Capturing the Moment

  View from the drone. This aerial shot is of the channel leading out of the lagoon at Anini Beach, one of the north shores most well-kept secret beaches. When you visit the island of Kauai, it is worth spending an entire day driving and exploring the North side of the island. There are so many hidden beach, snorkel spots, photo and wildlife hot spots, the towns of Kilauea and Hanalei, caves, and beautiful scenery around every turn. In fact, you might need more than one day. We tried to stop at all the hot spots. We saw nesting sea birds at the Kilauea Lighthouse, walked out to the end of the Hanalei Pier, flew my drone at Anini Beach, and even hiked up the Kalalau Trail into the Na Pali coast at the end of the road. We stopped to see the biggest taro patches in the state, and roadside snack shops in historic plantation buildings. The rains definitely came in, the closer we got to the end of the road. But that just added more waterfalls to the cliffs. Everything was green as it usu...

   The old wreckage of the Mala Pier is the home to many of Maui's famous larger marine life. I often come here to look for white tip reef sharks, green sea turtles, and spotted eagle rays. On this one dive I found all of the big three, plus eels, nudibranchs, and more fish than I could fit in even with a wide angle lens. It is almost like diving a shipwreck with straight lines seldom seen in nature. The wreckage fell in on top of itself in a way that created a lot of hiding spots for creatures that prefer to stay out of sight of hunters. A new hunter was on the reef this day, a human spear fisherman. It is funny how much more nervous some random guy with a spear makes me than a shark while I am underwater. There is already an eerie, almost mysterious feeling with any wreck site, especially under the part of the pier still standing. The light and shadows cast an otherworldly sight.   Some of the animals here acted a bit out of the norm. The spotted eagle ray...