Wednesday, August 24th
5:30 am is early to wake up on vacation; good thing some of us got to sleep in the previous day. Why so early for an 8:30 event? The port in Kona is too shallow for the ship to safely dock, so we had to moor out in open water and "tender" in to shore. Interestingly, the ship's lifeboats do double duty as tender craft, and we watched with interest as the lifeboats suspended below our cabin were lowered to the water and put into service. Nice to know they're kept in good working condition!
Because of the number of passengers to be tendered, and to allow time to gather our excursion group and get to port, we had to meet up at 7:15, board our craft (coincidentally, the same one that had been stored below our room's balcony), and make our way to shore. Tough as it was to make that happen, it was so worth it! Today's excursion was by far the best we've done.
We were taken out to our location on the South Kona Coast near the Red Cliffs on a Body Glove snorkel boat. They provided all the snorkel (and optional Scuba) gear, wetsuits, and instruction we needed, in addition to a water slide and a diving platform. The boat also fed us breakfast and lunch, as well as availing us of a full bar. What's not to like about that?
En route, we passed a floating jet-ski rental facility, kite boarders, parasailers, and Kona's hillsides, dotted with homes, golf courses, and coffee groves. Very picturesque!
Sarah missed the scenery; she was too busy catching up on her lost sleep...
Due to potential damage to the delicate coral reefs in the area, traditional anchors are against the law. Thus, we were tethered to a permanent anchor embedded in the ocean bottom - one of many scattered across the ocean floor in the Kona area. Interestingly, their installation was paid for by The Greatful Dead's Jerry Garcia, who envisioned a way for boats to anchor without harming the fragile coral reefs. Guess he was an avid boatsman when he wasn't making music or in rehab... Nice to know that he put his money to good use to help this unique environment. Thanks, Jerry!
This was our first time to snorkel. For some reason I can't fathom, we passed up the opportunity to snorkel on our honeymoon cruise. Knowing what I know now, I'd love to turn back the hands of time... The water felt great and was quite calm where we were tethered. I was shocked when I put my face in the water, and found it was crystal clear. Although we were swimming in water that was about 20' deep, it looked to be about half that.
I was surprised at how simple the physical act of snorkeling is. Sarah and Emily opted for wetsuits to help keep them at the water's surface. I didn't have that issue - one of the benefits of being heavy is natural buoyancy. In fact, I had a hard time diving down for a closer look! :-)
Who knew that just below the surface of the blue ocean lay coral reefs alive with fish and other sea creatures of every color and description? Yellow was the most prevalent, but we also black, blue, and multi- colored and patterned fish. My favorite was a black/white/yellow striped angelfish. So graceful! Sarah was fascinated by an eel. I so wish we'd had a better underwater camera...
The coral reef itself, a buff-colored, deeply-lobed seabed of texture as far as the eye could see, varied in depth, enabling sea creatures better hiding opportunities in some spots than others. In places, it was almost floral in structure. Sea anemones and clusters of barnacles were everywhere.
Sarah and I were too fascinated with snorkeling to waste time on the slide or diving, but Larry and Emily enjoyed it all. The high diving platform seemed to be especially popular. In fact, an interesting incident occurred when a male passenger dove off the platform and lost his wedding band! He was quite distraught. Crew members were immediately dispatched to Scuba dive for it - and found it! Apparently, they've gotten quite good at this particular task, as they said it happens all the time... Let's hope he tipped them well!
Back in Kona after our snorkel trip, Larry and Emily waded at the nearby white-sand beach.
Then, we did some shopping at Hilo Hattie's, and admired the quaint downtown area that was visible from the port - by contrast, most of the other ports we've seen thus far, were rather industrial in nature.
Beat, the girls and I opted to head back onto the ship, while Larry, ever intrepid, stayed behind to shop and visit some of Kona's historic sites: a church, King Kamehameha's temple, and an old home.
We looked forward to a well-earned early bedtime in preparation for tomorrow's adventure on Kauai.
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