Mike in the Wild

Hurricane Lowell had drenched Maui over several days before I arrived for my September vacation.  Fortunately there was little damage in the way of flooding or erosion.  However the storm left snorkeling conditions less than ideal at one of my favorite spots, Honolua Bay in the island's northwest corner.  A freshwater stream was flowing stronger than I've ever seen it as I followed the adjacent path to the rocky beach, resulting in brown patches in the normally turquoise cove.  Murky water can not only diminish visibility, but it can indicate bacterial, chemical, and physical contamination.  Nevertheless, I entered the water and headed to the middle of the bay where vibrant coral formations came close to breaking the water's surface.   However before I reached those outcrops, I spotted a completely different sort of animal: my first ever shark in Hawaii.  A couple of months ago a shark sighting in Hanalei Bay on Kauai left me unnerved while I snor...

The last fatal shark attack in Hawaii was last year in Maui's Honolua Bay, my morning's snorkeling destination.  The previous fatality was in 2019, off Kaanapali Shores Resort, also in Maui and just six miles away.  Nevertheless I still thought it was unlikely I'd encounter any deadly marine animals when I set off on my underwater adventure.  So imagine my surprise when within minutes of entering the bay, I indeed discovered a threat: a barracuda, lurking close to the rocky shore of the popular and crowded tourist site. In my many snorkeling outings off the coasts of the Hawaiian Islands, I had never before seen a shark or a barracuda.  In fact, at the beginning of my last year's trip to Maui, Honolua Bay was closed to anyone entering the water; a tiger shark had taken up temporary residence after a fishing boat had inadvertently discarded some excess bait.  Nevertheless, I was still eventually able to snorkel the wide, clear waters of the bay unscathed bef...

Last year I wrote about snorkeling at Kauai's Poipu Beach Park.  The spot had something for everyone:  sugary sand, a protected kiddie lagoon, surfing, rest rooms, picnic areas, restaurants, lifeguards, hotels, coral reefs and, yes, terrific snorkeling.   Much more recently, in fact just two weeks ago, I snorkeled at Honolua Bay on the island of Maui.  Its wildness draws quite a contrast with Poipu in almost every way except one: some of the best snorkeling in the Aloha State.  Honolua is in the extreme northwest of Maui, one of the last stops in a string of tourist attractions that starts with Lahaina eleven miles away.  Lahaina is a colorful, lively town that retains many of the buildings and architectural styles from its booming whaling days in the nineteenth century.  To the north is the sprawling beachside resort development of Kaanapali, followed by the snorkeling hotspots of Black Rock and Kahekili Beach.  Up the coast is the affordabl...