Day 3: Maui

Day 3: Maui

THB modeling his new super-duper bald spot protection device: a water polo cap. Works great!

Quote of the Day: 

Oh, what did you see, my green-eyed son?
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin'
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin'
I saw a white ladder all covered with water

Weather:   Same-same

THB is up at 5:30, 9 ½ hours of sleep! Breakfast same-same except before our first snorkel. We’re at Ulua Beach by 8. It’s also a combo scuba diving, paddleboard and snorkeling spot; since we’re early there are very few people in the water, maybe 5 other snorkelers in the 75 minutes we’re in the water.

Sheep drop? Sheepfish drop? 

Snorkel entrance

Rainbow

Crystal clear water at Ulua Beach

Totally Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

Water is crystal clear, you can see your feet in 5 feet of water without aid, just looking down. The entry is smooth, the reef and rocks start almost immediately on entry. The fish are very large, not too many (LB says it isn’t baby time yet, THB isn’t so sure…) and the water is so clear and THB’s mask so clean that he can see shades of blue on the black urchins, the subtleties of the fish from 5 feet away. Take that, Raja Ampat!!!!!!!!!!

Pics off the internet of some of the more unusual sightings:

Banded Sea Urchin

We saw about 100 of these in a ball, feeding. The ones we saw had a blue stripe on bottom and no top stripe, possibly Black Triggerfish

Cornetfish, we saw just one and it was over 4 feet long

Mottled Linckia starfish

Saddled Snake Eel 

Yellow striped Goatfish, we saw many 100s of these

The Zebra Moray we saw was at least 4 feet long oozing along in a crevice at top of the rocks 

After doing a bit of condo sign-in, we head to beach for a few hours of sunbathing (under umbrella and towels) Back for lunch on the deck, same as yesterday (excellent poke and half a heated up Arizmendi roll, ice tea) plus some seasoned pitted olives.

Quiet time in the condo, THB starts an excellent book by Robert McFarlane, Underland. It’s about what is going on under our feet. THB is a third of the way thru, exceptional. MacFarlane also wrote The Old Ways, on THB’s 2013 book list in the neutral category; when THB looked at 2013 list, there are many very good books from that year.  

Around 1 the beach from our deck also looks crystal clear. We both thought about snorkeling, neither said anything so we just enjoyed the quiet.

Dinner: same-same

Sunset pics:

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People are gathering along the beach for sunset, almost like zombies being called to action

Gone

Other pics:

The pool used to be without the plastic windscreen, it must have really been under utilized then as the wind was really howling when THB took this pic in late afternoon