First Day on Molokai

Ooooo I love small airplanes, and my flight to the island of Molokai was small, holding only 9 passengers. The inter-island 'puddle jumper' was a Cessna Grand Caravan, and it holds about a half dozen passengers plus the pilots.

Ready to board the flight to Molokai

The Cessna is so small there was no room inside for carry-ons. So, the free-of-fees carry-ons were stored with the regular luggage, while the regular luggage that was in the same spot as the carry-ons was not free. Confused? That's OK. I take whatever part of 'free' I am allotted. I read, Molukele airlines was started by a native Hawaiian woman. Go Hawaiians!

I was thrilled to be seated just behind the pilots so during the flight I could see the cool dials, blinking lights and whatnot over their shoulders.

The controls show we were between Maui & Molokai,
with the extra land form being Lanai.

So long Maui!

I knew we were on a good flight when this rainbow spilled into the Pacific.

No Leprechauns here...

The flight was quite short, less than an hour and I enjoyed every second of it, watching so much of the Pacific passing underneath, and Molokai coming into sight.

I hear Molokai has steep cliffs, and that's apparently true

Now. How small is the Molokai airport?

The luggage carousel is this bench.

With my luggage I walked over to the car rental place, the only one on the island. The super basic rental car on Molokai was nearly 3 times as expensive for the 4 days I would have it, than was the well appointed, humongous SUV I had on Maui for a full week. That's what happens when a small local needs to either make their year's profit in a short window or is just tiny and doesn't get as many customers. Ask me about Alaska or Maine's rentals sometime (I dare you!). Packed in my ride for the week I headed east. Had to pass through Kaunakakai, a town that is smaller than its name. I stopped at the Molokai Fish and Dive shop to sign up for a snorkeling boat adventure. I was the ONLY one signed up and they require at least four passengers for it to be a 'go', so I was assured they weren't expecting to go out before Tuesday, when I'm leaving. RATS! So, disappointed, I headed out of town, as far as the roads would take me, to Halawa Valley.

The drive hugged the coastline. The rock rim on the water
is a fish pond that is 7 or 8 hundred years old

The highway mostly hugged the coastline

I thought I could go snorkeling solo at one of the beaches, then decided it might be nice to be alive on Tuesday when I fly home. Those waters were much rougher than they appear in the photos.

There were many places to pull off the highway and walk to beaches

The only Nenes I saw were on this sign

The drive was mostly one lane and like the drive on Maui, it passed lots of farmlands.

Then I reached little Halawa Park, and the end of the road. A local, called to me that I could go on the road anyway if I wanted. Now my first thought was, 'can I drive through there?', not 'Oh look! A place to hike." I didn't go in.

End of the Road

The park was actually rather large and near a little structure, there were locals practicing for what looked to be a Hawaiian Ceremony*. Both of the men in red, below, are holding giant conch shells. The leader blew his, and it made a haunting sound. 

Ceremony in Halawa Valley park

I parked to use the facilities and some locals walking by, invited me to walk the 3 miles with them up to the valley's falls.  As it was miles away and all my stuff was in the car, so I declined

I spotted a sign that said the walk was a daily thing and I'd just happened by when the walk was just taking off. ("Whew! That was close call!", recalls the bone idle woman).

I headed back on the same road, to look for the Air BnB I'm renting at a little resort, that would be my little flat for the week. The drive back, was just as pretty as the drive in.

Mokuhooniki rock, that was used for bombing practice during WWII

See the Mo’oula falls? It looks like a silver ribbon at the end of Halawa Valley

At first I had the spot I stopped at to view and photograph the falls to myself. Shortly after arriving though, several cars and vans stopped and one of the tourists, spotted me and called to the others, "Look! There's our friend, remember her?" They meant me, and at first I was flummoxed. Then I recalled we'd all met in the wee hours of the morning at the Maui airport. There, when a flight for Molokai was announced I joined the little tour group as their names were called and each was given a  seat position on their Cessna.There was no seat for me, and the steward told me I was on a later flight. Standing there on the view point, they told me that my flight left for Molokai more than an hour before theirs did. Their Cessna had problems & sat on the tarmac while the repair crew sorted out the problem. Happily we all made it to Molokai safely, and had our impromptu, and jovial 'reunion'.

Beach at the end of the Halawa Valley

Stern looking Tiki demi-god and bottles guarding a house on the wayside

I passed some fish ponds a second time, and took time to examine them. There are fish ponds on many Hawaiian islands. Ancient Hawaiians built the fish ponds and only royalty ate the fish that grew there. In modern times locals build up the pond enclosures with boulders and rocks composed of lava and coral reef. 

The ocean water wafts in and out of the fish ponds

Western view of fish pond in the distance

Look at Maui from the shores of Molokai

Looking across harbor at Kaunakakai from the Ferry port

After lunching at the port off Kaunakakai I drove to claim my Air BnB. Loved my apartment, which was a cute one room apartment in a small 'resort' which is what apartments on the island seem to be called (or so I believe). It is owned by a guy whom I won't meet and who lives on the big Island of Hawai'i. It's on the second floor, has a small patio and a great ocean view. Yay! It's going to be a good few days here.

Hurrah for a great patio view!

Here's a quicky video (the sort I very-nearly-excel at, of the drive on the south eastern bits of Molokai on the road to the Halawa Valley.

*UPDATE: On line I found out the 'ceremony' I saw at the little Halawa Valley park is held just before groups hike up to the falls. After the cultural Hawaiian pre-trip rite, the group are lead on a 3 miles round trip to the Halawa Valley falls. They cross two rivers and go through a lot of mud and vegetation. Knowing all that makes me even happier I didn't take the walk to the falls. That said, I am tickled that I'd been fortunate enough to view that tiny bit of the traditional ceremony & the blowing of the giant Conch shell.

Our Final Day on Maui and a Last Miracle... or Two

We had another late start today. It was around 10 o'clock when we caravan-ed a short way up the coast, with me driving with Steve and Jeffery. When I saw Ron driving the van into the parking lot at Kapalua Bay beach, I thought not only had Ron had lost his mind. No way was there any chance of finding an parking spot there, for one car, much less two. I mean, what insanity! And lo... the mynas did sing... as Ron drove around a corner, we spotted a white van pulling out of a spot, and Ron signaled me to park there. As I pulled into the spot, A group of people walked towards us, and climbed into the large SUV I'd just parked next to. I know! I was speechless too!

Stephie and Ron headed to the beach

We had two parking spaces, side by side. Surely, Norma, the unofficial goddess of parking watches over us.

The tidy shores of Kapalua Bay

We found a nice spot to spread out our towels on a sandy ledge overlooking the beach. Everyone was going in to snorkel, but for Jeannie and little Gracie. I kept telling myself there are far worse fates than snorkeling on Maui without an underwater camera - DUH! When we all got in the water I was absolutely pleased to see the clearest, cleanest, grit free, water I've been in all week. Kanaloa, the Hawaiian god of the ocean was smiling today.

Teardrop Butterflyfish

Alas, no fishy photos for me, but I made mental notes of them. I know I saw at least one new one, the Teardrop Butterflyfish. There are others but will only force you to admire this this adorable spotty pair whose pic I lifted from the internet.


We left in the afternoon and back at the resort everyone rested up and got ready for our last evening in Maui. Late in the afternoon we dropped Steve and Stephie off at Maalaea Harbor. There they caught a dinner cruise for what I hope was a lovely romantic evening for the pair of them - Ron & Jeannie had all three kiddies for the evening. What do you do with three rambunctious kids? You drop them off at the ocean to play in the surf, of course!

Jordon and Jeffery ran in and out of the ocean, wave chasing until the Hawaiian peepees - the Hawaiian cows - came home. 

Jeannie kept an eye on the romping twins while
toddler Gracie hangs at her side

Still amazes me how you can practically have a whole beach for yourself

Creepy Crustacean

A little girl, sitting on some drift wood shrieked, pointing at a spot on the sand. A lady picked it up, and the little girl - with all the authority of her 6 years, declared the little handful was a baby turtle; after all, it did have a shell.

Being a bit pretentious meself, I insisted it was no reptile, but a kind of crab that I've seen before in California, a mole crab or some such. The little girl assured me, I was wrong, a shell is a shell after all.

Whatever the hell it was, it was creepy!

I did not get back in the water at this lovely cove, and sadly, it's because I wasn't excited about sitting around in wet clothing for the remainder of the evening. Isn't it just plain sad when we 'grow up' and lose that 'live in the now' not in the 'eeeewww damp' world? Tsk, tsk. Must remember to grow up down.

The dusk, with Lanai in the distance

Fishermen trying for the last fish of the day at sundown

When it was finally too dark to romp in the surf, the boys were still annoyingly energetic and lively. Why is all that energy wasted on the young, and omygawd I am getting old, aren't I? Ron, Jeannie, the kids and I dined at a lovely little Thai restaurant for dinner. Afterwards they all went to pick up Steve and Stephie from their dinner cruise and I headed back to the resort to finish packing and get ready to leave Maui in the morning. Tomorrow morning the gang will head back to California, and I am off to the most Hawaiian of the Hawaiian islands - or so I am told. Will miss Maui. The snorkeling on Kapalua Bay was heavenly and I only wish I'd discovered the wonders of Snuba sooner. Oh well, there you go, another reason to come back to Maui some day.

Under Deh Sea

Monokini is a crescent shaped volcano crater, off Maui, popular with divers

The gang of 8 has split off a couple of day's separate adventures. Ron, Steve, Stephie and their kids are off for a a ride on the notoriously twisty-windy road to Hana. Meanwhile, yesterday Jeannie, Jordan and I went to the Maui Theater to see the highly entertaining 'Ulalena, the theatrical telling of the History and lore of the Hawaiian islands. The today the mini gang of 3 lit out on a Snorkel Bob boat to Monokini and Turtle Town.

Well, one of us enjoyed boating around.

All I expected was to get out and enjoy some snorkeling in prime reef areas. On the way to Monokini however, an enticing proposition was offered up, as the boat offered 'Snuba' diving. Huh? Well, as Jeannie who has done it in the past explained to me, Snuba is diving with an oxygen tank that is at the surface of the water on a raft. The diver attaches to the tank via a long air hose. Unlike Scuba, there is no need for scuba certification. I had no hesitation to try it. The cost was as much as the amount we'd already spent for the boat trip itself, but for me it was like being a cat offered catnip. I am all about being underwater. Jeannie and Jordan opted to stick with some scenic snorkeling.

Prior to the Snuba dive, all participants heard to a short talk on how to Snuba & live to tell the tale. The most emphasized point was to move - slowly, and at that, I am a PRO. Our diving master got us each outfitted with hefty weight belts. I had to have quite a bit of weight for my belt to counteract my uber-boyant fat. Our dive master - who wore regular scuba gear - even added additional weight to my belt once I was in the water. Then soon I was experiencing the joy of staying underwater as if I'd magically grown gills.

The Dive Master took photos of all his pod members
Can you guess which one this is?

To begin with my ears ached, but surprisingly, that only lasted a minute or two, and as I sunk lower in the water beneath the surface, the ache vanished. Then, the only remaining difficult bit was becoming accustomed to hearing my every breath result in a cloud of noisy bubbles. Once used to the racket however, I quickly felt like I belonged. I mean, heck, I'm shaped rather like a ocean dwelling mammal, aren't I?

One of these creatures has to get to the surface to breathe in a bit... in your face Manatee!

I had my underwater camera with me and wasted about two minutes of precious battery life because I turned it on accidentally and it ran for a few minutes. Still, I got some photos that will not challenge anything you see on National Geographic.

On the upper right you can see a raft holding a scuba tank
at the surface, and the hose leading down to snuba divers.

Lots of coral below and plenty of little fish for me to stare at.

And not a few BIG fishies: Pinktail Durgeon Triggerfish

The snuba dive was gently guided by our guide diver who lead us after the local sights of fishes. He told us to clue him in with hand signals if we saw anything unusual, so everyone could get a look - it was just like birding. Before I knew it, the dive was over, about 45 minutes had shot by in a flash. I could have stayed under until I actually would grow gills. After we hauled back onto the boat - which was not easy wearing massive swim fins and hauling an extra b'jillion pounds of dead weight - the boat headed back towards Maui to 'Turtle Town'.

On the way three or four Spinner Dolphins were spotted. The boat stopped so we could all watch the dazzling dolphins leaping from the water, twisting in the air, seemingly just for the joy of it. I didn't manage any photos of the dolphins, they were too fast. When the dolphins headed off, we continued on the way to the Turtle Town site and sure enough a couple of turtles were spotted at the surface.

Not the best picture, but trust me, that's a Hawaiian Green Turtle or 'Honu'.

There was a second chance to Snuba dive and I went for it again. This time it was only myself and a twenty-something year old girl that took the bait, so to speak. Soon I was back beneath the surface.

Bluespine Unicornfish, politely staring at me

A school of Unicornfish moving along

Turtle Town lived up to its hype, and there were plenty of 'Honu', Hawaiian Green Turtles to be found.  Here's a clip of the one that dove down and hid itself in its favorite hide-e hole.

Turtle Town lived up to its promise, several turtles swam around

Forceps Butterflyfish

Tiny little Hawaiian Pufferfish

Spotted a Trumpetfish which looks like a stick. This one below is brown, the first of that sort I've ever seen. All I've seen previously are banana yellow. They apparently take on the color of whatever fish they've preyed on, so they can blend in and catch 'em by surprise.

Trumpetfish, its face on the left, spotty tail on the right

And the Humu-humu-nuka-nuka'apu'a'a' swam by...

Picasso Triggerfish, or Humuhumunukanuka'apua'a, the Hawaii state fish

Can't imagine more fun than scooting along underwater. I have wanted a chance to breath underwater via an oxygen tank since days, long ago, watching Jacques Cousteau on National Geographic specials and the adventures of Bond in You Only Live Twice. It was great getting a chance to try it for myself with no worries of Spectre coming to blow me out of the water. Can do that for myself, thankyouverymuch!