Hawaii Day 3: Captain Cook Monument, Sunset, Stars

Hawaiian Graffiti - white rocks on black rocks

After a relaxed morning, we drove down to Kealakekua Bay to see the Captain Cook Monument and snorkel in the bay. There are only two ways to reach the bay: by boat or by hiking. We made the 1.8 mile hike down 1300 feet to reach our destination.

The monument marks the spot where Hawaiians killed Captain Cook. It actually sits on British land that it's leased to the US, so I got to stand in Britain and the United States at the same time! No passport needed.

I'm in two countries at once...
that are separated by an ocean. What?!

There isn't an easy access point to the bay, so we carefully made our way into the water over slippery rocks as the tide tested our balance. The bay waters are crystal clear and calm enough for inexperienced snorkelers. The fish don't even seem to notice that their every move is being monitored by countless admirers. I tried to find an "Aquatic Life of Kealakekua Bay," but have been unsucessful thus far. For now, click here to see a video that one of the boat cruises uses to see a sample of the lively and varied colored fish found in the waters. A had the great fortune of seeing an octopus the last time she snorkeled in this bay! The yellow fish you see in the video are everywhere, and beware of the eels as shown hiding in the coral! The video has no sound, so to add some background music, this song is more than fitting. The coral is fairly colorful, find a pretty good description at this website. We met up with a couple of A's co workers that took a boat tour into the bay, a nice way to end a long snorkel session :)

Black Crabs

Getting out of the water is more challenging than getting into it. I scrapped up my knees on the first attempt, then found a rope to hoist myself out before assisting A.

The hike back was brutal. The afternoon sun beat down as we had to reclimb the 1300 feet. Definitely had to stop ay least 5 times - whenever we found a bit of shade. Out of breath, we finally reached the car. I thought I was in better shape!

Going down - much easier than going up!

This is what we faced in the
brutal afternoon sun!

After a late lunch, we met up with her coworkers again at the Hilton Waikoloa Resort. We watched the sunset while drinking lava flows and mai tais alongside a pool of dolphins, watching whales jumping on the horizon. (Rough life, I know). The sun finally dipped below the water, and following a few more drinks, we walked down to the rocky beach. We made our own Hawaiian graffiti (see first picture on post) and layed back to admire the cloudless starry night.

Dolphins on the resort

Whales kept blocking our horrible view of the sunset, it was awful :-P

To top the night off, we relaxed in a hot tub fed by a waterfall on the resort. More star gazing and starlit swimming eventually concluded my final full night on the island!