Underwater Adventures!

A highlight of Hawaii is all the fun we have in, on, and under the water!

This entry is mostly pictures, which we hope you'll enjoy.  For videos of our underwater adventures, visit our youtube channel.

Our favorite spot for snorkeling is Two Step at Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (Place of Refuge).  It's a delightful, easily accessible spot that always has something cool to see.  At Two Step, we've spotted numerous green sea turtles, a white tipped reef shark, manta rays, moray eels, tons of fish, and even several pods of spinner dolphins.  Here are some of our favorite photos from Two Step.

two step

Place of Refuge

"Aloha" written in cinder blocks on the sandy ocean floor

Moray eel

parrotfish

spinner dolphins

spinner dolphins

spinner dolphins, mother and baby

yellow tangs

picasso triggerfish

green sea turtle

green sea turtle

wrasse

coral formations, 40 feet depth

crown of thorns sea star

Another area we like, though only accessible by kayak, is Kealakekua Bay and Captain cook monument.  Also known for its local pods of dolphins (which we've kayaked and snorkeled with a few times), Kealakekua Bay is a beautiful turquoise bay with tall cliffs surrounding it.  The snorkeling area near the Captain Cook monument is said to be some of the best in the area.

captain cook monument and kealekekua bay

spinner dolphins from our kayak

We first visited this area on September 18, only our second time out in a sea kayak - ever.  We arrived at the snorkeling spot, I donned my snorkel gear, and attempted to get in the water, inadvertently tipping the kayak in the process.  The lesson we quickly learned was EVERYTHING must be strapped to the kayak.  Jeremiah was holding the mesh bag with his fins, mask, and snorkel in it when the kayak flipped and we sadly watched it sink like a rock to the bottom of the ocean, out of sight.  Although we looked and looked, with help from some free divers nearby, we didn't find it.  We left with the mission to return at some point with scuba gear and find our lost snorkel bag.

We did, in fact, return to the Captain Cook monument area on Oct 9th, when we took some couchsurfers on an excursion there.  Jeremiah donned scuba gear we had rented and headed down to search.  About 30 minutes later, he surfaced, with our gear bag as well as another mask, 2 snorkels, and a plastic mat from a boat in tow.  In a stroke of luck, he spotted a few inches of the blue fins sticking out from a crack at 96 feet below the surface!!!!!

our gear after 3 weeks at 96 feet

some other items recovered from the ocean floor

Also while our couchsurfers were visiting, we kayaked out to an area near Keauhou Bay that is known for the manta rays who show up at night.  Once the sun sets, the nearby hotel shines bright lights into the water, and snorkel operators bring bright flashlights to shine in the water.  The light attracts numerous plankton and krill, the choice foods of manta rays.  The manta rays come along and, in a huge sweeping motion, somersault in the water, large mouths open, and scoop up their tiny food from the water.  As snorkelers holding flashlights, they came very close to us and they were HUGE!!!

Although the mantas were amazing, the fun was overshadowed by losing something else in the ocean - Jeremiah's wedding ring.  It was too big from all his weight loss and it just slipped right off in the cool ocean water.  We went back the next day with scuba gear to search, but it was a needle in a haystack.  There is a local guy who does underwater metal detecting and we have plans to go back with him sometime soon and see if we can find it.

Two other places that we enjoy snorkeling on a regular basis are Kahalu'u Beach Park and Kamakahonu beach.  Kahalu'u beach park is a shallow, easy snorkeling spot with lots of sea turtles who hang out near the beach and in the shallow waters.  We've seen so many fish there, it's hard to name them all.

Kamakahonu beach is only about 1/2 mile from our condo and has a nice shallow area with tons of fish and a nice larger reef a short swim from shore.  Some amazing fish (and other sea life) hang out in the gentle waters there.

flying gurnard

trumpet fish

male boxfish

female boxfish

sunken anchor

We love that we get to experience so many adventures in, on, and around the water and we find ourselves doing something every weekend!!  We hope our readers are enjoying our pictures and videos too :)