The Maui Ocean Center, a three-acre complex in Ma‘alaea, has a tropical reef aquarium as well as exhibits of sea denizens and a walk-through underwater tunnel.


den eels and the Underwater Journey, featuring a clear acrylic walk-through tunnel in which visitors are surrounded by 240-degree views of sharks, eerily beautiful spotted eagle rays, and other spe- cies that inhabit Maui’s undersea world.


The center, which is about twenty minutes north of Kihei, serves as


a preview of South Maui’s most stellar attractions, which are not Kihei’s lively bars and restaurants, or even Wailea’s beautiful hotels and golf courses, but what can be seen simply by boarding a boat or renting snorkeling gear. On South Kihei Road are the Kamaole 1, 2, and 3 Beaches, which provide an ascending degree of adventure for first-time snorkelers. The beaches’ impressive reefs shelter fish like moorish idols and angelfish, as well as the island’s famous sea turtles. And Ma‘alaea Harbor, midway between Lahaina and Kihei, is a departure point for snorkeling and whale-watching tours in Novem- ber through April. It is then that the humpback whales migrate three thousand miles to Maui’s waters to calve, and, along with their offspring, exult in breaching displays that are among Maui’s most beloved sights.


T H E E L K S M A G A Z I N E 59


PHOTO: LUCY PEMONI/CORBIS


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