UWC Day 069 – Maui, Hawaii – Snorkeling Tours and Cleaning Up

Maui section of the trip is wrapping up, so had a couple tours, then needed to start getting packed up and cleaning the car for return tomorrow.

Photo Gallery: https://pics.mattichan.com/-uwc069

Morning Snorkeling to Molokini

Got up bright and early (around 5am) to get to the pier for my morning snorkeling tour to Molokini. I arrived at the pickup spot and there was someone to check us in that told us we had been “upgraded” to a bigger ship (that we didn’t want), cause bigger means more people and farther from the views. We ended up walking around the pier to the other side to the ship (three other people had arrived at the same time as me), and we waited in line to get on the boat.

About 10 minutes of waiting later, the guy at the front yelled out “if you’re on the other ship, you need to walk back across the pier to the other side, they’re waiting for you”. Annoying as heck. We walked back to our original boat and ended up getting on and heading out.

As we left harbor, we were informed that the conditions at Molokini were really rough, so we weren’t going to Molokini and instead going to two other spots instead….also kind of annoying, since this was specifically a tour to Molokini.

The two spots ended up being pretty nice, super clear and lovely water (nice and calm), and the sun even came out a little bit to shine on us.

On the way out and back, we saw a TON of whales up close to the boat and further out. At the end, we even stopped for a bit to watch a Mom, Child and an Escort traveling together.

Maui Pineapple Tour

After the snorkeling, headed to the Maui Pineapple Tour for my rebooked tour, when I got there, they told me that they were cancelling again (and since it was my last day, couldn’t reschedule). Oh well, I tried. They gave me two pineapples anyway for free, and got to see some through a fence.

As I was leaving, I got a call as well from the other tour I had booked for a night time lighted snorkel of Molokini, saying (as expected) that the conditions were too bad, and they’d have to cancel. Fair enough, but unfortunate.

Maluaka Beach

Drove instead down to Maluaka Beach to see the views and see if there were any turtles down that way. Got there and just like the snorkeling tour, the conditions were super wavy, so if they were out, they were definitely in the water. Spent a bit on the beach just walking around and then walking back found some birds.

Felt bad for this bird, I noticed that it was hopping weird, and upon closer look, it only had one leg, and was hopping around and balancing on that one leg.

Errands

Back to the city, I stopped by the UPS to send my phone back to Best Buy. After waiting in line, I got to the front, only to be told that the shipping label that Best Buy gave me wasn’t valid for Hawaii (UPS Ground), and that they needed a UPS 2nd Day Air label for anything in Hawaii.

I called Best Buy and explained the situation and they gave me a new label, so I went back through the line, only to find out that they had given me ANOTHER UPS Ground label, and it still wasn’t valid.

Another call to the Best Buy Customer Service line and after 20 minutes, they told me that they couldn’t create a 2nd Day Air label through their system (ridiculous). I asked what they wanted me to do, cause I was traveling and wasn’t going to be anywhere close by. They had no answers, and finally I offered to bring it to the Best Buy in Honolulu and drop it off in person. They assured me that that would work, so we’ll see.

All in all, wasted an hour and a half in the parking lot and going back and forth to the UPS store.

Cleaning Up

Next, I ended up packing up the car and getting it ready to return. With the new flight that I had, I would have to leave at 4am from the campsite and get the car washed (never have had an AirBnB demand that their camper be run through a car wash). The car wasn’t dirty at all, but had to bring it to a car wash.

Drove around the city looking for the two car washes that the AirBnB told me to go to, but neither was open at their supposed hours of operation. Another hour wasted, but figured I’d just have to wake up even earlier and do the self-service car wash.

Got back to my campsite around 10, and went to sleep knowing that I had the early morning ahead of me.

Itinerary Change

Got this email and was immediately wanting more popcorn. Incredible. So excited to be going to Africa, and really completes the world cruise (sure I’m bummed about Petra and the Pyramids — potentially), but I’m also always staying true to one of my mantras — whatever I see, I see…no regrets or FOMO over here.

Vibe Check

2 parts joy – snorkeling, AFRICA!

3 parts sadness – leaving Maui, canceled tours, incorrect instructions and car washes.

Feedback

Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!