2018-1-31  Snorkeling Kapalua:

It was time to hit the beach!  And try a little snorkeling.  What better place then Kapalua for our newbie snorkelers!?

This time we headed to the far side of the beach---near where they rent chairs.  But when we found the rental was $40 for 2 hours or $60 for the day, we decided to set up on the ground.

the view from our mats.

It was quite choppy today.  Not a good day to be trying to learn to snorkel.  Becky bowed out right away.  Don persisted.  It really didn't take him too long to catch on even in the chop.  So after staying close to the beach for awhile, we did venture on down the rocky edge a bit.  Saw our usual pretty fishes.
Teardrop butterflyfish

We had stopped at Snorkel Bob's to rent a snorkel vest, but they recommended noodles instead.  Said they would keep you in the snorkel position better.  They even suggested we go down the block and get them where they're cheaper.  So we did and picked up 3.  One worked really well for Don.  Becky played in the water with the other 2.

a school of juvenile parrotfish

Reef Triggerfish

Ornament butterflyfish

more of the topography of the floor line.

endemic blue stripe butterflyfish

endemic pebbled butterflyfish

a well hidden scorpion fish

scorpion fish again.

a sea cucumber

adult female parrotfish

wrasse

snowflake eel

After about an hour or so, we got out and enjoyed the views from the beach

Don even made a message for his better half.

They took a walk along the beach.  I had found a child's snorkel mask in the water.  As they were walking down the beach, they saw the family who had been looking for one they lost.  So they came back and got the mask and took it to them.  The family was really excited to get the mask back

We even took a short walk along the path along the beach.  Bet this place has an amazing view.

Bet this place has even a more amazing view!

loved the sky today.

We even watched a couple whales off in the distance.

one of the wild flowers along the way

a view of Kapalua beach I hadn't seen before.  We've always stayed on the near side to the  parking lot.

Stopping for a photo.

curious things on the grass by Kapalua

When it was time for sunset, we headed to the beach across from our complex.  Noticed this complex on the right that had sand bags along it's side!  Figure it won't be long before they're in the ocean instead of ocean front!

not much of a sunset today.  But nice for portraits.

Dinner was at Beach Bums in Napili.  We were all very happy with our meals.  Then back to the condo to whip up on everyone in dominoes again.  Great way to end another perfect day!

2018-1-30  Ride to the North/West side and the Super Blue Blood Moon Lunar eclipse::

What to do today????  Start it off with some Mexican Dominoes! This became a regular event for us---but usually in the evenings.

 Then we decided to head up to the blow hole.  With lots of stops along the way!  It was another beautiful day weather wise----lots of sun and in the low 80's.   It was quite windy today, though.   more then the last couple days.
First stop, Honoloa overlook.

another whale sighting---way off in the distance.

surf was up today.  Great for watching surfers.

another surfer getting ready to go in

wide angle of the surfing area

there was a dirt trail leading down to a lower viewing area, but didn't figure we'd make it down there---gracefully.

views down the coast---D. Fleming and beyond.

Then we continued up the highway.  Stopped at another pull off for more gorgeous views.

here the surfers were really getting some good waves.

I could sit and watch them all day

looking north

looked like they were really having fun!

farther up the coast.

at one stop there was a stream flowing into the ocean.

We got to the blow hole just as a whale was spouting in the distance.  So we wandered down the right side of the area for a better view. 

the happy visitors.

the whale had moved on, so we went around to the side by the blow hole. 

a couple of the wild flowers along the way

thought about going down for a closer look, but decided it wasn't a water park.

It was really blowing today.

love the views along the road, too.

some of the overlooks had educational placards at them

and some had hiking trails.

but the views from the road were pretty awesome, too.

This is as far as we went, then the road started getting really narrow, so we turned around and went back.

more views from the road.

enjoying more views up north

the red dirt reminds me of Kauai.

By the time we got back, it was nearing dinner time, so we cleaned up and headed to Lahaina. 

caught sunset before dinner.  Not much of one tonight.

but enjoyed sitting by the marina.

Love hearing all the  birds in the big banyan tree at sunset, too.

remembering days of long ago when we went out as families and Don would stack all the glasses.

After a game of dominoes, we decided to check on the Super Blue Blood Moon Lunar eclipse.  It didn't start until about 2:30 am, but it was so close to that time that we stayed up.

the total eclipse wasn't until about 3:30.

The red didn't show up too well, and I was hand holding my camera with 150-600mm lens at a really low shutter.

  about as total as it got, at least without clouds in the way

An interesting day with a lot of stuff we hadn't seen here before.