Scuba Diving Vacations

I'm back, so time for a brief trip report. Here I am at a popular attraction (Ok, a slightly off the beaten track spot) in Maui - I think that's west Maui in the background but it could be the island of Lanai, as we could see both from this location.

Pat and I went to Maui for 8/9 days for a little R&R. We stayed at the Napili Shores condos outside of Lahaina in the Napili/Kapalua area. They are sort of a mid-range condo, reasonable place.

For diving, we did the Lanai dives I mentioned earlier, and yesterday I did a shore dive with a couple of gentlemen off one of the scuba message boards I frequent. It'd been a while since I've done a shore dive into mild surf, and with the relative inactivity the last 7-8 weeks (illness in injury) I found I need to do a little exercise again to help keep those entries and exits a bit easier. The dive was fine though, I'll post a couple shots next post.

You might notice in the picture above.... I had a LOT of french fries and other eats on this trip. My official weight gain for the trip was 12 pounds, about par for me when I travel... I like to travel unencumbered by dietary restraint. This is the heaviest I've weighed in a couple of years so it's time to get active again... lots of diving lined up in the next while, that and not eating like mad should get me headed in the right direction.

Top meals were at Moose Mcgillicuddy's (bar food), the Maui Brewing Company (very good kiawe grilled meats and seafoods, wish we had one in Kona, although I prefer Kona Brew Pub's beers) and at Mama's Fish House. Mama's Fish House deserves it's own post - this is probably the best all around dining experience I've had in Hawaii. It's on the quite pricey side, but the food was excellent, service excellent and the location and atmosphere are very hard to match. I'm a fast food kind of guy normally, we ended up dropping a couple hundred on dinner, appetizers, desert and drinks and it was worth it - it may be another year before we splurge on that type of meal again though. If you get to Maui and are interested in a good meal, check it out. It's out in the boonies and doesn't look like much from the road, but once you get into the parking lot you'll be pleasantly surprised... temple entrance, lovely grounds, private beach, open air covered dining in an interesting combination of high end/family/tropical tiki bar decor.

We did the Haleakala thing, worth a trip if you have the time. We also visited the winery, I wouldn't make a special trip there but it's a short side trip from the volcano.

Maui is kind of "big city" compared to Kona, much more developed, so Pat was able to get some shopping in and pick up a few things. Each island is different, and although I prefer the Big Island on the whole, it was fun to get away for a bit and it was a change from what we are used to.

Well time to catch up on everything. I was disappointed in that my cell phone didn't have service in the area we stayed in, so I've been playing phone tag with a few people. Now that I'm back home I should be able to catch up with everyone within a day or so.

Later,

Steve