Maui

We took a vacation, plain and simple. Sure, we camouflaged it as a business trip, a field test, whatever. But truth be told,we simply needed a break, so off we went. Destination: Maui. We scored big. In the sidewalk-free neighborhood tucked against the sugarcane-covered hills of Lahaina, we stayed at the perfect home away from home: The GuestHouse, a bed-and-breakfast run by an avid diver and lover of life, Tanna Swanson. We bought a few tank cards and hit the beach. Airport Beach is a great shallow dive; then there was Black Rock, a point in front of Kaanapali that proved to be one of the best night dives anywhere (we're talking on a world scale here). Huge sleeping turtles; glowing Spanish dancer nudibranchs the size of footballs in brilliant reds, pinks and purples; lobster; octopus-hunting eels and magical phosphorescence. And the shore dive not to be missed - Mala Wharf, an old Lahaina pier that was severely damaged in a storm and then dynamited, is now counted as the largest wreck dive in the islands. Although Maui offers up some great shore dives, Molokini Crater is where the divers (and snorkelers) flock. Mike Severns' Diving and Maui Dive Shop treated us right, from morning till night, come swell or high water. Severns' Diving has a brand-new boat, and they've got the setup down: Early to sea in an effort to beat the big snorkel crowd that comes down on the crater midmorning, the day's crew of three pulls all your dive gear up on the boat while it's still on the trailer. Once you board, you're worry-free. Maui Dive Shop gives a different taste of diving Maui. They offer a three-tank dive, with the option of boarding after the first, and some of us opted for this so we could sleep in a teeny bit. We had a great time with both operations, and the diving itself was super. You want turtles? They've got them in droves off the coast of Maui: harlequin shrimp, frogfish, scorpionfish, rockfish, Hawaii's endemic black damselfish. And while we didn't find the incredible soft corals of the South Pacific, we found dozens of species seen nowhere else on earth - just like the island itself. Mahalo, Maui.