We had the best underwater adventure on Trilogy, the highest rated Catamaran company on Maui. Mom booked a snorkel tour that launched right off the shores of Ka'anapali.
I am familiar with Trilogy because my restaurant booked them for our Christmas Party on Lanai. The Trilogy crew is simply the best, offering plenty of Aloha from beginning to end. The Trilogy company has a fleet of seven catamarans, we were on Trilogy IV--one of the smaller, lighter ships in the fleet, perfect for sailing!
The sun was shining overhead as the crew carefully loaded us onto the catamaran from the beach, but the winds shifted and brought grey clouds of misty rain over the boat. We tried to stay ahead of those clouds our entire sail, but they caught up with us when we arrived in Honolua Bay--our snorkeling destination.
Dad lounging on the Catamaran's trampolines
Where there's rain, there are rainbows! (It's just a smudge of color on the horizon under the clouds)
Once everyone was on board we began our sail towards the northern part of the west side of Maui. The crew handed out sliced fresh fruit and their famous homemade cinnamon rolls.
Mom and Hana enjoying breakfast
Leaving the resorts behind as we head north
Looking for whales
These maritime flags spell "Trilogy"
Sun streaming through rainclouds over Maui
Rainbow at the entrance of Honolua Bay
The Beaty ladies show off their colorful toes:
Blue (Hana), Pink (Paige) and Purple (Mom)
Dropping anchor in Honolua Bay.
Where does the rainbow end?
At the start of a wave--Honolua is a popular surf spot in winter
Honolua Bay is about a 20 minute drive from the hustle and bustle of the Ka'anapali resorts. Even though it's not far, I had never snorkeled here until today. Many of my Maui friends are totally shocked and saddened by this fact. After today's visit, I plan on coming back often. There is a reason why Honolua is considered to be everyone's favorite snorkeling destination.
Honolua Bay is part of the Mokuleia Marine Life Conservation District. The fish seem to know that the bay is a protected area (no fishing allowed) so there are plenty to gawk at amongst the large, colorful coral formations of the reef.
Note to those who are driving in rather than catching a ride on a boat: there's no sand beach, so don't come to sunbathe. Honolua Bay is for snorkelers and surfers only.
After an incredibly enticing introduction to Snuba by Frank, one of the Trilogy's crew members, we decided that we had to give it a try.
Mom, Hana and I were a little apprehensive at first, but after a clumsy and (at times) heart pounding acclimation period it was smooth sailing and absolutely amazing.
Frank, our Snuba guide, leading us to new sights
Snuba is an underwater breathing system that allows you to "scuba dive" without carrying the tanks on your back. The tanks rest on pontoon rafts on the surface and air is provided by a 20 foot hose that you breathe through a regulator, like scuba diving.
Hana, Dad and Mom
I love swimming in the ocean and getting close to fish, but I had never seriously considered trying to scuba dive. I have the hardest time using a snorkel and scuba diving seemed to be a much more complicated version of snorkeling. After doing Snuba today, I'm much more enthusiastic about trying out the real thing.
Because the skies above us were darkened with clouds and rain, the visibility was slightly compromised, but we still managed to have an amazing day under the water.
We spent about an hour swimming around using the Snuba system, but I wish that I had had more time to swim around.
Getting used to the snuba, snapping photos and remembering to keep breathing evenly through the regulator rather than holding my breath kept me pretty occupied that the experience of breathing under water and being surrounded by fish became a secondary experience rather than the primary one.
An hour felt so short, and there was so much more to see.
Dad
Honolua Bay is also famous for being a great spot to swim with turtles or "honus." Frank knew exactly where they like to hang out, and he led us right to them. When we came across our first turtle, Frank zipped over and took my camera from me and motioned me to swim along after him so he could capture pictures of me swimming alongside the turtle.
That's me!
Dad and Me with a sea turtle
The turtle and I swam side by side for a little while. He paid me no mind. As he swam along, it appeared as if he was grooming himself. He would swivel his head over to his front right flipper and pick at it with his beak.
The turtle's shell was a mottled brown and green, and his eye color seemed to match. Its skin looked like worn leather and settled in wrinkles behind its head.
Mom and Hana look at the turtle from above
Me swimming alongside a sea turtle
I felt close enough to the turtle that I could have reached my arm out and cradled the top of its shell. I continued to swim with him for a while amazed that a sea creature that looks so heavily armored can glide along so effortlessly.
When our first sea turtle continued out towards the open ocean, we swung back towards the reef where we spotted this behemoth:
This turtle was as tall as Hana!
Speaking of Hana...here she is!!
The giant sea turtle, rousted from his sleeping spot, swims up from the ocean floor towards Dad
A small school of fish near the ocean floor
Frank: our fearless leader
Before we got into the water, we were outfitted with a wetsuit top and a weighted belt. The wetsuit helped keep out some of the chill, and the weighted belt helped us drop beneath the surface. I thought I was going to have hard time equalizing as we slipped deeper into the ocean, but I was lucky and acclimated to it quickly.
I felt like my childhood dream of becoming a mermaid had finally come true. I was able to dive deep with the fish and breathe under the water like they do.
Dad
Mom and Hana above me
Another giant turtle taking a nap. This one was almost as big as me!
A cloud of fish forming under the anchored Trilogy IV
Dad sporting his new board shorts from Billabong. He looks like a Snuba Pro!
The Beatys: Underwater Adventurers!
(from left to right) Me, Hana, Mom and Dad
Snuba Champions!
I didn't think I was going to fall in love with Snuba like I did. It was an amazing introduction to the real deal, and I can't wait to give scuba diving a try. The hardest part was after we had surfaced and removed our regulators I continued to stick my head under to look at passing fish while gulping in sea water! I was still trying to breathe underwater like I was still hooked up to the Snuba system. Doh!
Once we were back on the boat, we had a hard time warming up. I felt chilled to the bone in my wet bathing suit, and it continued to rain off and on as we waited for lunch.
While lunch was being prepared, I watched a mother whale and her baby slowly swim across the mouth of the bay. Slowly, they began to swim inwards towards the beach. Honolua Bay is incredibly shallow, but the whales continued to swim in towards the reef. The Trilogy crew couldn't believe the good luck we were having on their boat. They had never seen this before.
The mother whale and baby cruised towards the reef, and the lucky snorkelers that were still in the water got quite the show. It's illegal to get into the ocean within 100 feet of the Humpback Whales, but I guess it's fair game if you are already in the water. "I was swimming around and minding my own business. It's the whale that came up and starting harassing me, Officer. I swear!"
As the whales got closer we saw that they were escorted by two dolphins. The crew said that the mother whale was probably giving her baby a rest in the shallow bay before continuing their journey through deeper waters.
After a short swim in the bay, the mother whale and dolphins steered the baby out towards the open ocean.
The whale watch was the perfect entertainment during our lunch. It was almost as if the Trilogy crew had orchestrated it just for us. One of the crew members joked that it had taken them two months to train the whales to come into the bay and approach snorkelers.
After lunch we motored out of the bay into a good steady wind. The crew raised the sail, cut the engines and cruised us back to Ka'anapali. In spite of the chilly weather and wind, the sail back was great fun. The crew members dished out ice cream and joked with the guests, and everyone kicked back and relaxed our windblown ride back home.
Many thanks to the amazing crew of Trilogy IV for such a great day. Huge kudos to Frank for getting all of us into the ocean with Snuba gear, and thanks for Dominick for the many laughs and the invite to join Trilogy for one of their whale watches. Caleb is another Oregon transplant, so we had a lot to talk about, and Captain Kevin was our outstanding grill master.
The family and I had such a wonderful time, and I definitely plan on coming back onboard for more whale watching this season.
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