Maui is gorgeous… volcanic cones eroded and covered in lush green, sloping gently to rough lava shores and, along the west coast, long stretches of sandy beach. It is a continually changing feast for the eyes.
But there is another Maui with its own landscapes and residents that remains hidden to most tourists. It is the underwater world of the coral reef.
The Idiots were lucky to have a nice snorkel in Kahekili Bay. They have been spoiled by years of snorkeling off Roatan, Honduras where the barrier reef guarantees relatively calm waters and little current. Hawaiian snorkeling is far more “active.” At Kahekili, swimming parallel to the shore, the waves carried the snorkelers toward the beach, out to sea, and back toward the beach, sweeping over 30 feet or more of landscape. At the same time, a significant current ran roughly parallel to the beach.
The good news – lazy snorkelers will cover a lot of territory with little expenditure of energy. The bad news – all the water motion means the fish are moving all the time and it is hard to take good photos. The Idiots enjoyed seeing some new fish, but the coral features – very different from the Roatan reef they consider their second home – were the highlights of this snorkel. Once again, they present readers with pictures that only hint at the beauty and variety of the reef in Kahekili Bay.
The Idiots always try to snorkel on weekdays – one is bound to see more large groups of fish on school days…
The Idiots often see large schools of Tangs in Roatan, so it was no surprise to see the large groups of yellow tangs. The Hawaiian schools were different, though – lots of other fish species… surgeonfish, triggerfish, even trumpetfish seemed to be moving in harmony with the tangs. The fish were so busy eating that they hardly moved out of the way when Idiot He dove down to swim with them…
The diversity of the fish community at Kahekili was not very great, but the coral provided endless variety in form and color.
One last underwater picture… the Humuhumunukunukuapua`a (aka Reef Triggerfish) is the official State Fish of Hawaii.
