouth, nose and snorkel than I did snorkelling. When I could snorkel, the water was not very clear, and there were very few fish or sea creatures of any sort to be seen. I tried to video a couple of small fish, but the water was too unclear for the video to be of any use.
We spent about 20 minutes at this spot before being called back to the boat. Almost as soon as we were all back onboard the boat, a pod of dolphins swam by in the spot we had all been swimming in a few minutes before. If we had remained in the water a little longer, we would have been surrounded by the playful dolphins. As people tried to get a view of the dolphins in the water, I moved out of the way to allow them to see better. As I turned and moved towards the back of the boat, a large humpback whale breached the water behind us. It almost cleared the water entirely and was like the ones we all imagine seeing, but never do. I looked around me, and there was only one lady near me. I asked her if she had seen it, and she confirmed she had. On a boat of around maybe 24 people, we were the only two people looking the right way to see it. Unfortunately, neither of us had a camera or a video ready to take photos or video of this truly amazing sight.
As the pod of dolphins moved away from the front of the boat, the Captain set sail, and we returned to the dock. When we arrived back at the dock, we had about an hour before the coach would pick us up. The port had a tourist shopping area, and everybody went to look around the shops. I bought a T-shirt in one of the shops and then went to a small local bar at the end of the shopping centre. It was happy hour, and a few old boys were drinking at the bar. As I sat at the bar, the barman asked me what I wanted, and was surprised when I asked for a Wild Turkey. I don't think many tourists would order it, but I used to drink it in Florida. He gave me a considerable amount and put the drink in front of me. I expected it to cost a lot because the bar was in a tourist area. I gave the man a twenty-dollar bill, and when he told me it was only three dollars and fifty cents, I was amazed. Even by Spanish measures, it was a huge drink, and by the time I had finished it, I was already quite merry.
I returned to the pick-up point and rejoined the coach for our short trip back to the NCL Spirit. I was very disappointed by the snorkelling trip, but you can't complain when the weather and waves stop the snorkelling. The crew had all been excellent and kept us safe while trying to find calmer waters to snorkel in.
Maui Photos.
These photos were taken when I went snorkelling. Unfortunately, it was so rough on the day we went, and we couldn't go snorkelling in three of the four places we went. On the last spot, we did go snorkelling, but there was nothing worth looking at. I did see some dolphins swimming and a humpback whale breaching, but I didn't have my camera available when I saw them.
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