The day started our REALLY early; the gang was going diving (excluding me). They had to check in at 6am at the Kihei boat ramp and they were off before 6:30am. I waved them off and wished them fun finds (AJ was hoping to see a shark, and I was okay with that as long as it was seen from a safe distance, if there is such a thing). Before I left the boat ramp I noticed there was a trail head on either side of the launch so I decided to walk along the trail for a little bit and saw a plaque that said it was the Eddie Pu Trail and a little bit about his story. Every year, for over 25 years, Eddie circumnavigated Maui on foot for 211 miles along the shoreline trails used by his ancestors. There were some amazing views of the island and a saw some BIG turtles in the water.
They signed up to go diving on the back side of Molokini, but unfortunately the currents were way to strong, so they instead dove on the front side (a dive AJ has done before). They saw lots of eels and octopus, which were the highlight. The water visibility was incredible, but still the currents were strong.
After they returned from diving AJ and I headed to the Maui Ocean Center, which is the largest tropical reef aquarium in the Western Hemisphere. We’ve visited the Ocean Center on our first trip to Maui, but I loved it so much I wanted to go back. It’s especially fun to go after AJ has gone diving so he can show me everything he saw while in the sea. They also have a shark exhibit that is 750,000 gallon tank and holds up to 5 different shark species, numerous sting rays and hundreds of fish. Attached to that is an underwater tunnel that you walk through as you exit the exhibit. It is so mesmerizing. New to the Ocean Center was the Kaho’olawe exhibit that discusses the history of the island, it was beautiful. We spent over 3 hours at the Ocean Center, and could have stayed longer.
After we left the Maui Ocean Center we headed to the shops and I finally found my Koa wood bracelet I have been looking for, score! From there we meet up with Chad and Tina and headed to Monkey Pod for dinner. Always a fun and delicious time, and of course Mai Tai’s were enjoyed.
It was a packed day and we slept hard that night.
Stay tuned for the next entry, we saw Whales!!
Getting ready to head out diving 
Eddie Pu Trail by Kihei Boat Launch 
Eddie Pu Trail 
View from Eddie Pu trail 
Beach at boat launch 
boat launch beach 
AJ on Eddie Pu Trail 
Ocean Center fish tank 
Jelly Fish 
Fish Tank at Ocean Center 
Turtle 
Paper Coral, loved this! 
Scorpion Fish 
History part of Ocean Center 
Shark Tank 
Shark Tank tunnel 
Shark Tank tunnel 
Juvenile Tiger shark 
About the important of sharks to Hawaii 
blown glass octopus 
harbor across the street from Ocean Center 
Monkey Pod
