Dream Vacation to Maui ... Day Tooh - Snorkeling!

Day Two was the one we were excited about the most. Because it was my first experience at Snorkeling. I have always been very crazy for water sports although I have never tried most of them before. I have been excited to try them out. [Although I do not know swimming :(]

For our day 2 at maui, we woke up early in the morning at 5:30 as we were scheduled for snorkeling at 6:30. We left from our hotel at 6 am. And we were at the Pacific whale foundation (located in Wailuku/Ma'alaea) just in time at 6:30am. But the people seem to be very punctual. There were so many people who had already checked-in for snorkeling. But, I convinced myself and Manoj that we were not late. We were just in time. After we checked in, we headed towards our boat which was named Ocean Odyssey cruise. We had booked the Turtle Arches and Molokini crater snorkeling. On the boat we were served breakfast which included some banana breads, chocolate bread and juices/coffee.We went to see the turtles first at the Turtle arches. After they provided us the gears, I practiced as Manoj shared some tips and tricks from his past experience. I was very very nervous to get into the water. I remained clinged to our boat. Everyone around me even the cruise crew encouraged me to set myself free and leave the boat's handle. So, I made an attempt after a while and went inside the water accelerating very fast. Manoj was surprised to see me go so fast. Later when I realized I was in the middle of the water, I started panicing and shouted for some help. I saw a kayak coming closer to me and I again got clinged to the kayak even though the person on the kayak told me not to do so. I was not in a state to listen to anyone. I guess I was trying to self rescue myself using the kayak ;) I was finally able to reach our boat with the kayak's help. While I was heading back to the boat, Manoj kept insisting me "Babbu, please dont go! You will be fine. Hold me." Although I heard those words I was unable to act on them :( I felt really bad as I was unable to co-operate with Manoj and give him company to snorkel with him. I felt like a spoilsport. But, I had another chance to make it work. We were then heading towards Molokini crater where we were going to snorkel and this time I was firm that I have to do it. If not for myself, atleast to accompany Manoj. I was determined. I took the tips from Manoj again and decided to act upon them.

We reached Molokini. I was determined, but nervous. I decided to step in the water before everyone else does, so that I get enough time to practice before going inside water. And I did practice for a few minutes. But, the tour guide by then was ready to take people for the reef tour. I felt as if I wasnt too ready :( I insisted Manoj to go ahead and do the reef tour without me. He didn't want to go but I insisted him to go and not miss the best part because of me. I had to emotionally blackmail him to leave me near the boat and to go for the reef tour. I am glad he did. Meanwhile, I was practicing around the boat. And guess what I had build some will-power to get into water without taking any support other than the noodle and the life vest. And I was looking out for Manoj so that I can show him that I can do it !!! Yes, he was back from the reef tour and then he called me once inside the water and there I went after him. Words cant do any justice to how beautiful and serene it was under water. And the happiness that I saw on Manoj's face was something I could have died for. I had a feeling of accomplishment. Yayy! Finally I did it and enjoyed every second under water. Manoj swam like a fish under water and around me. He is really a very good swimmer.

After around 45 minutes, it was time to get back in the boat. But, I did not wish to go back in the boat :( as it was so much fun out there. But, I guess we had to get back. We went back to the boat. All happy and all relieved. We had chicken sandwiches on the boat. On the way back, we saw a hump back whale and its calf although it was off-season to watch whales in Molokini during this time of the year. Generally by april end all the whales from molokini are already migrated to Alaska. But, we were among the lucky ones to watch the last two of them still migrating and playing pranks inside the water. We also saw some dolphins playing inside the water while heading back.

Here are a few pictures from our Molokini snorkeling tour. The crew of our boat was fantastic and was very informative. They provided us with a lot of information about how,when, what about the crater. These guys also helped me rescue when I went into the water and started panic'ing. These guys also encouraged me to get into the water while I was nervous in the part-2 of snorkeling at Molokini.

  

This picture depicts how much fun we had at Molokini!

With the crew!

Few stunts by my trainer while I was busy taking his pictures!

After our return, we checked out some local shops which had local artists items like glass earrings, necklaces, stoles, bags, dresses all of hawaiian origin. Both of us bought a pair of hawaiian clothes from this local art store.

We returned back to our hotel by 12 as we were scheduled for a TimeShare presentation by Wyndham. We quickly freshened up and headed to the presentation. Guess what, whom did I meet there. It was totally unexpected but I met Priya Matai, one of my school friends who was also on her honeymoon. It was fun to meet her there. After the presentation, we were too tired to do anything so we did a small walk towards the Front street and to our surprise it was one of the best things that we loved about our hotel's location. There was a very old banyan tree there and there were a lot of local shops out there. One such stalls named "Tickets for less" attracted us to stop by as the hoarding said the tickets for various activities were available at almost 70% discounted rates. We knew it was one of the TimeShares but even though we were interested to stop by. We met Jeremy there, whom we spoke about our interests in parasailing and the dinner cruise activities. He promised to get us a free dinner cruise the next day only if we attend the TimeShare presentation of Diamond. It was a matter of 2 hours vs paying 200+ bucks that we had to pay for Dinner cruise. In addition, he promised to give us 25$ cash back and free dinner cruise if we attended the TS. It was a very good offer to deny for. We accepted it and scheduled our TS for 12:30, right after our sunrise tour and 28 miles bike ride tour the next day.

Later that night we planned to get back to sleep early as we were going to be picked up by the mountain biking guys at 2 am (yes 2 o clock at night!). So, we decided to grab some dinner and head back home. So, we went to "Indian Express" at the wharfs and headed back home around 9pm. We dozed of at 10:30 after talking to parents at home and getting ready for the next day of strenuous sunrise and bike ride tour.