KT's Cruise Odyssey, Day 4: Kona, or How I Found Nemo
Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 9:23 pm
Pictures: http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll23 ... 0-%20Kona/
Got up very early, again (I only got around to being used to Hawaii time was just as we pulled into Vancouver...). Breakfast of cereal, coffee, a danish and juice on my balcony. Then I put on my bathing suit and headed to grab a lifeboat (this was a tender port, and that's what they used for tenders) and head into Kona to meet up with my shore excursion. This time, it was snorkeling off the Kona coast on a Zodiac raft.
Our guides were Chad and Laura, who looked a lot scarier than they were. They sped all 16 of us (we were one of two boats they were running, so 32 total) south to Kealakakua Bay, the site of the landing of Captain Cook on the island back a couple of hundred years ago. There's even a monument to him, which you can see in the pictures. We couldn't really get to know each other that well on the trip down, but there were a few ladies on board from New Orleans. When Chad called them "Southern Belles" they corrected him: "We're GRITS," they said, "Girls Raised In The South!" They were also real hoot.
The bay was quiet, not much (if any) real surf. From the surface, you could see a few fish, but what you really noticed was how clear the water was. Chad and Laura insisted that the reef we were visiting had a ton of fish...so we put on our fins and masks and went under. And what we saw was....Wondrous.
"Tons of fish" was an understatement. There were so many fish, I almost had to bat them away. Yellow tangs, polka-dotted wonders, moray eels, conger eels, sea anemones and cucumbers, clown fish ("Hey! I FOUND NEMO!")...even Hawaii's state fish, the humuhumunukunukuapu'a'a. When I was underwater, kept hearing this sound....a grating sound. It took me a few minutes to figure out what it was: parrotfish, gnawing the coral! The clear water and the gorgeous, colorful fish made this the second best thing I did in Hawaii.
Well, after about an hour and a half of snorkeling, we had to get back. We climbed back in the boat, got sprayed off with some fresh water, and started heading back. Chad really went zipping along this time, but took time to stop every once in a while. He showed us a rock formation that looked kinda like an evil-looking woman laying on her side (look for the eyes in the pics I took): the Hawaiians believed this to be a representation of Madame Pele, the goddess of fire and the volcano. There were sea caves, formed by the lava flows, and some terrific examples of the two kinds of lava (a'a and pahoehoe). And he stopped again...this time, for a pod of spinner dolphins who came over to say "Hi!" to us. It was spectacular, and I didn't even mind the sunburn....(SPF 30 wasn't enough....).
Lunch was at a place in Kailua called Quinn's. Fish tacos (mahi mahi again), then back to the boat for a nap, a shower, dinner (filet, but it was very tough...I don't think it was a real filet), and a little time playing 3-card poker (I got a straight flush, which paid about $300!). Oh, and the drink of the day -- an idea I got from Saucy! -- which was called "Surfer's Dream".
Then it was time for us to sail past the lava flow of Kilauea, on the way to Hilo. Back down to my balcony (which was luckily on the correct side of the ship!), grabbed my camera, and got ready. What I saw was....well....not much. There was a little red dot that was visible, and I tried my best to zoom up on it with my camera, but they didn't turn out. But I can still say I saw lava flowing!
Tomorrow: Hilo, another view of the volcano, and a $20,000 orchid.
Got up very early, again (I only got around to being used to Hawaii time was just as we pulled into Vancouver...). Breakfast of cereal, coffee, a danish and juice on my balcony. Then I put on my bathing suit and headed to grab a lifeboat (this was a tender port, and that's what they used for tenders) and head into Kona to meet up with my shore excursion. This time, it was snorkeling off the Kona coast on a Zodiac raft.
Our guides were Chad and Laura, who looked a lot scarier than they were. They sped all 16 of us (we were one of two boats they were running, so 32 total) south to Kealakakua Bay, the site of the landing of Captain Cook on the island back a couple of hundred years ago. There's even a monument to him, which you can see in the pictures. We couldn't really get to know each other that well on the trip down, but there were a few ladies on board from New Orleans. When Chad called them "Southern Belles" they corrected him: "We're GRITS," they said, "Girls Raised In The South!" They were also real hoot.
The bay was quiet, not much (if any) real surf. From the surface, you could see a few fish, but what you really noticed was how clear the water was. Chad and Laura insisted that the reef we were visiting had a ton of fish...so we put on our fins and masks and went under. And what we saw was....Wondrous.
"Tons of fish" was an understatement. There were so many fish, I almost had to bat them away. Yellow tangs, polka-dotted wonders, moray eels, conger eels, sea anemones and cucumbers, clown fish ("Hey! I FOUND NEMO!")...even Hawaii's state fish, the humuhumunukunukuapu'a'a. When I was underwater, kept hearing this sound....a grating sound. It took me a few minutes to figure out what it was: parrotfish, gnawing the coral! The clear water and the gorgeous, colorful fish made this the second best thing I did in Hawaii.
Well, after about an hour and a half of snorkeling, we had to get back. We climbed back in the boat, got sprayed off with some fresh water, and started heading back. Chad really went zipping along this time, but took time to stop every once in a while. He showed us a rock formation that looked kinda like an evil-looking woman laying on her side (look for the eyes in the pics I took): the Hawaiians believed this to be a representation of Madame Pele, the goddess of fire and the volcano. There were sea caves, formed by the lava flows, and some terrific examples of the two kinds of lava (a'a and pahoehoe). And he stopped again...this time, for a pod of spinner dolphins who came over to say "Hi!" to us. It was spectacular, and I didn't even mind the sunburn....(SPF 30 wasn't enough....).
Lunch was at a place in Kailua called Quinn's. Fish tacos (mahi mahi again), then back to the boat for a nap, a shower, dinner (filet, but it was very tough...I don't think it was a real filet), and a little time playing 3-card poker (I got a straight flush, which paid about $300!). Oh, and the drink of the day -- an idea I got from Saucy! -- which was called "Surfer's Dream".
Then it was time for us to sail past the lava flow of Kilauea, on the way to Hilo. Back down to my balcony (which was luckily on the correct side of the ship!), grabbed my camera, and got ready. What I saw was....well....not much. There was a little red dot that was visible, and I tried my best to zoom up on it with my camera, but they didn't turn out. But I can still say I saw lava flowing!
Tomorrow: Hilo, another view of the volcano, and a $20,000 orchid.
