Maui: Snorkeling

We spent our first day in Maui on the beaches at Kihei, near our hotel. We swam out about a quarter mile from shore and then back before laying on the beach to dry out. I, despite my paleness, actually had sunscreen that protected me so I didn't burn.
In the afternoon we walked across the street to our hotel and eat some fruit, cheese, and crackers we scored at the Maui farmer's market and local organic grocer respectively. FYI, prices are no where near as bad as I anticipated. There is a 4.16% tax on food, but compare that to the 9% in our neck of the woods and it seems downright cheap. We ate on average for about $25-30/day. If you want to eat out somewhere fancy, of course, the price goes up.
Then we were off to this absolutely amazing, secluded little spot along the King's Highway. This spot is NOT La Perouse Bay, which is further down the road. It's before that, marked only by a beat up gravel parking lot and a short hike to the beach. Once there, you'll see a sign about the types of fish that can be observed and then you're on your own...no lifeguard, no medical support, no cell service.

270 degree view of Haleakala and the King's Hwy on the left with the parking lot we parked in and the skyline toward the beach on the right.

 

View of the coast 

Haleakala and the 1790 a'a flow from the King's Hwy

We were lucky because there was a wonderful Polish couple there who directed us to enter by the rocks, which I would have otherwise avoided (it's kind of dangerous). However, the within about 2 feet of the shore is the reef, so you can't see it but you could easily run into it.
We avoided it and were greeted with beautiful lava tubes and ridges which had been colonized by all different colors of coral as well as huge  sea urchins of different varieties. In and around them were streams of fish in all different colors. Soon I'll post video, but my friend's computer crashed and so we won't have video until we get her computer back up. I'm not sure how good it is, we were testing her GoPro camera so I have no idea yet what it's like.

When we got out, Heather was red from head to toe with photo dermatitis. She didn't read her meds and hadn't realized that she was supposed to avoid sun exposure while on them. So, that ended our snorkeling adventures.