Day 9: A Whole New World

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!!