The 6th day of our trip was our 20th Wedding Anniversary. I had booked a kayak and snorkel tour that morning that was down in Makena on the south side of the island. We had to check in at 7am so we had to leave our condo at 6am. On our way down there I read my blog post for that day and both Michael and I got emotional. We are just so immensely aware of how far we've come and what we've gone through and so grateful for all that we have.
Makena Landing!
This area is definitely popular with tour groups. I'd say there was at least 6 different tour companies there. We found our tour guide...Deja...she was just parked on the side of the road by the water. She was super cool. We drove over to the parking lot, got all our stuff and then walked over towards the water.
When I was buying stuff for our trip I specifically bought our swim shirts for this activity. I had read that tons of people get sunburned while snorkeling and I did not want to be that person.
We also bought the phone cases so we could take pictures and not worry about losing our phones. We did end up having to go back to the car so we could get our swim shoes and they really did come in handy.
Michael and I met some really nice ladies that were a part of our tour. One of them offered to take our picture. She also let me use some of her sunscreen....I had put some on prior to leaving, but I was concerned about the tops of my thighs.
It's crazy to think that I was already planning for this adventure back in late 2017. It was then that it occurred to me that I needed to have Lasik surgery so could actually see things in the water. I had surgery on December 29th 2017 and after that initial healing time of 3 months I have felt great. I love that I don't have to wear glasses anymore and I'm so thankful that I went through with it.
We kayaked out a little ways and then it was time to get in the water and snorkel. Deja was very thorough when explaining what we needed to do in regards to getting in and out of the kayak and how to put our snorkel gear on. She really made me feel at ease and that was great since this was our first time snorkeling.
It took just a few minutes to get used to breathing solely through my mouth. It was so fun and way easier than I thought it would be.
Deja did say that the visibility wasn't the best on the day we went, but we could still see about 50ft out from us.
Michael and I both saw a turtle...you can see him in the middle of the picture. We also saw lots of fish. I will say that the coral reefs didn't look as colorful as I thought they were, but I don't know if this area is supposed to be colorful or not.
After snorkeling for a bit we got back in our kayaks and paddled over to another area where we snorkeled some more. This area wasn't as good as the first, but we still had fun. When it was time to come in Deja went in first and then called us in one boat at a time. There were 8 boats in our tour. We were the second boat to go in. There are a few things that can go wrong when you go out into the water and when you come back in. We didn't have problems either time. In fact Deja and the other folks were all so surprised this was our first time snorkeling and our second time kayaking. We both had a blast!
A couple friends on FB said that we needed to go to Coconuts in Kihei for the fish tacos. We decided to get 2 fish tacos, 2 steak tacos and volcano fries.
The fish tacos were yummy, but I liked the steak tacos the best. My favorite fish tacos I've ever had are at the Burien Fish House....the sauce is amazing!!!
The volcano fries were so awesome! You have to like spicy food though....hot hot hot!!!
After lunch we headed back to the condo. I was really wiped out from being in the water and the sun for so long. This was the only day I ended up taking a nap and it felt so good.
After nap time we got up and walked around the Papakea grounds. There are so many beautiful plants!
Michael liked taking pictures of all the different flowers.
These look like giant onions to me!
I got this picture printed out for our wall.
Papakea has a putting green so we got putters from the front desk and played for fun. Of course Michael beat me.
While walking around we had a cute little cat following us around.
She was so sweet...she followed us quite a ways, but when we got closer to the ocean she was done and would not go any further.
Later we went and sat on the lounge chairs to watch the sunset.
Maui sunsets are the best!!!!
Have I mentioned that I love palm trees!!!
The grounds look so pretty even at dusk!
For our anniversary dinner we had reservations at Merriman's in Napili. We didn't make reservations until a couple days before so the only time available was 8:30pm. We got to the restaurant a little early so we went down and sat on the patio to wait for our table.
There was this whole party...most likely a wedding party eating out under those tents behind Michael. There was also a couple of guys playing guitars and singing...live music is so fun!
Michael and I both ordered a drink and just relaxed. I wish we had been able to be there during the day or right at sunset...I bet you the views are amazing!
When the server brought our drinks we asked her if she'd take our picture. I wish we had also taken one standing up. I got my dress on Amazon right after Easter. A friend on FB wore a similar one on Easter Sunday and she shared the link. My dress isn't the same color scheme as hers. Once I saw this light blue color I knew I had to chose that one. I bought my necklace and earring set at Target years ago and they match perfectly. My dress even has pockets!!!!
Our dinner at Merriman's was WONDERFUL! Way better than our lunch at Mama's and $100 cheaper! They even had anchovies for our Caesar salads...yummy! Michael and I both got steak and they were done to perfection! It was such a wonderful day celebrating our last 20 years together!!
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