August 15th
Atlantis Submarine
Today we went on a submarine adventure. We drove to Lahania and took a 133' dive on the Atlantis Submarine on a reef complete with sunken ship. On December 13, 2005, following two years of preparation, Atlantis Adventures sank the 96' Carthaginian replica whaling ship off Lahaina, Maui, creating an artificial reef that will have lasting marine life benefits and enhance its submarine tour experience. The sub holds 48 passengers who sit back to back in the middle and look out portholes lining both sides of the sub. We went back and forth along the reef so that all of the passengers saw both sides of the reef. Lots of fish to be seen, and lots of appropriate sound effects and music, like the theme to Titanic for example, and the music from Jaws. Our tour guide was great, very knowledgeable about reef life, and very funny. We then boarded our ferry boat and watched as the next group boarded and descended into the depths. It was a fun trip, and although we were down 45 minutes, it was much too short.
The Roxie waits above and communicates with the sub for clearance to come up. No periscope, so all communication is via radio.
link to Atlantis Submarine
Hardrock Cafe
We walked along Front Street in Lahania, an old Whaling Town, lots of shops and restaurants now, and ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, a favorite of ours on all vacations. From the pictures you can see that the food was great as usual. Ginny had a beef brisket sandwich and Ellis had a pulled pork sandwich. We bought our souvenir tee shirts and were off again to the next stop . . .
link to Hardrock Cafe Maui
Maui Ocean Center
The Maui Ocean Center, Lahania. This is a beautiful aquarium, with over sixty exhibits of ocean life around the Hawaiian islands. It's hard to capture in a photograph the beauty of these sea creatures, but we tried. This is the most complete exhibit we have ever seen, exhibits alive with coral, fish, turtles, sharks and sea jellies.
On the way back we drove through the only tunnel on Maui, on Highway 30 (HONOAPI'ILANI HIGHWAY). We had to honk!!!
link to Maui Ocean Center
After a long day, and a little hot tub soaking, we went to East Ocean Chinese Restaurant in Kihei for dinner. Very nice,
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