Day 3: Fish, Zips, and Shaking Hips

We knew we needed to be in Kaanapali at 11 for our zip line trip, and since that is quite a distance from our place in Kihei, we decided that it would be a good time to hit some of the snorkeling beaches in that area before they got crowded. We started today with an early trip to Honolua, which seems to be widely regarded as one of, if not the, best snorkel spots on the island. We did, indeed, see a lot of fish, both in variety and numbers. At several points we saw a whole huge school of fish, and once we got close enough for one to bite me (Pi). Honolua doesn't have a sandy beach, and it is tricky getting over the slippery rocks and into the water. Pi went in on her butt, while Bill walked very very carefully. Honolua has no showers, so we drove to another beach to rinse off before our zip line trip.


They almost didn't let us go on the zip line trip because of the cane, as they were afraid that I couldn't do the walk. We talked them into it, and we are both so glad we did. While we were waiting to start our trip, we got to know the other participants. There were three honeymoon couples, including us, and a pair of sisters, with two young women who were the daughter of one of them. The women were all from Texas, and all of us got along great. The drive up was extremely bumpy, and that was before they loaded us into the six-wheel-drive German army vehicle for the last leg. Our guides were experience, energetic, and hilarious. The first zip line had me ever-so-slightly terrified, but Bill went first out of the whole group, which reassured me enough to go next.


The zip lines were FUN!! The eight lines ranged from 450-1000 feet long, and all of them were high above forested land, with beautiful views of the ocean. It was such a rush. Suffice it to say that we strongly recommend this activity for anyone who has the chance. If you don't have the chance, you should try to make it possible, as this is a must and should be on everyone's list of things to do before they die. We took some videos, but only one turned out really neat, although it's obviously my very first time shooting a video with our new camera. We have uploaded the video of Bill on a zip line to YouTube:



Everybody involved in our zip line trip was great, from the employees to the other zippers. It was said more than once that we felt like a big family, and we were talking constantly. The man who drove us back, Carlos, said that he had never seen a group with that much energy on the way back. Maybe he says that to everyone, but we did have really good rapport. Pi's back was pretty sore after that trip. The actual zip lines weren't especially hard, but the extremely bumpy nature of the ride up and back were tough. Even today, it's more sore than it has been on the rest of the trip, but yesterday was fun enough to be totally worth it. It just means that parasailing will have to wait until Thursday instead of tomorrow, which will be more focused on snorkeling and other low-impact activities.

After the zip lines, which included lunch in the middle, we were filthy. Since we had tickets to a luau at the Royal Lahaina Hotel, and it would be too far to go home and shower and change, we needed to rinse the dust off. We went to Black Rock, which was much touted on tripadvisor.com for snorkeling. We saw fish almost immediately, even though the water was pretty crowded. The whole side of the beach was rocky and covered with coral, which attracted a lot of fish. As we swam out, we saw a green sea turtle. It was one of the most amazing, graceful creatures either of us had ever seen. We were both able to get close enough to touch it, and it hung out for a some time. There were quite a few people around, including a number of children, but it was a enjoyable and memorable nevertheless. Green sea turtles are protected by the state of Hawaii, and we might have gone our whole trip without seeing one in the wild. It's easy to see why everyone was so excited about swimming with the turtle - seeing one moving through the water was unlike anything else.


We showered and made it to the luau on time. We had won a free ticket for one of us at the Pleasant Hawaiian orientation, and we were glad we only had to pay for one ticket. The food was utterly forgettable, although the show was fairly engaging. We did get to enjoy a glorious sunset, as we were right by the beach. There was a nice honeymoon couple from Toronto sitting across from us, and we spent the dinner time talking to them. Aidan, the man, got some video of Bill learning to hula dance, so we're hoping he sends us a copy when they get back home. They have a sixteen day honeymoon and are doing three islands, so we won't know for a while.


We had one nice little surprise today: we had tried this weekend to cancel our trip to Molokini, which was set for tomorrow, but couldn't get a return call within the cancellation time frame. We had already scheduled a trip to Lana'i for Wednesday that we thought would be better, but we had resigned ourselves to doing both. We got a call this morning from the charter company, who said that our trip to Molokini was being cancelled because their boat had broken. Sometimes, things just work out.