22. Paddleboard longer than I ever have before

The edge of Crystal Cove. Half way through our paddle

Today, I paddled longer than I ever had before. I would have been happy enough with just that but it happened to be one of the nicest days of the year. We ended up paddling, swimming, and body surfing for almost 3 hours and crossing 10 miles of coastline. I went with Will Conk and Eric Paine. We started around 9:30 in the morning at South Crescent Bay and passed by Emerald Bay and Irvine Cove on our way to El Morro where we spent some time swimming, messing around on the boards (Videos below) and I actually did a little bit of paddle board surfing. The SUP surfing itself was cool but I learned my lesson that you should only ride waves that you can kick off before the shore because when you take any SUP into shore break... it might crack. I was really bummed when it cracked because it is such an awesome board and I cracked it on such a stupid mistake. 

The crack goes right through the "U" in Rogue. SUPER bummed

We continued to paddle into Crystal Cove and hit the beginning of Corona Del Mar. It was a 5 mile paddle each way! I don't know the last time I walked 10 miles let alone paddle. We saw HUGE sting rays, sea lions, a sand shark, and countless fish. The visibility was awesome and there was absolutely no wind or strong current. It was a perfect day with great friends. ALSO... we came back to my house and Joo, Eric, Will, Porch, and I watched the UCLA v. TEXAS game which ended 34-12 UCLA!!!!! Who would have thought UCLA would play as well as they did. Great game. We spent the rest of the day going to the boat show in Newport which was really cool. If I ever have an extra 5.8 million dollars, I know what I will do with it. We also watched the sunset from Eric's office off Lido which is just about a perfect spot to watch the sun go down. Still looking for the elusive "Green Flash" when the sun goes down. Some Thai food to end the day and got home in just enough time to watch another college foozeball highlight and pass out. Wonderful day!!!!!

Passing by the rock with Sea Lions swimming around us

Me doing a 360... well, almost!

Will flipping off the board

Eric flipping

Lots of Sea Lions on the rock

Will checking out Emerald Cove

..."You Idiot" with his mellow hat

Will and I happy to be paddling

Eric in the super green water of El Morro

Look how glassy the water was... SO nice

Will and Eric paddling from El Morro

Relaxing in El Morro

Flyin' Hawaiian Zip Lines

The Flyin' Hawaiian Zip Line was a scenic set of 8 zip lines through the West Maui Mountains. The longest of which was 3600 feet long. That takes 1 minute 10 seconds to get to the end getting up to 60 mph. The views were amazing as we were zipping down the line. On many of the lines we could see both the North Shore and South Shore at the same time. We went forwards, backwards, and sometimes even tried upside down. This was a lot of fun and I definitely recommend anyone try this if they head to Maui.

Great view... Great smile :)

After a zip

Ready to go!!!!!

Aloha!!!!!

Joo ready to go

Yes... I was that happy

Great View!!!!

Shark Dive at Maui Ocean Center

The Shark Dive at the Maui Ocean Center was easily one of the most unique and amazing things I have done. 22 sharks swimming around us the whole time!!! 1 Tiger stretching to 9 feet and weighing close to 400 pounds, multiple Hammerheads (the biggest was 8 feet and over 300 pounds), Grey Reef sharks, White and Black Tip Reef Sharks, Many rays, and countless fish. There was an Eagle Ray that would eat out of our hands. It actually reminded me of my beagle Rusty because whenever we had food it would stalk us around the tank until we fed it. There was also a HUGE puffer that was so friendly. The sharks were fascinating but not invasive at all. They got a bit curious which was a bit scary but we never really felt in danger. An awesome part of this experience was that when we were in the tank, there were a bunch of children who were fascinated with us and would wave and follow us around. 

Another really cool part of this experience was that we got to spend some time with new friends (Jody and Zach). They are SUCH nice people and we enjoyed all the time we got to spend with them.

View from the aquarium

Joo and a Grey Reef Shark

I once scored 4 td's in one game at Polk High

The A-Ok is a bit premature

What has two thumbs and looks terrified of sharks??? this guy!

From in the aquarium

Jody and Zach from in the aquarium

Why the face?

Hand-feeding the eagle ray

Lots of sharks

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...

Let us out... SHARKS everywhere!!!!

Giving back to the kids

I peed in my suit this many times!

Our guides

Road to Hana

ROAD TO HANA

On a tip from Alan, we got a CD that we played on our road to Hana that described each place we would go to. Thank God we did b/c it was a HUGE help. The road to Hana provided us with waterfalls, multicolored beaches, and countless picturesque views of beautiful Hawaiian coastline. 

The road to Hana was one of the MUST do's in Maui. It was lush, green (sometimes black and red), and beautiful. We left at 6:00 in the morning and didn't get back until 8:30 at night and never drove more than 10 miles at a time except for the very beginning and end. We started in Paia with breakfast at Charlie's and were off to our first stop at Twin Falls. When we got there, it was pouring rain but a tropical rain on a hike to a waterfall is pretty fun. We then drove to one of our favorite picture spots Ke'anae where we stopped by a plantation and hung out at a lava rock beach with a fresh fruit smoothie and freshly made banana bread. After stopping by a viewpoint at Wailua, we were on our way to Pua'a Ka'a State Park where we hiked up one waterfall only to get to a bridge with no rails. There are some times I dont do so well with heights and this is one of them but I powered through and it was SOOO worth it. We got to a beautiful waterfall and a pool that was extra refreshing after a hike on a hot day. The next spots were probably my favorite. We went by the lava tubes on the way to Wainapanapa State Park where there was a black sand beach where a dog that looked like Kona that would fetch through pretty heavy swell. We finally got into Hana and went to a red sand beach which I found out was a clothing optional beach. I found this out by taking numerous photos which unfortunately had a large nude man on a raft. After stopping at Oheo Gulch to view the "7 Sacred Pools" (Not an actual Hawaiian name) we had to figure out which way we were going to drive home. The nicely paved but curvy roads back or the shorter but partially unpaved roads back. We took the unpaved back way and were really glad we did. Not only was there a "Earth Dance" full of 100 hippies dancing together with no music, but the views were amazing. 

Sugar Cane

Twin Falls

Honomanu Bay

Joo about to jump in at Honomanu Bay

A plantation on the way to Ke'anae

Ke'anae

Ke'anae

Waves breaking at Ke'anae

Nice view on the road to Hana

Lava rock and crystal clear water

Who wants tickets to the "Gun Show"

Wailua Overlook. The clouds look awesome.

Pua'a Ka'a State Wayside Park

Nice waterfall. Super refreshing on a hot day.

Joo walking over a scary bridge

Waianapanapa State Park

The view above the red sand beach in Hana

If you look closely, there is a fat nude man on a raft and a naked women dancing with a baton. Pretty scene otherwise