Maui Hawaii Honeymoon Vacation

Day 1 and 2!

Hawaii Honeymoon Series

 

Yay! It is time to go to Maui!  Maui was by far our favorite island between O’ahu and Maui. I am so excited to share with you our Maui portion of the trip. We had planned to have a little over a week on Maui so that we could relax and also lots of time to explore the entire island.  Just like O’ahu, we drove a ton on the island and saw every part of it.  We had already planned a couple days like our snorkeling adventure, luau, the Hana highway and sunrises on Haleakala.  We added lots of fun stuff between all of those main activities – but those were the tops ones on our list when we arrived!

 

** I will tell you right now that all of these pictures are a mix between my DSLR that I used to use for weddings (we upgraded camera bodies since the trip), our GoPro Hero 3 and my trusty old Nikon Coolpix point and shoot – there might even be a couple cell phone pics through in there! So you are warned! **

 

Our Condo

 

Aqua Adventures: Molokini and Turtle Arches Snorkeling

All of these were taken with the GoPro – We didn’t have the yellow stick on it to make it float. The next time we plan on having that yellow stick on it to keep it level.  The video I took underwater while snorkeling was a little shakey!

 

Our first adventure on Maui was with Aqua Adventures and it was our snorkeling trip!  This was such a blast and I HIGHLY recommend doing a snorkeling trip on Maui.  Molokini Crater was one of the first activity that we knew we wanted to go on. It looked so gorgeous and who doesn’t want to swim in a crater in the middle of the ocean?  We looked at several trips and Aqua Adventure fit what we wanted perfectly!  They leave a tiny bit later than most of the boats, but since they are in more of a speedboat then you go a lot quicker!  They actually go to both Molokini and Turtle Arches (unless the weather is bad – then most boats head just to Turtle Arches).

 

Molokini is so pretty! It is so crazy to look over the boat and you can see the bottom of the ocean floor but it is easily 150ft+ down! Nuts!! They offer snuba and snorkeling. We opted just for the normal snorkeling – but snuba looked interesting! It is a mix of scuba diving and snorkeling.  We easily dove down when we wanted to get a closer look and were fine holding our breath.  They do give you a fun noddle if you need to float a bit.  I will admit when I first jumped into the water I needed a noodle! I am pretty sure the girl helping thought I was going to drown! It was my first real time with snorkeling gear on and even though I knew my feet wouldn’t fit the bottom – it was such a strange feeling!  I just kind of fell into the water haha.  I kept the noodle for about 15 minutes and then I was good!

 

There was a school of cute black fish that I went after haha. I was essentially swimming after them taking pictures because they were so friendly.

 

After Molokini you head over to Turtle Arches – I think we ate lunch during the ride – or maybe lunch was after. I really can’t remember. They have fruit and bagels for breakfast at the start of the trip and do deli sandwiches for lunch. Drinks come after you have done all the snorkeling on the ride back to the harbor.

 

Turtle arches – It is just what it sounds like! There are several arches underwater and tons of turtles hanging around! We were able to get some really nice pictures of the turtles.  The arches were pretty cool as well.  Some people swam under them – I wasn’t brave enough haha. There were some barnacles and coral that if you hit it then you could get pretty scratched up and they were pretty deep. I did enjoy taking pictures with the GoPro of people doing it!

 

 

 

Tip – Get a morning trip! You have to wake up early, but the ocean is a lot calmer and you have a better chance of going to both Molokini Crater and Turtle Arches!

 

 

 

The next day we had a relaxing morning since the day before we woke up so early!  We planned to have a beach day and went to Kaanapali Beaches.  We found our favorite beach that we LOVE.  It is called Dig Me Beach and it is right by Black Rock.  Black Rock has some great snorkeling – but be careful of the currents – they can really move you around the rock and into the rocks.

Dig me beach has great sand and it is a pretty happening place.  We always easily found a spot and were able to watch catamarans launch, paddle boarders wondering around, dolphins, people wave surfing, etc.  The morning was the best time to snorkel there before the waves got too big.

Ocean Tip: The waves getting bigger as the day goes on is kind of an ongoing thing in Hawaii.  The morning has nice swells and depending on the beach there might not be any waves at all – but once the afternoon hits there are whitecaps and big waves. Snorkeling becomes a lot harder and swimming, in general, becomes harder.

 

A lot of times we spent the morning swimming until the waves got crazy.   There was one beach we went to later in the week that was literally like a pool it was so calm!! I will share that later on with you!

 

After the beach day, we went back to our condo and got ready for dinner.  The hotel next door was right next to Duke’s restaurant and we planned dinner there!  I had a Mahi crusted with macadamia nuts, a yummy coconut drink and I think we shared a Hula pie for dessert (a gigantic ice cream sundae)

 

Scott looks deep in through over his drink!! I think he was secretly wanting my drink! That happens a lot! Scott always wants what I order!!! hahah

 

 

If you enjoyed this blog – check out the links below to check out our time on O’ahu!

 

Hawaii Honeymoon Vacation Part 1

O’ahu Hawaii Honeymoon Day 1 & 2

O’ahu Hawaii Honeymoon Day 3, 4, 5