Hawaii: Day 6

 This morning, I was bound and determined to hit the beach (Kamaole Beach I) early and attempt to get some photos. I happily had sand-covered feet before 7 AM (there are serious advantages to traveling this direction in terms of time zones... we are ready to start our days nice and early!). In the early morning hours, the water is calmer, which makes for rather tranquil landscape photo opportunities. I had a clear view of Molokini and was able to get shots of some pretty waves as they broke over the lava rocks. 

Molokini

Waves and lava rocks

While I was out, I happened upon a very chatty retiree who has lived on Maui for the past 7 years. He gave me the scoop on some of the sea life (including the helmet urchin we saw a few days ago), recommended we avoid going to Big Beach (no lifeguards + sudden depth change = unsafe), warned me about a venomous shelled creature on the beach, and offered some restaurant recommendations. All in all, quite a handy person to meet!

No clue what this is but it was really neat to look at.
It reminded me of a huge marble.

Sea urchin holding on for life

As luck would have it, a sea turtle surfaced while I was standing on a rock outcropping. Hurray!!! It stuck its nose out of the water a few times. (Eric says I should name it Sheldon, which seems very reasonable to me!)

Hello, Sheldon!

Sheldon showing me his big smile

After I got back from my beach photography excursion, we rallied the troops and hit the beach, snorkel gear in hand. We started out in water with very little visibility due to the churn and shallow depth of the water. As we made our way north (and into deeper water), we were able to see a bit further. During the first part of our snorkeling, we really saw nothing more than the sandy bottom. Fortunately, that shifted as we neared the lava rock jetty I'd visited a little bit earlier when I was out taking photos. Pretty soon, we started to see a variety of pretty fish and coral below us, not to mention sea urchin and interesting rock formations. Then... I saw it. A sea turtle! A big sea turtle was tucked up on the sandy bottom next to a rock formation. I swear that my heart skipped a beat when I realized what I was looking at. I tugged on Conor and pointed out the turtle to him. As soon as I knew he saw it, I popped my head out of the water and signaled for Eric and Annika to join us so they could see it, too. Needless to say, we were all quite excited. Then we saw another turtle ... and another ... and another! It was AMAZING. Before we came to Hawaii, I saw a video online that was made by a family to document their Molokini/Turtle Town snorkeling. At one point, one of the little boys in the family said, "I saw a gwampa tuwtle" (he coudn't say his R's yet). We DEFINITELY saw a "big gwampa tuwtle" today, too. The fourth sea turtle we saw was enormous. It took every ounce of strength not to just stay there all day watching it rest on the ocean floor. What is so neat about these marvelous creatures is how still and calm they were. They just hung out on the sandy sea floor while we gawked at them. (I can't help but wonder if one of the turtles that I we saw during our snorkeling adventure was Sheldon!)  After awhile, however, it was time to move on. Conor and I started to make our way back to our belongings on the beach so we could try out body surfing and because my left foot was getting a sore spot from where the fin was rubbing it. While we did that, Eric and Annika made another loop around the rocks to find any remaining sights to see before packing up for the day.

After wrapping up our snorkeling and body surfing adventure, we walked back to the condo, showered, ate breakfast, and relaxed for a bit. I briefly zipped out to return the snorkel gear and make a much-anticipated run to Starbucks for iced Americanos for Eric and me and strawberry lemonades for the kids. MMMM!! Coffee!!

I had hoped the turtles would be near the surface again during high tide (the retiree I met earlier said they are sometimes more visible then because the feed off of the rocks), so Annika and I meandered back to the beach around 3 to see if we could spy any. We didn't have any luck in the turtle department, but definitely had a great walk on the beach together. Annika had fun making feet prints, writing words and hearts in the sand... and trying out her own photography skills with my phone's camera. The water was very choppy due to the wind, which we guessed might have kept the turtles away from the rocks. (Smart turtles!) 

I could sit on this beach all day, every day
and simply watch the waves on the sand

Annika and I were here!

Annika making her mark on the world

Sharing a little love with Kihei

Annika's photo of the West Maui Mountains, palm trees, and the Pacific

Annika's palm tree reflections photo

While we were out and about on the beach, Annika found a coconut that was floating in the water. (Initially, I thought someone lost a hat, but it wasn't a hat at all!) She got a good case of the giggles because each time she threw it back in the ocean, it kept coming back to her. That coconut reallllly liked Annika! :)

Annika and her new best friend "Coconut"

For dinner, we opted to try a highly-rated restaurant called Coconut's Fish Cafe for takeout. Eric and I had mahi-mahi fish and chips while the kids had shrimp and chips. Prior to our trip, we all thought it would be fun to watch the Disney movie "Moana" while on Maui and tonight was the night. We sang along with the characters, laughed until our sides hurt (often before the funny part happened ... we just knew what was coming!), and simply enjoyed being together. We have a few family jokes/favorite movie quotes from "Moana" that simply don't grown old for us: "Boat snack", "You're so amazing", and "You're WEL-come" are definitely at the top of the list!