Saturday the 17th we woke up before 7 to go for a morning snorkel.Mornings are the calmest time of day in the ocean, and this is also when you can still see a lot of wildlife.So we drove South from Kihei to as far as the road would go to a place called Ahihi Cove.The cove was surrounded by jagged lava rocks and the waves coming in looked really strong - this was not the way I pictured a snorkelling site to be.My mom, thinking the water was okay, went ahead with her scuba gear - a few times, the waves would push her back and she almost hit the rocks - Shawn and I being VERY amateur snorkelers here (my mom goes swimming in the ocean for her daily exercise), decided not to venture out and instead chatted with some of the locals (one of them fed me kimchi octopus just like what we'd eat in Korea, mmmm).Another snorkeler ventured out and he was a much stronger swimmer, but even he said it was so murky that he couldn't even tell if a rock was coming.After about an hour, my mother came in and she had a horrible time getting back to us as she was avoiding the rocks.She made it back safely with only a small cut on her hand.

Afterwards, Shawn and I got ready and headed out to Lahaina, which is about 30 minutes north of Kihei up the West coast of Maui.We walked around this pretty little town again and there was a really big market and lots of cultural entertainment and a small parade taking place right at Banyan park so we watched the pretty Hula dancers and viewed the local art.We also bought a yummy pork sandwich from a Relay For Life team (yes, they do that here too - they invited me to come run with them but it's not til next week!)At 3pm we went to the harbour for an Atlantis Submarine tour.I have never been on a real submarine before (and no, Disney doesn't count), and Shawn had been on an Atlantis sub when he was in the Cayman Islands and said it was really neat, so we bought tickets to go.First, they take you out on a ferry, go over all the safety regulations as we head out in the ocean, and then when we near the submarine's location, the ferry stops and waits for the submarine to submerge from the deep water.First, you can see bubbles forming in the water, then all of a sudden the top of a submarine pops out.The ferry tied itself to the submarine so that everyone can get on, and then after 50 people made it to their seats inside, the submarine sunk to depths of 130 feet.We circled around coral and tons of school of fish - it is so funny because the fish come right up the windows and look inside.We also saw a shark, some moray eels, a barracuda and some puffer fish (they're so cute when they're all "puffed up.")We were probably down there for an hour, then we resurfaced and headed back.Afterwards, we drove to the Royal Lahaina resort which is a beach front resort for their luau.We sat with a really nice family from Winnipeg, the first Canadians we have actually met on the trip - the majority of people who visit Hawaii are from California.The luau begins with a huge feast, free drinks (I drank way too many mai tai's), and is then followed with an hour program - the music was really great, I wish they sold it on CD - two of the musicians were a father and son nominated for a Grammy.The dancers were spectacular as well - they can really shake it!!(Btw, I've decided to take up hula dancing when I get back to Regina. J)Overall, Saturday was a really fun day!

Oh, and about the strong waves at Makena beach, I am still pretty shaken up about it and I've almost developed a fobia for big waves - I consider myself to be lucky to get out of there with only pulled intercostal muscles (inside the rib cage) as people have broken their necks and become paralyzed or some have drowned - Shawn had to drag me out of the water because I couldn't breathe and for a while after, I couldn't walk or breathe without hurting. I am totally being a beach bum for the rest of this holiday!

- Sheenah