My family and I recently vacationed in the Hawaiian Island of Maui and were excited about all the excursions available to us to experience marine life. We had just participated in a boat/ snorkel trip earlier in the week where I was overcome by motion sickness so needless to say, that placed a huge damper on the day and limited our sight-seeing for anything living in the Pacific Ocean.
I was leery about reentering the water but had heard about the Atlantis Submarines rides in Lahaina, Maui and thought it worth a try.
Part of the attraction of the submarine tour was about the comfort; my comfort; getting sick while vacationing is not a desired experience. I was looking forward to being inside an air-conditioned cylinder tube with sixty-three fellow passengers, descending 100 feet below the oceans’ surface, each having a front row seat to witness the wonderful marine world of the Pacific Ocean.
The boarding process was a scenic and a patient one; traveling by ferry out to sea to board the vessel. Once we reached the designated area, we were able to watch as the submarine we were about to board surface with the tour prior to ours. Then the ferry cradled the vessel tightly to begin the exit and switch dance. The submarine passengers exited the vessel, boarded the ferry and then everyone on the ferry hugged tightly and boarded the submarine, climbed inside, locked the hatch behind us and took a seat. Suffering from motion illness, this process was proved tolerable for me.
Then we heard those words … Dive! Dive! Dive! Once the submarine had reached its final depth of 126 feet below the ocean’s surface, I was unable to feel the motion of the ocean. It was calm and it was beautiful. We traveled around the reef outside of Lahaina seeing string rays, an array of fish and even a shipwreck. The kids loved it.
We were underwater for about one hour before we surfaced.
Once we had reached the ocean’s surface, the ferry was awaiting our arrival with a boat full of eager passengers waiting for their submarine tour who will engage in the exit and switch dance just like we did earlier.
As we boarded our awaiting ferry, we enjoyed the scenic view of Lahaina and the West Maui Mountains heading back to shore. Our adventure was nice and I would recommend for families with younger children and persons wanting to see wonderful Pacific marine life without getting wet.
For more about our Maui experience and the marine life, read about our ShorelineSNUBA adventure.
