Our day started early again. We headed out to Kona to catch our snorkeling tour. I was a little nervous about snorkeling. See, I have a few issues with water. #1 I don't like to get wet, #2 I DON'T put my face in water (duh, that is how you drown!) #3 I prefer beaches to oceans. There are no sharks or jelly fish or other things that eat you or poop in the water, on the beach, and I know where the bottom is on the beach. So needless to say Deborah had a bit of anxiety about snorkeling for the first time.
Our boat was named the Hula Kai. It was large enough to hold 42 passengers, but there were only 15 on our tour. We headed down the coast and on the way got to do some whale watching. We detoured out deeper and were able to watch a momma and baby Hawaiian Humpback pair. So beautiful to see that!
After our whale detour, we made it to our first snorkeling cove. We got a private lesson on what to do and some good tips. Kevan jumped right into the water and took to it quickly. Deborah on the other hand, well lets just say the anxiety finally showed its head. I had to sit on the ladder and practice putting my face in and practice breathing through that thing! I was so tense. My breathing was so short and shallow, and I never realized how much of a "nose breather" I am! I finally got control and started feeling more comfortable as we were in the water. It really was beautiful. I wish that film could capture exactly what the eye sees, but, alas, it doesn't.
So we started to head on to the next snorkel spot, saw lots of whale spouts a bit further out, so we the Captain head on out deep to check it out. Turns out we had found a whole pod of sperm whales. This was a real treat. Apparently it is very uncommon for these whales to be this close to the land. Our tour guide said he had been doing this for 15 years and had never seen one of these whales. He didn't know much about them, but had a book that gave us a little info. They are a predator whale which means the have teeth. They are also really cool because they can dive down 9,000 feet!! Can you even imagine the pressure at that depth?! Anyway, there were about 8 or so in the group. We got fairly close but my digi camera batteries died so the pics are with the underwater camera and not that great.
After that fun detour, we went back to the coast and docked the boat for our second snorkel dip. There were sea caves to explore here while the captain and crew cooked a fabulous hamburger lunch. The water near the caves was very cold, so I didn't venture in too far. The fish here were beautiful too, and I was much more comfortable in the water this time. I really enjoyed it!
While we were in the bay at the Cpt. Cook memorial we were treated to seeing a pod of dolphins that were "sleeping". Dolphins have to swim while they are sleeping. Their brain has two hemispheres and since they have to think about breathing, only half of their brain works at a time while the other half sleeps. Crazy huh?
That evening our group went out to dinner. There were 9 couples at this dinner. So much fun. We got back just in time to catch the last little bit of Stampin' Share where demos had some fun projects out on display. We visited with Shelli Gardner a little bit and went back to our rooms.
Our pillow gift that night was a hand made sarong. A sarong is used for a few things from a skirt, to a table cloth. I chose to use it as a skirt.
2 comments:
How fun! I am with you...I would have freaked out about going snokeling. I can't swin, so I think thats the biggest reason for my fear of the water, well and the fish that could bite my toes. :)
Amen on the whole face in the water thing! That is how you drown and I'm a full supporter of not doing that. I've been snorkeling 3 times now and each time I have a slight panic attack before I get the breath through the mouth thing right.
Looks like you had fun though! Good for you, you deserved it!
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