Capturing the Moment

 My friend Moser got us the hookup with a Molokini Wild Side trip on my old boat, the Ocean Explorer. Aaron was the captain, Matt and Daniel were the naturalist. We caught some nice weather as the kona winds shifted to North, giving us a chance for a four snorkel day. We went to reefs end, backwall, Secrets at the southernmost tip of the island, and then to Coral Gardens. Not a bad day. Even learned a few new spots myself.     This is some of the GoPro footage I took set to some relaxing music. Enjoy!

  In a previous post I talked about the 'Big 3' scuba dives in Maui. These three are Molokini Crater , Cathedrals , and Mokuhooniki Rock for hammerheads. I got the chance recently to revisit one of the Big 3, Molokini for some good old fashioned exploration of the deep time. The crater rises strait up from the submerged slope of Haleakala Volcano 300 ft down. This easy access to depth, along with some of the clearest water in Hawaii provides a rare opportunity here in Maui where shallow shore dives are more the norm. Early morning dive at Molokini   My buddies Jack and Lucy from Maui Dive Shop joined me on their day off to do some fun diving of their own. Our first dive was on Reef's End. This is one point of the halfmoon shaped crater which gradually slopes down to the abyss. Schools of pyramid butterflyfish and garden eels greeted us about 60 ft down, then a school of grey reef sharks found us around 120 ft down. The sharks stayed a little too deep to get good pi...

  Best of Maui: Scuba Dives While trying to put together a review of my time here in Maui it quickly became clear that it could not be contained in one post. All the great memories, hikes, dives, animal encounters, and other adventures all deserved their own post so what I am going to do instead is a series of "best of" posts.  I will start off with the best of Maui scuba diving. In my opinion these are the can't miss dive sites for the advanced scuba divers when you come to Maui. Some made the list for big wildlife encounters, others for tiny nudibranch encounters, and others still for incredible underwater topography. Read on to find 'the Big Three' scuba sites as well as a couple of my other favorites. First and Second Cathedrals, Lanai First Cathedrals Second Cathedrals  These two sites both boast enormous underwater caverns. Most dive companies depart from Lahaina harbor but Maui Dive Shop does leave from Ma'alaea harbor on select days. T...

Soldier fish, unicorn fish, pyramid butterfly fish, and a snapper all together    Maui has wonderful shore diving opportunities but for wide angle photography it's best to find the clearest water, and that is offshore. Luckily we have Molokini Crater, a volcanic vent which shoots up from the submerged slope of Haleakala Volcano from 300ft deep to a height of 162ft above the surface. The beauty of this for underwater photography is the fact that this rocky crater is about four miles offshore set right in the middle of very clear water. Descending into the sun lit blue Yellow margin eel on the hunt  I have kayaked out here before with scuba gear, and I drive out here for work all the time, but there is nothing as great as taking a dive boat on a day off for ease and comfort. I hitched a ride out with my friends on Maui Diamond II on a beautiful sunny day to find some great wide angle photography conditions. Blue fin trevally at the dinner buffet T...

 I have been tackling the challenge of having humpback whales as a subject for my wildlife photography for the past three winters and it is finally paying off. Spending so much time with the whales has given me a greater understanding into how they spend their time here in Hawaiian waters. However some behaviors, like this breach, are still as unpredictable as the first time I saw it.   If you are a wildlife photographer looking for a chance to try to capture whales in action there is no better place than Maui during the winter. The waters are dense with whales and they are very close to shore. In fact if you go out farther than 600' deep you stop seeing humpbacks. Those two characteristics plus the fact that these humpbacks are some of the most acrobatic and playful whales in the world make Maui a one of a kind whale experience.  Scroll down quickly for the full effect of this 75,000lbs animal breaching out of the water.

Did I mention the whales are here! It is winter time in Hawaii which means Maui has become the epicenter for whale watching. Humpbacks travel 2,500miles from the Alaskan feeding grounds to mingle, mate, and have babies here in Hawaii. The shallow waters off leeward Maui are thick with Humpbacks this time of year. It is a bit nerve racking for boat captains like me but also very rewarding. If you were wondering what time of year is best to see the whales it is now through March.   Whale watches are going out all day, but guest are also seeing whales on snorkel trips, dinner cruises, even kayak trips! What makes this area the best whale watching area in the world in my mind is the fact that these whales prefer near shore waters so they are very close, being Humpback whales you can see some incredible acrobatics out of the water, and the sheer density of whales here right now makes it seem like whale soup! Every day out on the water is different. Being a naturalist and cap...

'View From the Office'

Molokini Crater is hands down one of the best dives out here in Hawaii. And it is big enough to several different dive sites since you can't explore the entire crater all in one dive. Its location has pros and cons. Being about four miles offshore it avoids runoff and suspended sediment that occasionally affects the shoreline of Maui and it is sometime subjected to pretty wild currents which seem to bring in the big fish like sharks. But being that far offshore you have to pay alot to go on a boat dive with one of the many scuba tour companies. mushroom coral Unless you feel up to the challenge! Heidi and I had this planned for days. We rented scuba tanks the night before, loaded the kayak on top of the car, and piled up all our snorkel and camera gear. The next morning we woke bright and early, drove to the kayak put in spot and started out on a beautiful calm day towards Molokini off in the distance. Octopus in old missile shell dwarf moray eel About an hour late...