Photojournal of my Hawaii vacation

[gregt]

I just spent 7 days in Hawaii and I took about a thousand pictures. Some below and some above water. I weeded it down to around 450 keepers, and I'm posting the best of those here along with my journal of the trip. Hope you can enjoy even a tiny fraction of what I enjoyed on the trip.

Day 1 - Flight
I'd rather not talk about it. Let's just say it was 17 hours on planes and we made it alive. Start vacation and move on with life.

Day 2 – Maui
Planning our stay & Diving

Planning
We are staying in the Maui Prince Hotel in Makena. It's a little out of the way, but if you want to snorkel in walking distance of your room it's a no-brainer. There is also a reef you can dive on. Dive boats come and drop divers on it. More on that later when I get a chance. The hotel is very nice. Our room has a beach view and with the sliding glass doors open we can clearly hear the surf crashing on the shore. Very nice.

So, we were stupid and didn't plan anything until we arrived, that means the AM of day 2 was spent setting up what we would be doing.

Since we are going to hop to the big island (Hawaii) on Day 5, I have to get any diving in early. So, I scheduled a dive for this afternoon.

Diving
O M G !!!!!!! It was so great. Mostly just because it was so different. I was like a kid in a candy shop. We took a short boat ride to a cliff right on the coast and I just can't get over how awesome it was. You could dive right up to the coast and watch the waves crash on the reef right above you. Sooooo cool. The bad thing about that though was the surge got so bad that pictures were nearly impossible. I had to stay away from the coastline to be able to take a decent shot.

[gregt]

There is a viewing area on the road at the top of the cliff and years ago a truck had rolled off the edge. The remains are still there. Here are pics of the dive site from the boat and from the viewing area above (taken a couple days later).

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/593/medium/080123_195520_52.jpg

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[gregt]

Also, the trade winds are blowing at about 30 knots and it's pretty cloudy in the afternoon so the lighting wasn't the best. When I left the hotel is was bright and sunny so I didn't take my strobe. Bad idea. But it didn't matter, I was having so much fun I didn't even try to take that many pictures. I got some good ones though. Even though the winds are so high, the water was flat as a board. Soooo different from the keys lol

Anyway, the dive boat left from the other side of the island and there was construction in the way, so I was late getting there. I had to park a mile away from the boat and run with my gear (no tank or weights thank god) to the boat. Also, I managed to get my new watch / computer gadget to stop talking to each other so I had no air gauge. So I had to borrow a rental. And the rental wouldn't work with my BC, the connectors didn't fit. So I had to dive with no BC inflator. So, that meant manually inflating my BC when needed. But, after 5 min in the water, none of that mattered a bit. Wow.

Didn't see anything super duper exciting except a monk seal. That was really cool. Unfortunately he didn't come close enough for a decent picture, but it was something to see. Also, the best part of the dive was that the entire time we were serenaded by humpbacks. Tons of them and they were close. Just too cool for words.

Here is the best shot I could get of the Monk seal. If you can read an ultrasound, you should be able to pick out the seal. :lol:

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/593/medium/080123_230440_16.jpg

There are green turtles everywhere you go. At first it's a novelty, by the end of the trip I was pretty bored of them.

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/593/medium/080123_224720_91.jpg

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It was real tough getting pictures up close to the cliffs because the surge would beat you on the rocks, but here's a couple shots of the coastline from below water.

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/593/medium/080123_223106_58.jpg

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/593/medium/080123_223142_62.jpg

[gregt]

I was actually surprised at the number of species that I recognize from diving in the Caribbean. There are quite a few that are common to both oceans. But I spent a lot more time looking at the stuff I've never seen before in real life.

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/593/medium/080123_222822_53.jpg

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[gregt]

Day 3 – Maui
Snorkel Molokini / Whale watching

Molokini is a small atoll just off Maui. It was in view from our hotel balcony. We took a boat from the beach at the hotel and spent the day snorkeling on Molokini and “turtle town” as well as doing some whale watching. The humpbacks were out in force and we saw quite a few as well as getting to listen to them while snorkeling. A fantastic day. The best / easiest snorkeling I've ever done (and I hate snorkeling)

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/594/medium/P7200041.jpg

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[gregt]

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The whale watching was pretty successful. We got to see a dozen or so.

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[gregt]

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[gregt]

We also stopped at “turtle town” on the way back home, which is a small reef where the turtles hang out. Turtles, turtles, everywhere.... This stop was a few hundred yards from the beach at our hotel. You can see our hotel behind Vicki (She's the one freezing to death ;) )

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/594/medium/080124_180232_17.jpg

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[gregt]

Day 4 – Maui
Beach Snorkel / Road to Hana

Beach Snorkeling
I decided to snorkel around the bay / beach area at the hotel just to see what there is to see. Holy crap!!! I stumble on one of the best reefs I've ever seen in my life, and it's a few hundred feet from our hotel room! By the time I shoot a chip full of pictures and movies a couple dive boats have stopped and dropped divers on the reef. It's that good that they come from across the island to dive on it. Man, I wish we weren't leaving Maui tomorrow. :-( I could spend days on this reef and not get bored.

These pics aren't the greatest, but they aren't bad for snorkeling.

I have a ton of video footage too, but I haven't processed it yet. I'll post it eventually.

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/595/medium/080125_094840_56x.jpg

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[gregt]

And what a shock! More turtles!
http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/595/medium/080125_095138_60x.jpg

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[gregt]

The road to Hana
The road to Hana is this insane little road with the most incredible switchbacks you've ever seen. There are 86 one lane sections where traffic must yield to the other side and most of them are around blind corners. Apparently, it's worth the drive if you ever make it to the end, but we gave up about halfway there when it was obvious we weren't going to have time to finish in daylight. But here are some pics we took on that trip.

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/595/medium/P1252855.jpg

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[gregt]

Day 5 – Maui / Big Island (Hawaii)
Helicopter tour of Maui & Molokai / Hop to big island (Hawaii)

Helicopter tour
Insanely expensive, scary as heck at times (we had bad weather and lots of turbulence), but if you don't find a way to do this you are a fool. Absolutely, positively, amazing. Our pilot was excellent and she went in to the gulches and right up to the waterfalls despite really bad weather. It was rather like an amusement park ride at times with the dropping 50 feet without warning, etc. Vicki is petrified of heights but it was such a good ride she was able to get past the scariness with no problem. There's just no other way to see some parts of Hawaii without doing this.


http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/596/medium/080126_085446_11x.jpg

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[gregt]

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We even got to see whales from the chopper

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/596/medium/080126_093148_87x.jpg

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[gregt]

The entire southern coastline is reef

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/596/medium/080126_092052_77x.jpg

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[gregt]

The hop to the big island was on a small 10 seat prop plane. With the weather we had a bumpy ride, but nothing exciting. It did offer some nice site-seeing as well.

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/596/medium/080126_141318_50x.jpg

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This is molokini

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Inspired by the incredible reef off the hotel in Maui, I decide I'm going to try a beach dive or two, so we ran to the closest dive shop (25 miles away. Nothing is “close” here) and rent a tank, some weight and a wetsuit so I'll be ready in the morning.

[gregt]

Day 6 – Hawaii

Beach dive / Volcano State Park

Beach dive
Ok, here's where I have to put in a disclaimer. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DO NOT FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE. DIVING WITH FAULTY EQUIPMENT IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS. So, I get up and prep my gear for a beach dive. I discover that yet again my wireless pressure gauge is not working so I have no air pressure gauge. After fooling with it for 30 minutes to no avail, I decide to not worry about it. After all, I'm just going solo diving in an area I have absolutely no experience in and have never seen before, right? What could go wrong? :p
Well, I know that the max depth for the area I'm diving in is 18 feet, and that I can normally get 2 hours on a tank at that depth, so I decide to dive for 1 hour of bottom time and then quit to be safe. If it weren't for Vicki, I probably would have used the “when it gets hard to breathe, you're almost out of air” gauge, but I knew she wouldn't like that, so I played it conservatively.
The vis was pretty bad, and the reef not that exciting. It was enjoyable, but not fantastic, and rather uneventful. And no, I didn't run out of air. :p

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/597/medium/080127_092102_11.jpg

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[gregt]

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Volcano

It was freezing cold and raining so we didn't get much of anything on the Volcano, but here's a few anyway. :(

http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/598/medium/P1270013.jpg

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[gregt]

Day 7 – Hawaii
Botanical gardens / Waterfall site-seeing

Here are pics of various sites around the big island of Hawaii

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[gregt]

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[gregt]

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[gregt]

The locals use white coral rubble to make signs on the side of the road in the black lava

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Well that's it. The vacation of a lifetime. We had an absolute blast. Was hard to come home.

[scbauer]

Awesome Pictures! I love Maui. It's been 4 years since I was there and would love to get back next year.

Personal Favorite - I can't believe you had time to teach the trigger to "roll over" in just a few days ;):
http://www.saltyzoo.com/gallery/data/595/medium/080125_095502_64x.jpg

-Scott

[Capt_Cully]

greg, your shots are incredible. maybe you said already, got caught up in the photos, when were you there? my wife and I were only a few miles north of the Maui Prince on the Wailea/Kihei border in mid April. I'm guessing you were there earlier if so many whales were around. We caught the tail end of it. Still quite a spectacle.

Could you elaborate on your photography set up?

[gregt]

You are right. It was the end of January. I just got around to posting the thread on RC. :o

Some of the snorkeling pictures were taken with a simple Olympus SW-720 waterproof point and shoot. It's an awesome camera. I recommend it very highly for utilitarian use. Out of the box, it's waterproof to 15 feet and can take a drop on concrete at 4 feet. http://www.dpreview.com/news/0601/06012602olympus_720sw.asp

The bulk of the shots were taken with my DSLR an Olympus E-330 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusE330/) with Olympus housing and the 14-54mm Zuiko lens (http://www.photographyreview.com/mfr/olympus/35mm-zoom/PRD_289106_3128crx.aspx)

[Anemone]

Nice pics Greg. You make me miss Hawaii. I was hoping to get back there this year, but it's not going to work out. :(

Kevin

[Gary Majchrzak]

thanks for the great photo tour, Greg! :thumbsup:

[billsreef]

Great pictures :thumbsup: If you ever go back to Maui, book yourself a dive on the backside of Molokini ;)

[scbauer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12626738#post12626738 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
Great pictures :thumbsup: If you ever go back to Maui, book yourself a dive on the backside of Molokini ;)
Is the back side a wall? I think that is the last dive I did in Hawaii... awesome dive! I'm always happy with Maui Dive Shops when I use them.

-Scott

[billsreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12628105#post12628105 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scbauer
Is the back side a wall? I think that is the last dive I did in Hawaii... awesome dive! I'm always happy with Maui Dive Shops when I use them.

-Scott

Yup, it's great wall dive :D

[NJGirlinPhx]

Nice pics! We dove the Big Island earlier this month. Kailua-Kona had amazing diving. If you haven't already been there I'd highly rec a trip back just to spend a few days there (plus side--there are a TON of dive shops there :) ) The night time Manta Dive is also incredible.

Thanks again for sharing. Your Maui pics have made my "which island next" decision a little easier!

~Christine

[Jim Brody]

great pictures

[seafansar]

Wow! Thanks for sharing! Those underwater shots are beautiful! How do you get so close to the fish? I usually only get tail end shots.

[gregt]

If you're snorkeling, it's hard to get anything but tail end. If you're diving and still getting tail-end only, then you aren't being still enough. Patience and very slow deliberate motions.

[seafansar]

Aww... I was snorkeling. Thanks for the tip!

[percula99]

Awesome pics Greg. My wife and I were on Maui at the end of April and I recognize a lot of the shots you took. How did you find the snorkeling on Molokini? I read the shallow side was 35 feet deep, and I am not a great swimmer so we didn't take that excursion. Some of your photos from there don't look all that deep. I like that. When you step off the boat into the ocean, is it deep right there? And did you have to swim to shallower water? Thanks.

[gregt]

Yeah, when you get off the boat it's about 30 feet probably. Then you swim to the shore and it gets shallow very fast. You spend all your time in the shallow area. If you take the boat that leaves from the Maui Prince Hotel they have two people in the water as life guards as well. But the depth doesn't matter anyway because you aren't going to be standing on the corals!!!!!! Just wear one of the flotation vests they provide and you'll be fine.

[dzb912]

you have an amazing cameara
the triggers were soo cool

[crabbejoe]

Amazing photos! Thanks for posting them. I look forward to seeing the vids too!

[DarthSimon]

Just wanted to say thank you for such wonderful pictures...

[katz66]

thanks for the pix, they were absolutely awe inspiring. i will make it to hawaii one day, also to australia and japan! wondering how much the underwater camera retails for?