Tried my hand at snorkeling this morning and found I'm much better at floating than I used to be. Don't know if the water is saltier down here or if my spare tire is actually a floatation device, but I really had to struggle to get under water and found it very relaxing to just lay on top of the water and float around with the waves.

Well it was relaxing until out of nowhere my vision of the fish 5-6 feet below me was abruptly blocked by a stingray measuring about 18" wide that was maybe 2 feet below me. It was close enough that I could have easily reached out and touched it.

Once I figured out what it was, everything was fine, but in that second or two that I suddenly saw nothing but it, I was lucky I didn't leave a poopy in my swim trunks. It must have swam the whole length of my body starting at my feet and going past my face.

Take care.
Ken
[Reply]

Wow, rays are are rare treat to see! It was most likely a manta ray, as I do not believe we have sting rays here. In my 5 years here I have only seen a handful of manta rays and only one spotted eagle ray. Plan on taking the trip to Hana during the week - Jay's wife is Thai and serves some absolutely amazing food at her stand in Hana 4 days a week. Just be warned that restaurant Thai food will never satisfy you again. Little Beach can be great fun - it is a clothing optional beach and Sunday nights are the hippie drum circle nights, so lots of naked people, drinking, weed smoking, and fire dancing. It makes for some seriously entertaining people watching. Little Beach is a fantastic beach and would be my absolute favorite, if not for the nudity (unfortunately, mostly aging male hippies). I enjoy going there early mornings, since there are not many people there before 10 am.
[Reply]

One other thing - when snorkeling at Honolua Bay - bring some cash, the access is on private land and the homeowners spend a lot of time to keep up the land and make access easy for everyone. They just ask for a small donation (say $5-10) and that you not leave any trash there. Once in the water, you will need to swim a ways out to the left or right of the bay. The water is murky and there is not much to see right off the shore since the fresh water from the creek kills the coral right there. Once you get out a ways there are some amazing coral heads and life on the reef.
[Reply]

Thanks for the info.
After I went for my morning swim, we ate at Kihei Cafe and had the #8 rice ball and loved it. Thanks for the tip on the Cafe.

After breakfast we checked out the sites south of Kihei and made it down to the lava field but didn't see any of the spinner dolphins.

One thing I gotta say about snorkeling here, I keep getting a jump start of my heart when something large suddenly comes into view and it is very close to me.

My OH SH*T moment this morning, quickly changed to another AWESOME moment. I was floating about 5 foot above some corral and rock looking straight down at some fish when without warning something very large completely blocked my view. After the sudden shock I realized it was a very large turtle. The first picture I snapped fills the screen with about 1/4 of the shell and most of a flipper it was so close and so big.

Those things don't bite do they? That head was pretty big and it looked like it could take quite a bite if it wanted to.

I was able to spin around in time to get a couple pictures as it was leaving me.

I also saw about 20 inches of some kind of eel coming out from under a rock. I only saw the tail and I was only in about 5 feet of water so I didn't stick around for the head to pop out. A guy I work with who was born and raised in Oahu told me to be careful around the eels because they can take a big chunk out of you. Don't know if he was kidding or not, but I really didn't want to find out.

Dan, sorry I missed your call, I was out swimming again after we got back from our trip south.

Take care
Ken
[Reply]

I was disappointed in Honolua this year after not being there in 9 years, reef down from 43% to 9% coverage :-) http://www.savehonolua.org/

Hana and Oheo Gulch were sad affairs as well, nanny warnings, lots of trail closings and 50x the people

first world problems I know but deeply disappointing nonetheless
[Reply]

Have a great trip Ken!

When on Oahu, Tamura's as discussed above is the B&M where the Tatuaje T110 came from. Marvin Chang is the manager there and is a good BOTL... it's pretty close to Waikiki.

Riptides at Little/Big Beach is no joke... my good friend was dragged out to sea and gave up hope to live right when a surfer came and pulled him up onto his board to save his life...

If you are into wine... I would highly recommend taking the dirt road all around when doing the Hana drive. There is a winery up on the mountain on the Kihei side which is a good pit stop. It's definitely not award winning reds or anything like that, but has pineapple wine which is surprisingly good/refreshing.

If you want Hawaiian food in Kihei, I would highly recommend Da Kitchen in a little strip mall... just north of your condo. Great kalua pig and other traditional food! Maui Tacos also in the same area has good food too. Both these places are casual and cheaper.

Da Kitchen
Ste 107A, 2439 South Kihei Road, Kihei, HI
(808) 875-7782 ‎ · da-kitchen.com
[Reply]

Pineapple sparkling wine too...
http://www.mauiwine.com/#
[Reply]

Thanks for the tips. Da Kitchen is very close to where I'm staying and I'll check it out before I leave and the pineapple wine sounds like something worth checking out as well.

Any chance Tamura's still has T-110's?

About 30 minutes before sundown last night I went to the beach and lit up a Tat West Coast. I sure wish I would have bought a couple Cabs of these, they are smoking great.

Anyway, I'm enjoying this great cigar and walking at the edge of the water with a mai tai in my hand when I see 6-7 fins (not the people kind) sticking out of the water about 20 feet from me. My first thought is sharks or dolphins, but the water was choppy and the fins were going in and out of the water so I could make out the shape of what they were attached to.

In less than a minute there are around 15 people walking up the beach with me trying to figure out what they were when we come up to someone that looks like a local and he says "no big deal, just 4 or 5 rays we see them all the time".

Amazing how many cool things happen here on a daily basis.

Well the sunset as usual was great, the cigar was great, but the wind did play havoc on the burn.

I sure love this place.

Question: who makes the best coffee beans in Hawaii?
I picked up some 100% Kona Nickybeans at Costco and they make some great coffee and I'd like to try some others as well, but at $20 a pound or $10 for 7oz, I'd like to check out what other people like.

Hoping to go to the north shore or Hana today after my wife wakes up.
Have a great day everyone.
Ken
[Reply]

Glad you are enjoying your trip; we are really looking forward to making a trip again, either Maui or the BI.

I'd forgotten about the little winery there on the slope. We did not go there, but it looked nice. We've picked up snacks from the little store across the road a couple of times. Very funny thing happened there too; I was wearing a t-shirt with one of our company logos on it, and went into this store to get a snack. I'm looking over some items, and behind me, a guy pipes up and says "CCMA huh, do you know Ed?" I turn around, and tell him, yeah, I work for him. He introduces himself, and it's a guy that buys and sells some of our alloy. I'd talked to him many times on the phone before, but had never met him before then. Pretty funny.

I love snorkeling, and also agree with you on getting the crap scared out of you when something "pops up" in the viewfinder!!! I was out once on the north side of Maui, and a couple of waves pushed me backwards and I was right over the top of an eel. I inhaled some H2O on that one. Also saw a Nurse Shark under me out at Molkini; I was ready to go eat after that! Had several close encounters with the turtles off the west coast; very cool! Snorkeling is one of the few things I did not get to do on the BI, and I hope to get to correct that oversight some time soon.

If you get to go to the BI, check out Mother's up on the north end in Hawi.
[Reply]

Ken, Tamuras sold out of the T110 recent batches very quickly and are long gone. It's always possible Marvin kept a box or two for himself so it never hurts to ask if he has any laying around if you go visit...

I've seen many rays off the beach you are at... very cool indeed. I lived in Hawaii for 3 years and the best sunset I've EVER seen was on that beach.

Make it back to Smokey Joe's soon to tell us all about your trip!
[Reply]

Ken, it was a pleasure meeting you yesterday and herfing Maui Meadows style. You can't beat the view at sunset with a good cigar in your hand and a cold beer in the other. Da Boyz enjoyed having you over and hope your Hawaii vacation continues to be awesome for you and your wife.

Jay
[Reply]

Jay, I assure you, the pleasure was all mine.

Meeting all of you guys, smoking cigars with a million dollar view and seeing the worlds fattest geckos has truly been some of the highlights of this trip.

Sorry it took so long to respond. I didn't get a chance to go online before I got on the plane to Oahu and once there, I didn't have much of a chance to do anything other than Pearl Harbor, the Punch Bowl and a drive to the North Shore before I had to hop on the plane to come back to Maui.

Maui is a lot more my style and I'm very happy to be back. For a while it was looking like I was going have to cut the vacation short and fly back home because it looked like my Dad had a stroke yesterday. He's in the hospital at this time and they aren't sure what happened to him yet, but they no longer feel it was a stroke and the MRI shows that the cancer hasn't gone to his brain. He seems to be doing better at this time.

I'd like to meet up with you guys again for another herf before I go back home, but I'm not sure when it's going to happen. Were hoping to hit Hana tomorrow and I'm going day by day with Dad.

Thanks for those great cigars. They were really a treat!

Take care.
Ken
[Reply]

I want to thank Dan, Jay and everyone else that gave me advise.

My wife and I loved Maui and got to meet a lot of great people and see a lot of great things.

I really want to apologize to Dan and Jay for not getting back for another Herf, but after my Dad went into the hospital, I spent a lot of time talking and Emailing doctors, nurses and the hospital. It put a damper on the rest of the trip and we just ran out of time.

Dad got out of the hospital the day before I got home, but he is not doing well and last Friday the doctor gave him 1 maybe 2 weeks to live. Cancer is such an evil thing.

Right now the world seems to really be spinning a lot faster.

My wife and I have already agreed that we will be coming back to Maui. If you would still have me, I would really love to have another Herf with you guys.

Take care and thanks again.
Ken
[Reply]

Sorry to hear about your dad Ken... yes, cancer is an evil thing.

Glad you enjoyed Maui... I love all of the islands as each is different.
[Reply]

Aloha Ken,
Sorry to hear the news about your dad, our prayers are with you. As for herfing, sure thing Ken, just let us know when your comming back.
[Reply]

Thanks Guys.

Dad passed away Thursday morning, 3 years and 3 hours after Mom passed.

I have so much I have to do for the near future, but I am looking forward to getting back to both Smokey Joe's and Maui.

Take care and hope to see you guys soon.
Ken
[Reply]

Very sorry to hear Ken... at least he's at peace now.
[Reply]

Sorry to hear Ken, our prayers go out to you and your family.
[Reply]

Thank you for the kind words.

Take care.
Ken
[Reply]

My condolences to you and your family for your loss brotha.
[Reply]