Wildside of Molokai

I had only seen the island of Molokai from the air when Lea, Heidi, and I flew over it on our helicopter tour. Seeing the island up close from a boat and actually getting to jump in the water was a dream come true. The Northwest coast of Molokai boast the largest sea cliffs in the world, over 3000ft tall. Now add waterfalls cascading down these cliffs into the water and you have some movie quality scenery. You may even recognize some scenes from Jurassic Park from the same coast line.
Some small fishing shacks were all the evidence seen that some people are still living the old style native Hawaiian lifestyle here on this wild coast of Molokai. Lush valleys housed countless generations of Hawaiians for centuries before the lure of a new way of life took all but a few families out from this peaceful existence.
Seeing these cliffs from the water was pretty awe inspiring but it only made me want to see what beauty lay beneath the waves. True to my adventurous spirit when we all needed a swim break I tossed on my snorkel gear and grabbed my camera as we jumped in at a huge offshore rock islet called Elephant Rock, or Mokuhooniki. You can see from the pictures that the visibility was stunning. I kept waiting for something big to swim by. This is where the famous hammerhead scuba dive is which is very high on my to do list. Strong current, big waves, offshore conditions, and a treacherous channel crossing from Maui make this site all but closed except to a few intrepid explorers. I have a feeling that I will be back.