Ten Days in Hawaii - Day 2: We go Snorkeling

Our activity for today was a morning snorkel and BBQ cruise that we booked with Four Wind Cruises.  We left the house at 8:00 AM and drove back towards Kona to Keauhou Bay where our trip would start.  We got there just before 8:30, checked in, and got in line to get on the boat.  The large number of people we saw waiting made us wonder if it would be too crowded, but it was a large boat and accommodated everyone without feeling crowded.  When everyone was aboard we started the one hour journey north to Kealakekua Bay where we would do our snorkeling.  We look down at the bay from our house, but the only access to the snorkeling spot is by boat or a long, arduous hike – obviously, we chose the boat.

Myself, Val, Doug, Heather and Cathy wait to board the Fair Wind II for our snorkel and BBQ cruise (from Ev's cell phone).

We enjoyed the cruise north as the weather was clear and warm and the shoreline scenery was beautiful.  As we cruised along we were served a continental breakfast by the crew consisting of tropical fruits, breads, egg fajitas and juices; it hit the spot.  We soon reached our snorkeling spot, which was near the Captain Cook Monument at the northern end of Kealakekua Bay.  The Bay is a marine sanctuary with some rules about snorkeling there which the crew outlined to us before we were allowed to go in the water. The guide books called it one of the best snorkeling spots in Hawaii so we were all excited about getting in the water.  As we entered the bay, we were welcomed by dolphins swimming and jumping in front of the boat.

We leave Keauhou Bay.

 

We were greeted by dolphins as we entered the bay.

This is the area where we will do our snorkeling.

When we arrived, there were already several smaller boats there and as the morning wore on, a few more showed up; this is a popular snorkeling area.  You could see a few people on shore at the monument, but it was obvious that most people chose to arrive by boat.  Interestingly enough, if you arrived by boat you were not allowed to go ashore.  I don’t know why, but it was part of the licensing agreement that a business had to get to operate a commercial service.  They were also very strict about protecting the coral and you weren’t allowed to let your feet touch it.

There were already some other boats in the area when we arrived.

This is where we'll do our snorkeling.

That's the Captain Cook Memorial.  You are only allowed to be out of the water here if you hike down to it, but if you arrive by boat you have to stay in the water.

Our group before we start our snorkeling.

Heather and Cathy try out their snorkeling gear (a selfie from Heather's cell phone).

After the boat was anchored and we were given the rules and safety instructions, it was finally time to go snorkeling.  The boat was set up for all levels of expertise and physical ability.  Besides just jumping off the side, they had two sets of stairs that went from the lower deck right into the water; getting in was a piece of cake.  Even weak swimmers or people who couldn’t swim at all as they had paddle boards and all sorts of floatation devices. The snorkeling was wonderful and we had a great time.  The types of fish weren't as varied as what we saw in the South Pacific, but there were plenty and the coral was beautiful.

Val and I each had an underwater camera.  She had an Nikon AW100 for still pictures and I had a GoPro for shooting video.  Unfortunately we had a problem with the Nikon (it's an old camera) so many of the pictures aren't sharp and the pictures I extracted from the video weren't very sharp either, but these pictures will at least give an idea of what we saw.

Val's in the water.  The boat had two sets of stairs the led right down into the water, which made it very easy to get in and out, very important for us old people.

Cathy and Heather join us in the water.

 

The Captain Cook Memorial from the water.

 

Look at the big smile on this fish.

Doug was still snorkeling after the rest of us had gotten out for lunch.

After an hour of snorkeling, we got back on the boat and they were serving a lunch of bbq’d hamburgers and hot dogs, salads, chips and drinks.  It really hit the sport and tasted great.  They also had two water slides and high and low dive spots on the boat.  Doug and I tried the water slide which was surprisingly fun as it was a pretty good drop to the water and you hit startling hard.

That splash is me going into the water after going down the water slide (from Ev's cell phone).

No high dive for me, but I did try the low dive as I had just gotten a new GoPro camera for the trip and I wanted to put it through its paces.  My results from the slide and dive were a little disappointing as my camera angle could have been a little better.

After our lunch break it was back in the water for another 45 minutes of snorkeling before we had to head back.  We hated to leave, but we were pretty snorkeled out by that time.  Just before we turned back into Keauhou Bay and the dock, a group of dolphins appeared before us and the captain circled the boat around them so we got a good view of them jumping and swimming around the boat.  After that it was back to the dock and the end of our trip.

One last look as we start our trip back to Keauhou Bay.

A happy group, what a great time we had.

 

A group of dolphins cavorting just outside of Keauhou Bay when we returned.

 

It's difficult to get a picture of a dolphin jumping because you never know where they're going to come up, but Val got this one.

Back at the dock, our trip is over.

This was a great trip that we all really enjoyed and the crew was great.  They were very personable, friendly and helpful and made everyone feel comfortable no matter what their skill level was.  We would certainly recommend them to anyone wanting to go on a snorkel trip.

It was mid-afternoon before we got back to the house and everyone immediately headed for the showers to get the salt off.  The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing until dinner.  We ended up eating late, and soon after that people started drifting off to bed.  Nothing has been planned for tomorrow except for Doug and Cathy who are leaving early to try another snorkeling spot to the south.

Ten Days in Hawaii - Day 1: A Day at the House

Every one slept well last night, but we all woke up early as we were still on California time.  Cathy, Heather, Doug and Ev decided to go out for breakfast, but Val and I opted to stay at the house as the fan in our bedroom didn’t work and they were supposed to come around in the morning and install another one.  The breakfast group went to Big Rob’s Bakery and Bread and they said it was delicious.  After breakfast they went to the market in Captain Cook and did another shopping to get the rest of our supplies.

The house we are staying in is wonderful, it has a master bedroom on the main floor and three bedrooms on the lower floor.  There is also a bedroom that has been converted to a yoga / exercise room on the lower level.  The lower floor also has it's own entertainment area with a large TV.  All the bedrooms have their own bathroom so altogether there are five bedrooms and five and a half baths.  We met the property manager Candi last night and she said the house is 7,000 square feet.  The house is very open with a wrap-around screened lanai on the main floor and another wrap-around open lanai on the lower floor.  You actually feel as if you are living outside as there is no need to close the windows or doors since the temperature is nearly the same day and night. 

This is the driveway and grounds looking from the front of the house.

The front of the house, the pool is to the left.

The pool area from the driveway.

Looking across the pool at the house.

Looking down at the lower level from above (from Cathy's cell phone).

The lower level with our van parked outside our bedroom.

A very nice fully equipped kitchen.

The large living room.

The huge master bedroom with two king size beds, a huge bathroom with jacuzzi and a massive walk in shower.

Our bedroom.

All of the bedrooms opened on to the lanais and had their own seating area.

The lanai for the lower floor.

The view from the lanai on the lower floor.

The view from the living room looking out into the lanai.

Val's enjoying the view from the upstairs lanai.

The side lanai with a dining table outside the kitchen.

Three sides of the house are all windows and screens and the views of Kealakekua Bay and the ocean beyond are amazing.  The grounds are also beautiful and immaculately kept.  There is a pool area and barbecue to the side surrounded by flowers and palm trees.  The house is part of a five acre coffee plantation so there is really no other homes around as the other houses on the property are up the hill near the road.  There are also banana and mango trees on the property with plenty of fruit although most of it not ripe yet.

Bananas (from Cathy's cell phone).

Mangos (from Cathy's cell phone).

Val takes a minute to smell the flowers (from Cathy's cell phone).

(from Cathy's cell phone).

 

This blurry picture is a mongoose.  They are very common on the island and move very fast so pictures were hard to get (from Cathy's cell phone)..

The weather this morning was beautiful; Candi told us it was typically sunny in the morning with rain showers moving through in the afternoon.  This was the case yesterday as soon after we arrived it started to rain, which lasted for several hours, but not a problem as it stayed warm and we could sit on our verandah and look out at the view as we listened to the rain beating down on our roof.

Heather and Cathy enjoying the afternoon

Val (yellow mask) and Ev testing their snorkeling gear in the swimming pool (from Ev's cell phone).

Dave and Doug doing the same (from Ev's cell phone).

Doug and Ev

After a lunch of sandwiches and potato salad we headed out to try out the pool.  We also wanted to test our snorkeling gear as tomorrow we have booked a snorkeling trip.  After swimming and snorkeling in the pool for a while, it once again started to rain.  At first it didn’t matter as it was just a light rain, but it soon turned into a downpour, which drove most of us back into the house.  The rest of the day was spent chatting, reading, relaxing and in the case of Ev, watching the NHL playoffs.

Dinner was simple tonight – hot dogs and more potato salad.  It wasn’t much, but most of us had over indulged on snacks today and didn’t need much dinner.  I spent the rest of the evening catching up on the blog while some of the group read and others played a game.  A very nice and relaxing way to spend the first day in paradise and recharge our batteries.  Tomorrow we’re off on a snorkeling trip.

The end of a great first day in paradise

Ten Days in Hawaii - Travel Day

This morning started at 3:00 AM which is way too early.  We left the house at 4:00 and picked up Doug and Ev and were at the airport by 5:00.  We got the luggage unloaded, the car parked in long term parking, and got checked in in short order, but the line for security was long so that took a while.  The San Luis Obispo Airport is not very big, but there were a lot of flights leaving early this morning so it was crowded.  After getting through security, we waited until boarding started around 6:15 for our 6:35 flight to San Francisco where we would catch our flight to Hawaii.

Everything was going smoothly and our plane taxied out to take off and then we sat for a while.  The pilot said the tower had delayed us and we would take off in a few minutes.  More than a few minutes had gone by when the pilot came back on and said there was a minor maintenance issue that had to be taken care of and we would have to taxi back to the terminal.  We started to worry a bit about making our connection, but we had two hours so we thought it would probably be OK.  Minutes kept ticking by and we started facing the reality of missing our flight to Hawaii; now we were really worried.  We finally took off around 8:30, almost two hours late.

By the time we landed in San Francisco we only had about ten minutes to get to our flight to Hawaii.  We were lucky our flight to Hawaii was in the same terminal, but unfortunately the gate was at the other end of the terminal.  We made our way as fast as we could and arrived at the gate with a few minutes to spare – we made it, what a relief.  The flight was uneventful and even Val who hates to fly said it was fine.

After landing we stepped into the warm and humid sunshine; we were finally in Hawaii.  We collected our luggage and headed for the rental car shuttles to pick up the cars we rented.

Val waiting for the luggage to arrive.

Cathy and Heather

Doug and I collecting our luggage.

We rented two cars, but from different companies – Val and I from Alamo and Doug, Ev, Heather and Cathy from Budget.  Val and I quickly got our minivan (it would seat all six of us) and we were off to Costco to pick up some food supplies.  We waited at Costco for the rest of the group to meet us. They were delayed a bit so we started shopping until the rest of the group arrived and we were finally able to finish and finally get on the road to our house.

The house we rented was in the small town of Captain Cook,which was about a half hour south of Kona. Our house was on a five-acre coffee plantation called Maka Nui.  When we arrived and walked into the front door the first thing we saw was a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean in the distance below us.  The house and grounds were beautiful; after all the travel and hassle, we finally felt like we were in Hawaii.

After spending the afternoon unpacking and getting settled, we spent the rest of the day relaxing.  For dinner we bought some prepared meals at Costco so we wouldn’t have to cook on our first night, which worked out well.  After dinner we talked for a while, but we were all pretty tired so we all went to bed around 7:30.  That may seem pretty early, but it was 10:30 California time and we had all been up since the wee hours of the morning and we had pretty much run out of gas.  Tomorrow we plan to just stay around the house and relax.

Ten Days in Hawaii - A Trip is Planned

Last summer we invited our friends Doug, Ev, Cathy and Heather over for dinner and as usual when we are together, the talk turned to travel.  We talked about taking a trip together, but unlike previous times we actually followed through and did it and here we are ready to leave for Hawaii.

We discussed many possible destinations that night and Hawaii ended up being the choice.  We decided to rent a house on the Big Island and eventually found the one we wanted on the west coast near Kona and made our deposit last June.  In February our final payment was due and I hadn't heard anything so I decided to check.  Surprise, surprise - the rental agent told me "Oh, the owner decided to take it off the rental market"!!!  Thanks for telling us, what a shock.  Needless to say, with less than two months before we were schedule to leave we had to scramble to find another house.

We finally found another one that suited us all so the trip was saved.  The house is called the Maka Nui Estate and is a little south of Kona in the town of Captain Cook.  We will be there for 10 days so we will have the opportunity to explore the island in depth.  Val and I are really looking forward to this as our previous visits have been on a cruise ship and we only get a day in port.  The west coast of the Island of Hawaii has some of the best snorkeling in all the islands so we plan to take advantage of that.  We also plan on taking it easy and relaxing around the pool, which I think everyone is looking forward to.

The worst part of the trip is getting there;  our flight leaves very early in the morning so we will be getting up at 3:00 AM.  Anyone who knows me knows I hate to get up early so I'm not looking forward to this, but what can I do.

I have decided to not even try to post any blog entries on this trip so when you read this, we will be home and enjoying the wonderful memories of our trip.