Wailea Turtles and Nudibranchs

Early morning shore dives in Wailea are always the way to go. Tons of animals are stirring and the waters are almost always nice and calm. The wind sometimes kicks up in the early afternoon which is a good motivation to wake up early on your day off or your vacation.
Having the local knowledge of wear to go is also an incredible cost saver. For $4 I can rent a tank and be ready to dive. It always amazes me when I see these people paying $600/night laying on the beach as I walk by in my scuba gear wishing they could do more than lay on the beach. I get another bonus when I kick out to where a dive charter boat is anchored to start my dive. As I descend I often think about how great it is to live in a place like Maui. 

Yesterday Heidi and I took my good friend Hunter on a dive off Wailea Point. It was filled with nudibranchs, turtles, and moray eels. Six different kinds of nudis goes to show you the amount of habitat at Wailea Point that is perfect for these little guys.
 The dive ended with a calm turtle resting on the coral, getting cleaned by some little surgeon fish, and then a big fly by from a huge male sea turtle who for a while looked like he might bump right into us.

Hunter glides between two lava outcroppings covered with coral at Wailea Point

One thing I did notice is that the water temperature is either getting colder or my wetsuit is getting less effective. I'm afraid its a bit of both. Luckily I have a new, thicker wetsuit on the way.