Life Just Doesn't Get Any Better!
by William Hoff
The city of angels is still, for the most part, fast asleep waiting for the dawn to break from the east. The sky is still as black and foreboding as ever, with little hint of the coming dawn. The air terminal is slow in filling with travelers, some arriving from their homes for early morning flights; while others filing off one plane to jump back on a connecting flight. This is the position I find myself in; and wonder why. I had only left Maui 4-1/2 hours ago, the last United flight out.
I can answer this question very easily, I love diving Maui. Twice a year, we, my wife and I, put ourselves through this trauma; leaving our home in New Jersey and crossing the continent, a portion of the pacific ocean, to land on a relatively small island some 5000 miles away. What is the draw? Why have we continued to do this for the past 17 years? People ask this of me all the time, and my answer is always the same. Maui is No Ka Oi, it is the best. I've traveled through the Caribbean, Bermuda, and points east; but, for me, nothing has what Maui has to offer.
The
island itself is cosmopolitan enough to satisfy everyone and yet you
can run away to a secluded spot and be all alone. The white and black
sand beaches, the volcano, the clear blue water, Hard Rock Cafe and Planet
Hollywood all offer sights and sounds for all visitors. But for me,
that's only half the beauty of the island. The real wonder and fascination
lies beneath the sea. I have many more dives at Molokini Crater than
I can number and the amazing thing is each one was better than the last.
A good example of this was in May of 1997, as we were half way into our
dive at Reefs End and swinging to the outside of the crater we were greeted
by a Hawksbill Turtle. This was the first encounter I have ever had with
this endangered creature, and it was emotional, which proves an old dive
adage; "No matter how many times you dive the same site, there's
always something different or new to see". Big or small Maui 
diving
has it all. My last day of diving, November trip 97, finds me at Molokini
Crater, dropping off Sea Diver II, into 45 feet of water and being greeted
by 3 manta rays swimming in and out of a cleaning station. Kim Gleason,
our dive guide, brings the rest of the diver's down and we stayed with
them, or really they stayed with us, for over 20 minutes. Life just doesn't
get any better than this, and this was the end of the trip; the days
prior were just as exciting. Encounters with leaf scorpionfish, green
sea turtles, dolphins, devil scorpionfish, walls, tiny harlequin shrimp,
and even a wreck or two; these are only the tip of the iceberg as they
say.
So, if you ever get the chance to visit the Hawaiian Island of MAUI some day,(and this should be a must dive location for any diver), make sure you've got your diving gear, contact Ed Robinson's Diving Adventure, and as Ed say's "LET'S GO DIVING".
by William Hoff