Diving PuuOlai (Red Hill), Maui

  Today I was on a solo adventure and had a mission. I was going to find a dragon moray eel and the swim thru/cave at this site that I had only heard about. I found eels but none of them dragons, and even though I used most of my air getting there I found the swim thru. This is a picture of it at the top right.
  It was a glassy morning in Makena, Maui, perfect for a dive. I entered at the black sand beach in Makena State Park just to the side of this massive cinder cone known as Pu'uOlai.

Spotted Eagle Ray
The reef here is dominated by finger coral until you hit the point. After that you have big boulders, walls, and patches of sand. This undulated eel looked very dangerous but acted like he needed a better hiding spot.

Reticulated Butterfly Fish
Trembling Nudibranch
I was very excited to find a reticulated butterfly fish. I haven't seen one of these for many months. They are quite rare here in Maui as we are on the very edge of their habitat.
Only a couple nudibranchs showed themselves although the area looked very promising. I covered a lot of ground underwater and swam past many sea turtles. This one just happened to catch the light just right to be bathed in sun rays in the early morning light.


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