NINA CHERRY

Swimming with Wild Dolphins ~ Jan. 30, 2010

Admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 03:03:38 +0000

We spent the weekend at a small island off Maui where the wild dolphins come in to rest in the sandy bay. Before they sleep they are extremely playful, spinning and darting around in circles. It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done, and if you know me, you know that is saying a lot.

Nina Cherry on Maui retreat with dolphins

We saw between 60-80 spinners: big male dolphins and mother dolphins with little babies.

They came very close to us. People are not supposed to swim towards the dolphins, but if you just go out a ways, all of a sudden, they come to play!

They swam around us and jumped out of the water over our heads—for three hours at a time! Lucky I have a great wetsuit so I can stay warm out in the ocean for a long time. It is just so exciting and I don’t want to come in when the dolphins are in the bay!

They come to Maui too, to LaPerouse Bay in Makena, but there are many more people in the water there, it is rocky with rougher seas and you have to swim way out to be with them. Here on this small island, there were only a few other people in the water with us, and the dolphins came in so close to the shore.

: Nina Cherry swimming with dolphins

The Department of Land and Natural Resources is giving tickets to people who swim agressively around the dolphins. $1000.00 tickets I heard! We are always respectful and swim carefully with the pods.

Maui Volcano Retreat July 24-25, 2009

Admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:58:05 +0000

Haleakala Crater Retreat

We just came back from the Haleakala Retreat and it was awesome!!! The weather was perfectly glorious. . . not too hot because it had been raining for days. The preliminary evening on the lawn at my home in Kula was cloudy and mystically misty and we didn’t know from moment to moment if the sky would open with a downpour. And until we got to Haleakala National Park at 10 am Saturday, we didn’t know if we were going to get rained out or not.

There were three stages to this personal growth retreat: HEALING, TRANSFORMATION, and EMPOWERMENT. The slide show will be up in a few days and you can see for yourself the changes the participants went through.

One of the retreatants wrote a thank you note today and said, “I hope this pilot project is the first of many!” Another person said, “I feel grateful and priviledged to have been a part of a wonderful day of healing and love!”

Rob in exhilaration

Please think of joining me for a life-changing retreat on Maui for renewal, refocus, and rejuvenation.

Snorkeling at Makena, Maui

Admin — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:35:04 +0000

April 19, 2009 Snorkeling is one of my favorite Maui pastimes. I love to go out at Makena Big Beach or Ahihi Wildlife Reserve. Ahihi is a little more tame. You can be in one foot of seawater and see big, colorful fish swimming by! Makena Beach is for more advanced snorkelers because the sea can be rough. Makena has schools of fish to swim though, and sea turtles to “surge” with. I coined a new word “surging”, for floating in and out with the turtles as the waves go over the reefs.

Here I am snorkeling at the Aquarium, a natural, deep seawater pool with thousands of different brightly colored fish. As a Pisces, I feel like I belong in the sea, swimming in the schools of fish. Sometimes I have dreams that I can breathe underwater.

Here are photos of the Aquarium. Isn’t it gorgeous? There are endless adventures on Maui. Aloha, Nina

Salt water natural aquarium in Makena

Nina Kayaking with the Whales

Admin — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:34:57 +0000

April 4, 2009 The whales will be leaving soon for their annual migration north. I am going kayaking as often as I can to be with them before they go. The humpbacks are great beings. We can hear them singing to each other when we swim at the beautiful beaches on the south side of Maui. It is one of the most inspiring things to experience. Think about coming to Maui for a personal renewal retreat. There is so much beauty here.