Diving the Carthaginian

 Sometimes all it takes is a little 'can-do' attitude and pointing in the right direction to make really incredible adventures happen. I had wanted to take Hunter on one of the best kayak dives you can do here on Maui, out to the shipwreck of the Carthaginian, but was greeted at the shoreline with sizable waves and with 6 or so surfers riding each one. Not to be dismayed we unloaded our kayak, put together all of our gear, and with some intrigued bystanders watching loaded up the kayak at the shoreline.
  I imagine people had their cameras out to take pictures of the two supposed tourist about to get smashed into the rocks by waves but we would show them. The first wave peeled right around out bow sending a spray of water that Hunter, sitting in the front, blocked for me. Always the gentleman. Then a second bigger wave came so we paddled hard and hit it nose first just as it broke. This time I could see the wave form a perfect V as it broke all around Hunter and filled our boat with sea water. Luckily the kayaks are hard to sink so we powered on. I told Hunter we were all good just before I saw the mother of waves forming in the distance. With a kayak full of water and heavy scuba gear we paddled forward keeping the bow pointed right at the oncoming wave. The wave broke just before it hit us and once again Hunter took the brunt of the force. I may have gotten a little splashed by this one, but we were through! On to the wreck.

 You can find the wreck by looking for a bright orange buoy marking the mooring line attached to the stern of the wreck. You are not allowed to tie up to this but we found a submerged bow mooring last time so we tied up here. I was pleased to see we would have the wreck all to ourselves. We descended through the blue, passing schools of triggerfish and Sergeant majors, and a lone great barracuda before making it down to the wreck.

The shipwreck attracts all sorts of life. We found nudibranchs, frogfish, and even had a flyby from a couple of spotted eagle rays. At nearly 100ft deep you can't spend too much time at the bottom unless you use special air mixes in your tanks. Luckily right at the end of our bottom time we heard the telltale whir of the submarine coming in to show the wreck to tourists who would rather stay dry. I wonder what they thought of the two of us hanging out on this shipwreck at the bottom of the ocean....

Lahaina on Dwellable