The Webster's: 02/17/2012 - Vacation Day 8

Today we rented a double kayak for the day from Kona Boys. We kayaked across the Kealakekua Bay to the Captain Cook Monument. This land is very sacred to the Hawaiian culture and is only accessible by water or a long difficult hike down a steep hill. We even had to get a "landing permit" to beach our kayak once we got there. I was a little nervous at first, especially getting in because the water wasn't exactly gentle at the loading dock. But there were guys there helping everyone get in and out. Once we got away from the loading dock the water wasn't bad at all.

I believe we had to kayak ~1 mile across the bay to get to the monument. The water was so blue it was unreal. As we were coming into the landing area we saw a lot of people snorkeling and a couple of boat tours. Once we got into the shallow water we could see colorful coral and yellow fish everywhere. We beached our kayak and got ready to join everyone snorkeling. The water was a bit chilly, but the scenery was AMAZING! This is the best snorkeling we have ever done on the 4 islands we have been to. The water was very clear and ranged from 2-20+ feet deep where we were snorkeling. The coral itself was a site; very colorful and a big variety. We saw tons of fish and even a couple of schools, but no turtles :(. The coral was huge and never ending, and even the sea urchins were the largest we have seen.

After a couple hours of snorkeling and soaking in the sun we decided to head back across the bay. About half way across Dallas spotted spinner dolphins up ahead. We quickly rowed closer (the law states that you must stay 100-150 feet from them) to get a better view and take a video. Of course dolphins have a mind of their own and they came as close as 10ish feet from our kayak. It was so cool but also a little unnerving considering we were a lot closer to them than in either of our boat tours. They swam around and showed off for a few minutes before following some boats that were on their way towards the monument. This was the first time either of us had kayaked and we had a lot of fun!

NOTE: Click to enlarge the photos.

School of Yellow Tang (these guys were everywhere) with a Moorish Idol

L to R (Damselfish, Bird Wrasse, Ornate Butterflyfish)

Captain Cook's Monument

I believe this is a type of Parrotfish, but can't quite tell at this angle.

A large school of Hawaiian Flagtail

Dallas getting a closer look at the coral.

If you look closely in the lower left of the photo you can see a Mongoose sticking it's head out of the rocks. We saw a couple of these near where our kayak was beached taking advantage of food people left behind.