Capturing the Moment

  This behavior of opening its mouth underwater is a bit unusual. It gives a nice look at the tooth-like bony structures in the mouth that it uses to scrape algae off the rocks. The old Mala Pier on Maui, situated in Lahaina, is a poignant relic of the island's maritime history. Constructed in the early 20th century, this wooden pier was once a bustling hub of activity, crucial for the shipping and transportation needs of the region. Its location at the edge of the serene Mala Wharf area made it an ideal spot for cargo operations and passenger disembarkation. Over the years, the pier witnessed the ebb and flow of Maui’s development, reflecting the changes in the island’s economy and infrastructure. As time passed, the pier fell into disuse, overtaken by modern ports and updated transportation methods. Today, the Mala Pier stands as a picturesque, albeit weathered, remnant of a bygone era. The structure's aging pilings and rusted fixtures tell a story of resilience against the e...

  Incredible whale breach coming right at us! Look closely, this is the pectoral fin of the mama whale, and the tail of the baby, up in the air at the same time. It was a wonderful week out here in Hawaii. After all the wind and rain of this past month, we finally got a week of no wind, beautiful sunshine, calm seas, clear waters, and plenty of wildlife. One morning, I decided to offer an early, sunrise whale watch to the guests. There had been plenty of whales around and I wanted to maximize their time out here. I wasn't too surprised when every single guests signed up. We were right off of Lahaina town on Maui, which coincidentally enough, was the whaling capital of Hawaii back in the 1800's. This is where hundreds of whaling ships would overwinter, before heading up to the North pacific to hunt whales. Now it is all about whale watching as hunting whales is illegal here. Breaching baby whale! Water cascading off the 15ft wide tail of a humpback whale. Our whale watch started...

  One of the amazing parts of taking a boat between the Hawaiian islands on this amazing Un-Cruise itinerary is the ability to see how unique the islands are both above and below the water. This past week we snorkeled near the southernmost point of the United States, at night with manta rays, on a partially submerged volcanic crater, and over the wreckage left behind from a huge hurricane back in the early 90's. It was among this wreckage of the old Mala Pier off Maui's west side that we completed the snorkel wildlife trifecta, turtle, shark, and a ray!   Hawaiian green sea turtles often hover over the wreckage of Mala pier to let tangs and surgeonfish have a chance to clean off their algae covered shells. The turtles hover a few feet over the wreckage and all of us would watch as fish would calmly swim up to grab a free meal as they cleaned off the turtle's shell.    The wreckage also provides a hiding spot for resting white tip reef sharks. Scuba divers some...

  My good friend Ben took me out on one of his mid afternoon whale watches late in March out of Lahaina, Maui. Even though we were on the tail end of humpback whale season we had some incredible action. It seemed that this season's calves were healthy and active putting on an amazing aerial performance for us. We saw full breaches from one two different calves, launching themselves completely clear of the water. I was able to zoom in on the action with my long lens.  We also had a quick swim by from a very fast moving competition pod. The female was most likely out front while the males jockeyed for position behind her. It was a beautiful day out on the water and so reviving for me to see all this humpback whale action that I had been missing over in Oahu.

Wave of the day at Dumps, Maui Left at Lahaina Breakwall Right at Freight Trains The waves keep coming! We finally got a big south swell here in Maui and surfers are loving it! It does make taking people snorkeling and driving boats difficult but I love the summer surfing here. You always hear about the north shore and winter surf but few people know that Hawaii's summer swells can bring in pretty big waves from the south. I have been surfing along the south and west shores which have been getting pounded by large surf over the last four days. In fact three boats moored near Mala pier broke free in a really large set and crashed up on the beach. The waves destroyed the boats quickly after. Luckily all of our boats have been doing fine and we have even been running trips. Molokini is still clear and we found a couple spots around Lanai that havn't been murked up too badly. I am so glad that we got a good early season south swell this year since last summer was so s...

Enter the dimly lit cavernous world of Lanai scuba diving. Filled with lava tubes, arches, caves, and caverns, the coast of Lanai is an adventurous scuba divers playground. Unusual creatures hide out in the overhead environments here and can be quite common while eight miles away on Maui are rarely seen. We took a trip with Lahaina Divers out of Lahaina to explore some of Lanai's underwater sights.   I had dove out here before but never at Second Cathedral. A huge coral covered mound from the outside, once penetrated you see that the mound is hollow and filled with openings and exits, giving it an eerie swiss cheese appearance from within. Outside the water is a beautiful aqua blue but inside the cavern a dusky haze permeates like twilight. It is a very beautiful light to work with as a photographer and I always leave dives like this wishing I could go back and shoot more. Giant schools of ta'ape, or bluestripe snappers circle the outside of the dive site. Gold lace...