Sojourn in the Sun, Part 3: Kona Coast 01/08

January 8, 2023

Meeting our group

WE HAVE TO HUSTLE THIS MORNING. We're due to meet our tour group at the "official" hotel around 0800, so that we can join an optional excursion to go snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay. Fortunately it's only two blocks, and downhill, to the hotel. Even better, they have a room available for us so we can check in straight away rather than leaving the luggage to be held and retrieved later.

Or not. "Your reservation looks like it was canceled", we are told. After some investigation and research the matter is straightened out. We're issued keycards and manage to get our stuff into the room and ourselves back to the lobby in time to meet our tour organizers.

We arrive at the snorkeling site courtesy of a snorkeling charter boat, crewed by two charming and knowledgeable young ladies. By luck our small group has the boat to ourselves, giving us time to begin getting to know one another.

"Nice to meet you" time on the boat, on our way to the snorkeling site.

I recall having snorkeled this bay in 2007 and remembered that it had lots of pretty fish. What I didn't realize was how much diversity, and how many species of fish, it actually contains. Reviewing my photos from this year's outing I count 29 different species of fish and know I missed seeing some that others in the group saw.

A school of yellow tang appear to be resting, forming a bright yellow swarm in the clear shallow water. They're accompanied by an ornate butterflyfish, a black damselfish, and a few others.

This white-spotted toby blends well into the background. If it hadn't chosen to swim out I'd probably never have seen it.

With that long dorsal fin streaming and waving languidly like a pennant, the Moorish idol is an especially attractive fish, to my eye.

I could go on and on with fish pictures but let's keep the narrative moving, shall we? Before we leave the bay, we're entertained briefly by a pod of spinner dolphins resting as a group on the surface. They only sleep with half their brain at a time, so that they can keep tabs on what's happening around them.

The species is gregarious and playful, and have been known to engage so much and for so long with passing vessels that they forego their rest and suffer health problems as a consequence. Thus, it's against the law for vessels to approach them more closely than 100 yards or so; we drop to idle and drift as the pod swims quietly past.

The sky is a faultless, cloudless blue and the Pacific is at its most gentle, with swells of less than a foot. It's a very pleasant, enjoyable ride back up the coast. On the way back from the snorkeling, our boat captain diverts several times to point out interesting features along the shoreline.

They don't look it from this angle, but apparently these cliffs are nearly 1000 feet tall. They're also pockmarked with the remains of important Hawai'ians from the early times on the island, tucked away in nooks and crannies.

We were told they're not very smart: evidently they forget where their nest is and have to hunt along the coastline to find it, every time.

Returning from the outing we head out for lunch. We settle on a place recommended by the boat crew and find three others of our group already there. They're already seated and have their food orders in, so we sit elsewhere and take in the atmosphere.

Hibiscus grow all over the islands, and are often included in the designs of hula shirts. This is the "Hula Girl" variety, also know as the China Rose.

We didn't have lunch here but I've sampled and enjoyed their products many times.

Stuffed past full, we stagger back to the hotel and sleep until just before the group orientation meeting, at 7 pm. We meet the rest of our group, get info on the daily routine, then head back to the room and crash again. Jet lag still has us in its iron grip.

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