Capturing the Moment

  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...

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...

  Today was a throwback to the E.M.A.C. (Early Morning Adventure Club) of Catalina. My goal, to paddle out to Molokini from Maui, then circumnavigate Molokini by snorkeling, before paddling back to Maui. I would not suggest this to visitors coming out to Maui for vacation. The current in the channel can be treacherous and the weather unpredictable. I travel this area by boat all the time and can judge the weather fairly well. Today was supposed to be a very calm day, although the wind did kick up more than I expected.  You can check out the video of this adventure at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cahcb7yYbdY   I made it out to Molokini in a little over an hour after stopping to see a few turtles along the way. After paddling across the open side of the crater I dropped in the water at Reef's End and snorkeled all the way to Enenue, the other tip of the crater along the back wall. It is always amazing to see the sheer vertical wall dropping over 300ft into t...