The Fair Wind returning from the morning's journey.
After a leisurely breakfast, we settled into the lobby to take advantage of the free WiFi. At about 1030 my cell phone rang with a call from Hawaiʻi Forest and Trail cancelling the Mauna Kea Observatory/Stargazing tour due to snow.
Snow.
*sigh*
After a brief conversation where Jonathan reiterated his desire to go snorkeling, we visited the hotel concierge and made immediate arrangements.
Gathering our stuff, we hopped into the rental and drove south on the Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway as Route 19 is known in the area. We drove to the Kailua-Kona waterfront and located the Fish Hopper restaurant recommended to us by the concierge. After a passible lunch of a seafood wrap for Jonathan and a crab quesadilla for me, we continued our drive down the Kona waterfront on Ali‘i Drive for about seven miles until we reached the village of Keauhau where the Fairwind docks.
The catamaran took us further south, about seven miles as the crow flies and 10 to 11 as the ship sails, to Kealakekua Bay where the obelisk commemorating Captain Cook overlooks the quiet bay ideal for snorkeling.
Once the captain had anchored the boat and given everyone their instructions, the ~70 folks on board jumped in the water. I stayed aboard a little longer for “Snorkeling 101” before going down the steps into the bay.
The Fair Wind returning from the morning's journey.
Zebra dove (Geopelia striata), an introduced species.
Some kayakers heading out at the same time.
Looking back into the harbor.
Colorful sail - i think they raised it more for photo op than any motive needs.
The bar deck.
Jonathan and I sat at the bow.
More colorful sails.
The haze over the island.
A breaker and palm trees.
The cliffs above the bay.
The Capt. Cook monument.
A closer look.
The blue waters of the bay.
Jonathan, with the Cook obelisk in the background.
Jonathan returns to the Fair Wind.
Jonathan talking to the captain of the Fair Winds.
A view of the catamaran from the water.
I think there are some blurry yellow tang (Zebrasoma flavescens) in this shot.
Raccoon butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunula).
Various corals.
Various corals.
Hawaiʻian sergeant, a/k/a banded damselfish (Abudefduf abdominalis).
Blurry Jonathan…
…taking a dive…
…and returning to surface.
Raccoon butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunula).
A spiny sea urchin.
Hawaiʻian chub.
Black triggerfish (Melichthys niger, called Humuhumuʻeleʻele in Hawaiian).
A bottom dweller poking its head out from under the coral.
Another sea urchin.
Jonathan making me nervous.
Hualālai volcano over Kona.
A view with some clouds.
Coming back into port.
The visibility in the water is reported to be 80-100 feet, and after poking my face in the water (with my corrective lens goggles), I don’t doubt it. Where the boat was parked was in about 40-50 feet of water and you could see the corals and spiny sea urchins pretty clearly. After getting used to the mechanics of snorkeling, I climbed back on board to fetch the waterproof camera (the one we bought in the inevitability of my capsizing my kayak in New Zealand). So for the first time, I deliberately put the camera in the water. [I did swap out memory cards in case it leaked, just in case, but it worked fine. If only the sun were out to aid the lighting and shutter speed.] So we swam around for the better part of 90 minutes before climbing back onboard for the trip back.
The sea on the way down had been fairly calm but was a bit rougher on the return, enough to make me a little nervous, but Jonathan just laughed at my neurotic discomfort, hanging onto the front edge of the rail as the catamaran bounced and lurched between the swells.
The boat docked at 1820 and we disembarked the catamaran to the rental. Rather than find a restaurant in Waikoloa, we drove back up Aliʻi Drive to locate a place for dinner. Ultimately we settled on Lulu’s (related to the Lulu’s in Waikiki) which was on the second floor with an open air view out towards the water. We both had burgers although no alcohol as I still had to drive back to the resort.