Today’s adventure was riding the Molokai catamaran and snorkeling in Turtle Bay.

My best laid plans were this: I was going to photograph underwater! I bought a set of waterproof camera pouches and tested them per the instructions. They worked great in the test and underwater—no leaks. I set my phone to “always on” and left the camera screen on. However, for some reason, my phone kept shutting off and would of course would not recognize my face with the goggles on. I’m disappointed that I couldn’t get it to work.

Our catamaran (https://www.sailholokai.com/) left from the beach near Beach Walk. All the employees were friendly and knowledgeable—and parking validation is offered as well. As we walked on the sand before boarding—and note that this sand is large and coarse, not the gleaming white sands you may expect—we were told to remove our footwear to avoid getting sand on the catamaran and to be able to walk through the surf up the catamaran’s steps.

Once we were all settled, the crew gave us general instructions and then we were off!

We sailed over to Turtle Bay, which wasn’t far. On the way, we received reminders about snorkeling while getting our equipment—fins, snorkel and face mask. The last time I snorkeled was at least 12 years ago on Kauai.

In retrospect, I probably should have asked the current crew to go over everything in detail. It’s hard to get your brain to be ok with breathing underwater. And we were on the open sea, not in a still lagoon. The water was choppy and a few times waves broke over me.

Now all that being said, the water was the perfect temperature and so very clear. I did see 5 green turtles at various times; I had no idea how big they were! As mentioned, my camera experiment didn’t work, so I have no turtle pictures to share. Here’s a link that may tell you more than you really wanted to know (https://mauioceancenter.com/marine-life/hawaiian-green-sea-turtle/) but the important things are they are called honu, can grow to 4 feet long, and can live 60-70 years. I was delighted to see them, and one came up to the surface!

There were fish of all sizes swimming around but I’m afraid I don’t know the exact types, nothing too colorful. But they were plentiful and fun to see.

After being in the water for about an hour we made our way back to the catamaran. We sailed up to around Diamond Head and back, about an hour of sailing. Fortunately, the crew provided reef-safe mineral sunscreen, which everyone applied liberally. I infamously burn, so was thrilled that I only missed a small spot on my back, which burned, but everywhere else was sunscreen-protected.