Before we left on our Hawaii adventure, my husband and I had four goals. In addition to just being warm during the month of February, we wanted to do a lot of snorkeling and we wanted to see whales, surfing and volcanoes. Happily, we were able to accomplish all of them! The first full day we were there, we drove up the north shore of Oahu and after watching a bunch of cute kids learning to surf, we stumbled upon a surfing competition. What a wild scene!
Kelly Slater in a surfing heat.
On Maui for most of our time, we were able to go out on several boat trips and saw lots and lots of whales. The captain on one boat lamented that we would never get back into port because we kept seeing so many, and that was on a snorkeling excursion! One especially beautiful day we were able to snorkel at Olawalu Reef where we saw a variety of fish and our hosts pointed out Jim Darling’s research boat. His years of research are largely responsible for the numbers of whales alive today.
By far the worst boat ride and most beautiful snorkeling was at Kealakekua Bay on the Kona side of the big island. The vibrant coral was especially beautiful after seeing so many bleached out reefs on previous snorkeling trips in the Caribbean and even on the Great barrier Reef. My husband took many stunning underwater videos which almost capture the beauty of it all. The grand prize though, watching the videos at home and hearing all of the whale song that we hadn’t noticed at the time!
David’s photo of yellow tangs in Kealakekua Bay, near the Captain Cook memorial.
Another day we took the drive up to view Haleakala Crater. The different colors within the crater were fascinating and an interesting contrast to the look of the volcanic craters on the big island when we drove the chain of craters road. Those craters reflected different eruption time frames and periods of regrowth. The overview and Holei Sea Arch at the end made the long, slow drive entirely worthwhile.
Haleakala crater on Maui.
Holei Sea Arch on the big island.
Now we are settled back in Michigan and eagerly tracking the signs of spring. Happy spring to all of you!