The Puffer

I told you I would share a few stories of our adventures on the island of Maui.  We've been so busy over this weekend (or have we?) that today is the first day I have had time to blog.  Plus, all the pictures are on Steven's computer and when he's home he's using it...so, it's hard to blog and upload photos when you don't have access to them, right? 

We really couldn't wait to go snorkeling once we hit the ground in Maui.  We got in around 7:30pm, right as the sun was setting.  So I didn't really get to "see" much of Maui on our drive from the airport to the place we stayed.  The next morning we were up bright and early at 7:00 (thanks to the time change )and both Steven and I had our minds set on snorkeling.  When we were on our honeymoon in Aruba a few years ago we both got new masks and snorkels and I got fins since I didn't have my own so both of us have our own snorkel gear.  Steven wanted new fins and we really needed to talk to someone who had recently snorkeled so we knew the best spots, so it was off to the dive shop!  After Steven found the fins of his dreams (they are pretty cool) and a we got a good run down on the best snorkel places, we decided to head North to Kapalua Bay.  It's right down the hill from the Ritz Carlton on Maui, so of course we made the customary drive by to "ooh" and "ahh" (although it was hard to see through their hedge of shrubs).  Finally, after turning around more than once we found the public access parking and made our way to the sea.  

The snorkeling was so amazing.  The water was remarkably clear with good visibility and there was a great variety of fish.  Unfortunately we did not see any sea turtles on our first stop.  We snorkeled up the reef on the right side of the bay, across and back down the left side.  Over half way through Steven handed over the camera to me.  We got a new waterproof camera for the trip knowing that we would be taking lots of snorkeling trips.  Our last waterproof camera short circuited on our trip to California last September while we were snorkeling at La Jolla.  It was totally worth it to get a new one.  I usually don't have the camera during snorkel outings because I don't like to dive down and hold onto rocks, coral or swim frantically in one place while trying to take a picture.  Steven does that and I float above.  We came upon shallower water and so Steven handed over the camera.  The water wasn't rough, but we were on the side of the bay that wasn't as well protected and the water was a little more choppy.  Plus is was shallower, which usually means the water is more agitated anyway.  Steven had swam off about 30 feet or so and I was admiring the surroundings when this HUGE puffer swam right up to me.  He was well over a foot long and beautiful!  I snapped a couple of pictures (including the one below) and then thought "Steven has to see this."  Well, he was way too far for me to yell.  Plus, have you ever tried yelling while snorkeling?  It doesn't really work that well.  Mostly you end up sounding like a dying whale through your snorkel and everyone on the beach can hear you but your snorkeling buddy 15 feet away can't because he's underwater.  So I swam and tried to keep an eye on both the puffer and Steven.  Surprisingly, the puffer totally followed my lead (I think it's my great leadership skills).  He literally swam right up to Steven with me.  It was kind of funny. 

Most of you are probably thinking "what's the big deal?" about our puffer friend.  But since most of the puffers you see are usually between 4 and 5 inches long it's really exciting to see one so large.  In fact, I don't even know if it is technically a puffer - it might be called a porcupine fish.  Either way, they are really cool and hard to find.  Steven continued to follow it with the camera and took one of my favorite photos (below).  It really looks like we caught the puffer doing something inappropriate and he's totally shocked by the surprise.  "Oh, you caught me!" Too funny.

After the puffer I regained the camera again and was loving the shallows because you literally get within inches of the fish.  Which is great, if the fish like it.  The state fish of Hawai'i is called the Trigger Fish, or in Hawaiian Humuhumunukunukuapua'a.  Say that five times fast.  What I didn't know is that Mr. Humu didn't like to be bothered much.  I thought they were so cool and so I followed one for a while taking pictures and trying to get as close as I could.  Well, apparently I got too close, because the next thing I knew he was trying to bite my fin!  Yikes!  His quick, aggressive movements caused me to react by swimming as fast as my fins could carry me.  When I told Steven, he said "oh yeah, they're kind of aggressive."  Um, details that would have been good to know!