The next day we stopped in Maui and originally planned to go to the Maui Ocean Center in Wailuku and he back to the ship. But once we got ashore we decided to also take a walking tour of the Iao Valley State Monument on the Iao Needle Lookout Trail and Ethnobotanical Loop. The Iao Needle — Kuka‘ emoku in Hawaiian — is the phallic stone of Kanaloa the Hawaiian god of the oceans. Unlike the volcano trails, this was an easy hike.

The Maui Oceans Center is an on-land and offshore aquarium . On land there are a series of connected pools open to the ocean with fish swimming in and out. There are also closed exhibits like the ones in the Baltimore aquarium.

But in addition to the land exhibits there is a circular reef offshore that is a haven to a wide variety of very colorful fish plus coral, jelly fish and a few sharks. The reef area is open to divers but only on aquarium tours. The water is so clear you need no extra lighting at 30-40 feet. We weren’tsure how good this tour would be but it turned out far above our expectations. I would recommend it if you’re ever on Maui.