Ocean Center Report
Spydaman
Took my wife and Kids to the Maui Ocean Center last Saturday. A little
overpriced but it was fun (Kama'aina rates $12.00 adults, $6.00 12 and
under). Total was $60.00! Auwe! The variety of fish was adequate. I
know they are daily adding to the population, so it should improve on a
regular basis. Kids loved the Whale exibit, lots of hands on stuff for
them to learn on. Very well done exibit on Hawaiians and the Sea with
written commentary by Uncle Charlie Maxwell. Mahalo Uncle Charlie for
sharing your wisdom on this subject. The highlight of the Center was
the Plexiglass tunnel. Only thing, you get one BAD headache if you stay
inside too long, because of looking through the curve in the glass. The
Mano were very beautiful, but I could not help but feel pity for the
young Tiger Shark swimming around and around the tank, reminded me of a
caged tiger pacing back and forth in a cage. I also felt sorry for the
lone eagleray in the stingray tank. He too kept swimming in circles,
but he would come up and let me pet him, his snout soft, like a pigs (I
think it's a HE). Hope that's not the eagleray that lived in Maalaea
Harbor (my friend). Just my personal feelings. It was very crowded,
which at times made it a pain to see the exibits. I guess a good sign
though, making plenty money. As a whole, I highly recommend the Center
in spite of the price, etc. ....you gotta go at least once.
Spydaman
Sharon Westfall
In article <nortle-890...@news.lava.net>,
spyd...@SPAMLESS.shaka.com says...
:
:Took my wife and Kids to the Maui Ocean Center last Saturday. A little
:overpriced but it was fun (Kama'aina rates $12.00 adults, $6.00 12 and
:under). Total was $60.00! Auwe!
Hi Spy! I went on Tuesday, with 6 kids $12 + (6 * $6) = $48
We ate at the Seascape Restaurant, too $58 (Double Auwe!)
:The variety of fish was adequate. I
:know they are daily adding to the population, so it should improve on a
:regular basis.
It seemed to me that the fishes were all mixed up, I guess better to have
something in the display than empty. The fish didn't match the
descriptions.
:Kids loved the Whale exibit, lots of hands on stuff for
:them to learn on. Very well done exibit on Hawaiians and the Sea with
:written commentary by Uncle Charlie Maxwell. Mahalo Uncle Charlie for
:sharing your wisdom on this subject.
The kids didn't care too much about the Whale exhibit. Erin wanted the
real thing. I told her the Ocean Center was working on contracting a
whale to enter Maalaea harbor once an hour... :-)
:The highlight of the Center was
:the Plexiglass tunnel. Only thing, you get one BAD headache if you stay
:inside too long, because of looking through the curve in the glass.
Ooo, I loved the tunnel! I guess it wasn't as crowded as the weekend,
because we could just sit on the sides of the tunnel and watch fish and
sharks swim around, above, below you... The young children going through
the tunnel were especially cute... They would see the shark swimming
under the glass window, then plop their bodies down flat on the glass to
get a better look. They should have made more glass windows on the floor
(Only about (3) 2'x4' panes grouped together)
:The
:Mano were very beautiful, but I could not help but feel pity for the
:young Tiger Shark swimming around and around the tank, reminded me of a
:caged tiger pacing back and forth in a cage. I also felt sorry for the
:lone eagleray in the stingray tank. He too kept swimming in circles,
:but he would come up and let me pet him, his snout soft, like a pigs (I
:think it's a HE). Hope that's not the eagleray that lived in Maalaea
:Harbor (my friend). Just my personal feelings.
The Stingray Cove, Turtle Lagoon and Touch Pools seemed too small. The
older kids commented to me that the displays were much more interesting
when there was someone there who explained things. That's why they liked
the Turtle Lagoon better than the Whale Discovery Center.
All in all, I liked it better than the Waikiki Aquarium (the displays,
not the price!) but not as much as the one in Monterrey, California.
When they get more fish the displays, it will be awesome... You can't
beat Hawaiian Reefs for beautiful fish. I wish they had a Nautilus
display like the Waikiki Aquarium, though. I called the Center for
information about an Annual pass, and they said they will be coming out
with something in June, no price set yet.
A side note, the empty lot between the Sting Ray Cove and old Maalaea
Store is the space for a Shinto Shrine. It used to be located between
the Cove and the Dolphin Fountain, the Maalaea Triangle and Ocean Center
people provided the lot and infrastructure to relocate it, and members of
the church will be rebuilding it soon. My grandparents' house used to be
at the Seascape Restaurant location. After the bulldozers broke it down,
I rescued the mailbox and gave it to my cousin on the mainland.
--
*************** PIYO __ PIYO *********************
* Sharon Westfall / \ soc.culture.hawaii !!! *
* Kuau, Maui, Hawaii < ^ \ *
* | ) *
* \/\____/ !!!Mononoke Hime!!! *
*************************** > *************************
gi...@lava.net
In <nortle-890...@news.lava.net>, on 03/27/98
at 01:35 AM, westfal@aloha_SPAM_MUSUBI.net (Sharon Westfall) said:
:It seemed to me that the fishes were all mixed up, I guess better to have
: something in the display than empty. The fish didn't match the
:descriptions.
That must be Hawaii's literacy problem??? Dem feesh nevah wen learn foa
read....
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gi...@lava.net
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