Hawaii 2009: Day 7

I can’t believe it’s Friday. Even though you’re reading this on Saturday which it is according to my computer’s clock. Anyway . . .
We headed south toward Kailua-Kona for our day of snorkeling. We had somewhat randomly chosen to book with Body Glove and it turned out to be a prime choice. Even though we got switched to the morning cruise, 4 1/5 hours instead of the afternoon 3 hour one, it was excellent. The boat, a 65’ catamaran carries 130 passengers but our cruise had only 20. Ideal. Tons of individual attention, an excellent crew; Taylor the bartender, Sharky the knows-a-lot but does mostly schmoozing as far as I could tell although I’m sure he would be the second one to jump in should you get into trouble, JD who does a lot and probably would be the first one to jump in mostly because he’s always on the move, Mike and Caleb the SCUBA instructors, and another guy who I failed to attach a name to. So that’s like a 3 or so to 1 ratio of passengers to crew. The boat had lots of shade, restrooms, a fresh water shower for after snorkeling getting rid of the salt water grit, plus food, a bar, and everything needed for the rookie snorkeler to the advanced SCUBA-er, good boat, good crew, I’d highly recommend it but then the secret would be out. So never mind.
Kailua Bay is the starting point of the Ironman Triathlon. It’s also the place that King Kamehameha chose to spend the last years of his life. His personal Heiau (temple) is right by the pier. A lot of schools of brightly colored fish like to hang out in the area so it’s a popular spot for beginners or anyone who wants to get in a quick snorkel. We noticed several people in the water when we arrived to check in.

Dolphins swimming next to the boat

As we left Kailua bay, we immediately came upon numerous dolphin pods, first spinner then bottle nose. They were jumping and, I guess, frolicking is the best description, almost showing off for each other to see who could leap the highest out of the water. We watched them play for a while, some swam so close the pictures look like we bought a post card. It was pretty amazing. After a while of watching we headed to Pawai Bay, a leisurely couple miles up the coast pausing often to see the dolphins tracking our progress.
Once we arrived and tied up to the buoy we all donned masks, snorkels and fins and dove in. I’m always a little slow to hit the water, my serious aversion to anything cold makes me take it slow so I was the last to break the surface. Once in, I immediately swam back and told Sharky I needed to buy a camera, which he took care of so I didn’t have to leave the water. Pawai Bay while not as abundant as Hanauma Bay was like having your own personal National Geographic TV station. Peering down to the ocean floor, I don’t know how far it was because the water was so clear, you could see the old lava flow, now covered with the beginnings of coral and sea life. Sea urchins dotted the lava and brightly colored fish swam in singles or schools of dozens. In the distance, maybe a quarter mile away, spinner dolphins were playing in the surf. On my first trip back to the boat the SCUBA divers were passing around an octopus

A small octopus

they’d come across. I boarded to warm up a little, the Pacific is not as warm as the Caribbean, but went back for two more dives. On the second, I guess I was about 30 feet from the dolphins but was looking the wrong direction and never new I was in their neighborhood. Pity. Would have made a great photo op. We’d seen the dolphins at the resort but it was nothing like this. The numbers, the closeness, the naturalness of these marvelous creatures in their own environment – - Awesome.
Too soon, the hours came to an end and it was time to return. Once again, dolphins accompanied us. Amazing. We said our good-bye to the incredible crew and promised we’d return. Soon I hope.
Larry went to get the car so the cousins (and old wife with bad knees) wouldn’t need to make the uphill trek after hours of snorkeling (chivalry lives), while we watched the natives splash in the surf. A side note here: there should be a limit on the maximum size that bikinis come in. If people don’t have the good sense to know that there is only so much fleshy acreage that should be exposed to complete strangers and impressionable youngsters who could be scarred for life, manufacturers should take social responsibility and do us all a favor. Ladies, if you cannot see your swimsuit bottom when you look down, it’s time to retire it and get a one piece. Or possibly a tent. Or parachute. Likewise, Speedos for men. If you’re not in Olympic shape, gentlemen, please do us all a favor. The same rule applies: Boys, if you can’t see the Speedo because you’ve stored enough calories to survive a 7 year famine, we don’t want to see it either. Could someone call Europe and explain? Sorry, a little ranting . . .
Next stop, Wal-Mart for one hour photo developing. Yesserrie, boys and girls, Hawaii has Wal-Mart and Target and even K-Mart so real people of average income can survive. We killed the hour wait by finding the Harley place where L and I would pick up our bike for tomorrow’s jaunt around the island, then headed back and perused the aisles for necessities like Oreo’s, York Peppermint Patties, and salt and pepper. I know. It doesn’t need to make much sense.
Picture CD in hand, we returned, loaded photos into the computers, grilled salmon for dinner, sat around and did a lot of nothing and that was pretty much the rest a very excellent day.
My apologies that the pictures are not better quality. I think you need something better than a disposable camera to take decent quality pictures underwater. But, what the heck, it’s the best I’ve got.