Scuba Diving Mala Ramp & Ka'anapali - Hawaii

We got Scuba certified 5 years ago now in Seattle and after two more dives in Puget Sound decided we were wusses and didn't want to dive in the freezing cold waters anymore. We've made it our mission though to get in a day of diving whenever we're somewhere that has even a decent reputation - both to stay in practice and because we love it. Two dives each in Mexico, Cuba, Vietnam, and South Africa have been great, and made us ready for a real dive vacation at some point. For this trip, we signed up to go out to the island of Lanai with Extended Horizons for a two tank dive. We did 'No name Paradise' and '1st Cathedral' both of which were wonderful. Visibility was good, we wore only shorties, and the dive operation was great. One of the dive masters was also a professional photographer and we ponied up a little extra dough to have her take pictures of us and the fishies - totally worth it! Lanai was formed by lava, so had lots of great caves, tunnels, and swim troughs, nice coral, and lots of great brightly colored fish, along with eels, and more.

We had a ton of fun out on the dive boat, but Maui is expensive so had only planned one day. We saw quite a number of people diving the reef right out in front of our hotel, and had heard about another great shore dive so started investigating just renting gear. Normally we worry about the navigation piece of doing a dive by ourselves in a strange place but both of these were terrifically easy and shallow and we found you could rent just gear for quite cheap. The second dive was called Mala Ramp and it was an old wharf that had fallen down in a hurricane in the 40s and formed an artificial reef. We saw tons of turtles on this dive! Lots of other great fish and coral as well, but I looooved swimming around following the peaceful turtles who were very unafraid. Some other divers who got out of the water right before us had seen a white tipped shark, but we missed him. The other great thing was that both of these dives were under 40ft in depth so we had long bottom time and I was able to bring my beloved Panasonic Lumix with me. They’re not nearly as good as the professional ones, but it was very fun!

Maui, Hawaii - Beach time and the Road to Hana

Last winter Matt's aunt and uncle Diane and Barry called us up and said they had won a week at the Westin in Maui and would we like to join? Well that's certainly an offer you can't turn down. As evidenced by these past trips, we get along great with D&B and love hanging out with them, so we booked the tickets! Matt's mom Jeri was able to come as well, so we had some great family time. Two of our daily adventures I'll chronicle in separate posts, but here's the bulk of it. The Westin was right on Ka'anapali beach, gorgeous, and had fantastic snorkeling right out front. Our rooms were condo style so we had out own kitchens, which means we did some fun cooking. We ate out quite a bit too and had a ton of amazing seafood. Da Kitchen, Maui Fish Market, Mamas Fish House, and Sensei Sushi would be some of our top recommendations.

Pacific

Maui 

From the Lanai

Diane & Barry

Matt & Jeri

spy the rainbow?

spy the cliff jumper?

We relaxed by the pool, snorkeled, found a blowhole, wandered Lahaina, ate shave ice, and generally enjoyed ourselves and the company.

Shave ice with Jeri

surfing Lahaina

coral fort

Napali coast

blowhole

Mahi

One day Matt, Jeri and I took the Road to Hana. Ka'anapali is on the dry side of the island, which makes it ideal for beach going but not the lush Hawaii you picture. Hana gives you the lush. Its a short but extremely windy (and therefore long) route that passes countless waterfalls and viewpoints. We stopped a number of times on the way out and saw some good waterfalls, walks, and views. We had a picnic lunch in the harbor in Hana and then moved on. Many people return the way they came, as the route around the other side of the island has a few miles of dirt road and some pretty bad pavement, but we decided to do it. Good choice! While the way to Hana was lush, it was also cloudy and a little drizzly. The other side was still lush at the beginning, but much sunnier! Hamoa Beach was one of our favorites on the island, and then we made a nice long stop at Oheo Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools). The pools themselves were beautiful though somewhat crowded, but the 4 mile hike above the pools was spectacular. There were a number of waterfalls along the way, an awesome bamboo forest, and a great 400ft waterfall at the end cascading down a lush green canyon. The rest of the drive back had great views of Haleakala and the sunset over the neighboring islands.

Haleakala sunrise

ginger

Hamoa Beach

spirit tree

Bamboo forest

bamboo's

Molokini sunset

Friday afternoon while relazing by the pool, Barry pulled out his camera and said 'Quick, take a photo! Rare sighting of Matt & Mackenzie relaxing!'. Well, we won't deny we have a hard time relaxing, but it was great to get to do so. Overall fantastic trip, and coming up, photos of Scuba diving and Haleakala.