Day 6

Well we went back to Kapalua today and thankfully it wasn't too bad. Still some rollers coming in and clarity was a little cloudy but definitely worth the trip. Kapalua is so nice because you start looking right at shore. My wife caught site of a new Wrasse we had never seen just 15ft into the water. Also had some fun with one of the most cool looking fish on the reef while it was hunting. Some have asked if we ever get tired of snorkeling and the answer is a big "NO". But it has changed some since we started 12 years ago. There many fish out there we have probably seen over a thousand times each. But now we really slow down. We look for the little things that can be missed when cruising around at high speed. The other thing I love to do is watch behavior. I was talking to a local dive and fishing shop owner the other day and some of the things I was telling her about even she had never noticed before. So I guess the best advice I can give is to stop and let the fish do what they do best and if you are not flying around you are not as big of threat to them and they will come out and show you more of their world.

After snorkeling we came back to the room and got cleaned up. I made some cookies for the TripAdvior get together we are having today at Kahekili beach. Baking on my vacation, good thing I like to bake. After that we went into Lahaina and saw the Ulalena show. If you are heading to Maui we recommend it. It's a really nice show. 

Now on with the pictures.

 Speckled Scorpionfish. Very shy. They don't leave their coral shelter except at night to hunt.

Bluespine Unicornfish

 Cool coral I ran across. 

I have no idea what this little guy is. It was almost translucent. May be a juvenile of something we've seen before or something new.

Figured it out. This is a Twospot Sandgoby.

Lizardfish. I think its a Clearfin variety but they are all so close it's hard to tell sometimes.

 Christmas Wrasse

Female Spotted Boxfish 

Are first Honu spotted in the water and it was a fleeting moment. The only others we've seen were feeding here in front of the condo. 

Blue Goatfish

Hawaiian Dascyllus 

 Ambon Puffer

Fantail Filefish

Whitemouthed Moray

 A pair of hunting Trumpetfish.

Yellowfin Goatfish

Yellowstripe Goatfish

Lei Triggerfish

Arceye Hawkfish 

Orangespine Unicornfish

More nice coralheads.

Wish these were a little better. This is a Shortnosed Wrasse my wife spotted just as we headed out. This one is a first for us.

Here is a couple of interesting shots. That is a tiny juvenile Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse and pretty big Whitemothed Moray. 

This was the most fun encounter for me for the day. This little Flying Gurnard was on the hunt and didn't seem to mind me being around. He would use the small front fins to probe around the sand for treats. He found something once and went crazy and gulped it down so fast I couldn't see what it was. The pic below is when he was eating. He was all flared out with his top fin sticking straight up as if saying, "My breakfast, BACK OFF!" It was a lot of fun to watch.