L'ai haine, Maui, Hawaii

We anchored in the bay on a beautiful clear morning with whales all around us - fins, tails, water shooting into the air. What a beautiful sight with lush volcanic mountains as a backdrop! There were so many whales in the bay that locals say you can hear them singing when you swim or snorkel. They seem to like the music of Elvis and AC/DC and will come closer seeking it out!

We opted to do the Atlantis Submarine Adventure as our excursion.

It sounded corny but ended up being a marvelous time with an amusing naturalist giving fish play by plays.

We descended to 114 feet to the theme from Mission Impossible and we popped back up to Wipe Out. This is not a trip for the claustrophobic but we were lucky to have a seat in the front so that we could not only see out of our porthole, but we could also see through the front window. The captain was kind enough to let me take pictures so I had an almost panoramic view.

I didn't realize that as you descend, the spectrum of light is compromised so that ultimately it is a world of blue hues. The highlight was the sunken ship that is now a reef....

the puffer fish.....

and the "squadron" of sting rays we happened upon.

Once back on shore, we found a local joint and had lava lava shrimp and ahi tacos washed down with local brew and then took in the tourist shops along front street. The weather was perfect - high seventies and sunny.