The Turtles

by Liz Dandrea
(Orange County, CA)

We were lost in paradise & came to the end of the road we were driving on. Typical of Maui, the end of the line was lovely, so we stopped & walked....we met up with an elderly man, locally employed & enjoying his lunch at the beach. He asked us if we were there to see his turtles...why, of course that's why we were there...

Much to our amazement and delight..just 10 feet away from the road, all swimming about were 20-25 HUGE TURTLES...

Now I have seen and swam w/sea turtles and these guys were nothing like anything i had ever seen in the wild...2 were on the beach & we were able to take pics of the ones in the water and the big mama on the sand. :) 100's of pounds & as big as a large truck tire!

We were thrilled that while being "lost" we encountered one of our most wonderful memories while in Maui.

We were able to share our pics w/a wildlife photographer who lives on Maui & he even was impressed w/the size and numbers of these beautiful creatures.. ..there is no better thing than getting lost in Paradise.

The kindness of the people who live on Maui shines through...I guess living there brings out the best in most.

We went to Maui in April and had such a wonderful time... we are in the process of planning a huge family reunion with members coming from all parts...California to New Zealand. Maui is our choice & have hope we can convince the rest of our family & that should not be too difficult!

Hi Liz!

What a great story! If you can get your pics to upload, I'd love to see them... I can add up to 4 pics with your story!

The only time I've seen sea turtles up close was when my husband and I were on the Big Island for our honeymoon... we were driving around, and came across this gorgeous black sand beach...

We got out of our rental car to take a look around, and lo and behold, there was this huge sea turtle just lounging about on the beach!

Here's a pic of me and the sea turtle:



We didn't want to disturb it, so we just took turns easing up behind it to pose for a quick picture!

It was a very memorable experience indeed! But WOW, to have seen a whole bunch of them like you did would have been absolutely AMAZNG!

Anyhow, good luck with convincing your family members to come to Maui for the reunion! I can't think of a place that would be more perfect!

Sheralyn