Capturing the Moment

  Oh it feels good to be back. Shortly after arriving back out to Maui with the family, my dad and his partner Cheryl arrived for a bit to hang with the grandkids and take in some of the tropical vacation vibe. We had a wonderful time with them visiting, from evenings out to beach and pool time at their Sugar Beach condo. Both kids got out on the boogie board with me in small waves which was a big step up from their comfort level in the water last year. Maybe all that pool time back in Stowe is going to pay off.     I wanted to jump in the water and show my dad a new snorkel spot so we headed down to a little secret spot in Makena. Turtles and beautiful coral can be found pretty much anywhere here in Makena, as long as the bottom is rocky. This spot was located on a lava rock outcropping at the very end of a beautiful beach. After walking through the waves we slipped on our fins and kicked out towards the submerged rocks.    The relief of the underwater lan...

  I took advantage of the kids syncing up their mid-day nap schedule and bolted down to Turtle Town in Makena. It is a quick 20 minute trip from our house, so I was in the water in no time. The entrance is picture on the left, and it was quite serene with a little ebb and flood of the ocean. However, just beyond the safety of the rocks the conditions got wild. Luckily for me the view underwater was pristine and clear, so I was determined to get some photos, despite the huge waves crashing overhead.    Two long lava 'fingers' stretch out from a cove here at "Five Graves." Sea turtles tend to be numerous here so they were my target for today. The clear water gave me the opportunity to photograph some impressive coral bommies on my way out. It turns out I wouldn't have to go very far before seeing my first turtle.    It is all green sea turtles here. They feed almost exclusively on algae that grows on the underwater rocks. The waves crashing overhead wasn...

  Maui has to be one of the best places for an underwater photographer to find and take amazing photos of sea turtles. You don't need to go on an expensive boat ride to some far off location, you just need a bit of local knowledge. If this is high on your radar for your trip to Maui you can find that local knowledge here .    These are all photos of Hawaiian green sea turtles, or Chelonia mydas . If you would have snorkeled in Hawaii 40 years ago it would have been very difficult to find a sea turtle, they were hunted almost to extinction. They were mostly hunted for their meat, which is supposed to be delicious but has a green color to it caused by all the green algae they eat.    To give you an idea of the possibilities for sea turtle photography, all of these pictures were taken over the course of two 45 minute snorkels. The first snorkel I concentrated on feeding turtles surrounded by red algae and crashing waves overhead. I really like the addi...

  It is pretty amazing what you can do with just one week, a boat, and an adventurous spirit here in the Hawaiian Islands. This past week onboard the Safari Explorer I had the benefit of a smaller charter group who had a focus on photography. I tried to go all out in their itinerary giving them ample opportunities for amazing photos and after looking through all of my photos I think the rest of the crew and I delivered big time.   Some of the stops this week were the normal places we usually go with the Safari Explorer, however we added a few extraordinary ones with the focus on photography. One of these was a morning dedicated to snorkeling with spinner dolphins. This was a bit tricky for me to organize because on some islands this just isn't done (Maui County), and even on the Big Island it is only accepted in one area.   Right in Kailua-Kona bay a circus of snorkelers and boats happens every morning, dropping people in with a small pod of resting spinner dolphin...