We knew we were running a risk trying to fit in a sunny snorkeling trip between rainy days at the beginning of Lahaina’s “winter” season, but it worked out perfectly. Yes, the wind was up but the water was clear and luck was with us when we joined a pod of spotted dolphins halfway between Maui and Lana’i. Our captain stayed a reasonable distance from them but all aboard (~20) had plenty of opportunity to watch, smile, and snap photos. It was great that a young boy spotted them and the crew celebrated him for his alertness. Probably made his week. We cut around to the west side of Lana’i to snorkel in a beautiful little cove that was far enough from the southern tip to be calm. Plenty of tropical fish (tangs and parrots) and urchins (black) and great vis. Fantastic pics from a video cam to the bottom. Seemed like a healthy reef. Returned toward Lahaina with a snack of banana bread, strawbs, and pineapple slices with nonalcoholic beverages. Captain gave us the choice of riding the chop in search of early humpbacks or snorkeling in the second site, which was the unanimous choice. It was a good choice because we swam over an artificial reef inhabited by many turtles. They were happy to mingle and made underwater videos really easy, though the video there was limited. Still, I got reasonable footage of bottom surfers from the surface and had one cruise up from the bottom directly within 5 feet of me. I tried to maintain separation but he/she was making the moves. After that it was just cruising back to port, bucking the chop on a windy day. The crew was very friendly and, while this was by no means a luxury cruise, it more than made up for that in genuineness and fun. That’s the cool thing about about a small, family-run operation.