Today we took a snorkeling trip run by the Pacific Whale Foundation, then did a bunch of random lounging and ate at Longhi’s in Lahaina.
Things to ask about your snorkel trip:
- how big is the boat (for seasickness issues)
- how many people will be on the boat (less is better)
- how long each stop will be (longer is better)
- where the stops will be
We tried to get to Molokini but alas, the water was too rough and cloudy. Next time for sure!
I had really forgotten how much I love snorkeling in the open ocean- it was liberating to break away from the surface and swim free in the middle of schools of fish. I definitely appreciate the check valves on the bottom of modern snorkels too… they didn’t have those last time I went snorkeling in… uhm… the late 1980s. It was really funny watching the masses of snorkellers paddling out to various areas- they mostly had those bright orange floating noodles tucked in front of them, so there were all these noodle ends sticking out of the water like giant insect parts. We saw a spot the guides called “coconut” and another called “turtle cleaning station” where the sea turtles would go to meet the fish that eat algae off their shells.Our trip was produced by the Pacific Whale Foundation, and all the guides had a bachelor’s degree in some sort of Life Science. At one point on the way back, one of the guides started geeking out about a cancer the sea turtles have been getting recently, and breeding habits of the humpback whales. It was kind of like being at a dinner in Berkeley.
I could swear I saw a gecko on the wall with two tails. Just the tip. Maybe it was a mutant. Or a house god of some sort.I sure am getting sick of eating resort food. It’s all the same. Maybe I am spoiled by living in the San Francisco Bay Area™, but I need a little variety. What happened to all the Hawaiian food I remember from the last time I was in Maui? Where is my lomi salmon, shredded pork, poi, spam musubi, and random Japanese pickles? After a few days I still couldn’t find any… So I finally called my mom and found out where we were getting all that stuff. It turns out we got most of it from small restaurants away from the resorts in Kihei, like “The Kitchen,” places which serve “plate lunch.” I eventually found lomi salmon in the grocery store.
There is a supermarket called Star Markets, but every time we drive past it we misread it as “Stan Market.” So now we just call it “Stan’s.” Stan’s is a little overpriced, it turns out. Napili Market was much cheaper.
I found my jam- it’s called Poha jam. Named for the Poha berry it is made from. I still have no idea what a poha berry looks like, but it has a lot of seeds apparently.
Diane has so many mosquito bites she looks like she has polka dots. 30+. Gah. We need some repellant with DEET in it- somehow ours is defective.