Atlantis Submarines Maui employees grateful to be back working nearly 3 years after fire

LAHAINA (HawaiiNewsNow) – Forty-eight passengers aboard the Holokai shuttle boat docked at Lahaina Harbor Wednesday, seemingly unaware of the vessel’s significance.

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“This shuttle boat that you’re sitting on right now is the only vessel that survived the Lahaina wildfires,” Keo Kenolio tells the passengers. “Out of over 100 boats, this is the only boat.”

Kenolio was born and raised in Lahaina.

She is a naturalist and copilot for Atlantis Submarines Maui, the Valley Isle’s only submarine, which has been around since 1991.

She was eight months pregnant when Lahaina went up in flames.

“It was very stressful. My husband was on this side. Luckily, he got home before it got bad. My mom called me. All my family had to evacuate. We lost a lot of childhood homes and then, I found out that we lost the boats as well,” said Kenolio.

Atlantis lost nearly everything in the 2023 Lahaina fire, including employee Kirk Carter.

“We lost a life, and that’s just one of the most horrible things you could ever have,” said Ronald Williams President & CEO. “It was a really tough one. It also was tough because we tried to take care of the employees as long as we could, but obviously we couldn’t and we had to furlough people. So, I’m so happy that we were able to bring them back.”

Returning to the water

Nearly three years later, employees are ready to share their knowledge about Lahaina and educate passengers about Maui’s undersea beauty once again.

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“Did you see that big silver fish? That was a giant trevally. Ulua is the Hawaiian name,” Kenolio educates passengers aboard the submarine.

Passengers saw schools of fish, coral, sea urchins, star fish, lots of other marine life unique to Hawaii and learned a lot.

“That was a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse, Hinalea. He is endemic to Hawaii. He’s kind of the dentist out here,” Kenolio said.

In the past, passengers have also seen dolphins and whales.

“Only 1% of the world has been down that deep. So, it’s really fun to be able to do that and teach about fish and stuff like that,” Kenolio said. “Atlantis is such a close-knit family, especially on Maui. We all work together. We all love each other. It’s really fun working here.”

Even though many of the employees are still rebuilding their lives, they are grateful to be back working once again.

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