This morning I joined some Maui Manta (Facebook group) members on a private dive charter on a new boat business that just started up in April. The boat, the Paikea IIRC, was built and is owned by Mikel and Maggie, Maui Pacific Divers. I love their story; Mikal put his name on the list for a commercial boat charter permit 17 years ago. These permits are very valuable and usually are sold with a business and can be worth half a million, but by waiting patiently, Mikel got his from the county for the county fee of a few hundred dollars, I believe. Way to go!
That said, it was a very laid back trip with only 5 divers. Mikel and Maggie brought a divemaster, John, on board. He was excellent and led 2 nice relaxed dives.
Our first dive was Molokini Back Wall:
and then on to Pu’u Olai (Red Hill):
Then when we got back to the harbor, I realized (again) that I still had a tank in my trunk that I had rented yesterday but did not use, so I figured I should not let it go to waste, so off to my old standby: Ulua Beach.
The first thing I came across there was a piece of sponge that did not look quite right; so I watched it for a bit and sure enough it started to move and a little baby Sponge Crab peeked out from under. So cute! And it looks like the Hawaiian Green Lionfish had a kid too. And the day ended on a gloomy note; Gloomy Nudibranch that is!
I apologize for the focus on some of these today, trying a new lens on the new iPhone housing and still working out the ideal focal distance with that lens.