Maui Ocean Center

It was a hot September day and my daughter-in-law, Una, and I wanted to find a cool place to spend the afternoon with my 16 month-old grandson, Kainalu. Since Kainalu recently got a book about boats and learned how to do sign language for boat, i thought it would be fun to take him to Ma'alea Harbor and then to Maui Ocean Center.
The dock at Ma'alea Harbor is currently under construction so we weren't able to get a close look at most of the boats, but Kainalu seemed to enjoy the view anyway!
Maui Ocean Center was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. Kainalu was mezmorized and delighted by the turtles, jellyfish, manta rays, sharks and fish and so was I! There was lots of interesting sealife including the sharp-horned unicorn fish and the frogfish that camouflages itself to blend into the coral and rocks around it.
The Ocean Center staff gave us lots of fun ocean facts and there were cool interactive games like the one where you can record yourself trying imitate a dolphin's call. The amazing aquarium provided us relief from the heat and watching the spectacular sealife proved to be very relaxing.
Kainalu especially enjoyed sitting next to the tank with the oversized Emu fish that swam by his head as he made the swishy sign language with his little fingers for "fish".