Maui Day 6: Ahihi Kinau Snorkeling

Either our GoPro skills improved over our vacation, or there were just too many amazing photos on this snorkel trip! These were taken at a very special place near Makena, called the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve, a land and water protected area where no fishing or development is allowed. The limited human activity means the reef was healthy with the least amount of bleached coral we’d seen our entire trip! There was an awesome variety of marine life we enjoyed swimming with in the open areas. Our most magical encounter was with the endangered Hawaiian monk seal which followed us around for a while (and freaked me out honestly, because I didn’t expect to see one at all ever and it was a lot bigger than I thought as it checked me out)... Now I know how scared animals must feel sometimes when we’re checking them out, haha! Jeremy took some coffee-table-worthy pictures, including the seal’s face! Follow us on our underwater exploration of these gorgeous marine life in the photos below.

Yellowfin Goatfish

Redfin Butterflyfish, Yellow Tang

Bluefin Trevally

Yellow Tang, Convict Tang, Pink-tail Triggerfish

Topsail Chubs

Pacific Chub, Blackspot Sergeant, Black Durgon Triggerfish

Oval Butterflyfish

Parrot Fish and Yellow Tang

Monk Seal

Kole, Achilles Tang

Yelloweye Filefish

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To top the day off, we celebrated our last Hawaiian sunset by taking a walk on Wailea Beach. I told Jeremy I would probably dream about this place and want to come back all the time. It was the perfect way to say goodbye... we fly out tomorrow.