Donna and I left on Friday, June 11, 2004. We arrived that afternoon in Honolulu, Oahu. Nice flights, no problems, that’s the way I like ‘em. We stayed in Waikiki for 3 days just sightseeing and enjoying ourselves. We got to see the parades for the King Kamehameha festival that was going on while we were there. We also were able to see part of the Women’s surfing contest that was going on off Waikiki Beach. Not being a surfer, it was interesting. We took a day trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the North side of the island. Very interesting. There were exhibits from all of the Polynesian cultures. It was interesting how similar, yet different they are. We also went snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. We saw plenty of Pacific fish and a small Hawksbill turtle. Fun. On Monday morning, we met up with Justleesa for breakfast at Duke’s. It was really nice to meet Lisa and find a new friend. Ok, I forgot to mention the Pearl Harbor visit while we were in Oahu. That was very interesting. The Arizona Memorial is moving to say the least.
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Monday afternoon, we flew to Kona. We stayed at Mara’s Dive B&B. Mara’s is a nice place just the other side of the town of Captain Cook. Unfortunately for traveler’s, Mara is getting out of the B&B business and is going to concentrate on Scuba instruction and dive tours of Pu’uhonau o Honaunau (City of Refuge). That’s where we did our shore dives on June 15, and it was wonderful. I got quite a few pictures some good, some not. Hopefully the posts will work. We dove twice at the City of Refuge, the first was a guided tour by Mara and the second was on our own. By the way, Mara was a lifesaver. I broke a pin on the buckle of my Jet Fins at Hanauma Bay and she had a spare. The sea life I can remember, Green Turtles (5), Ornate Butterflyfish, Lined Butterflyfish, Longnose Butterflyfish, Blackside Hawkfish, Archeye Hawkfish, Fourspot Butterflyfish, Raccoon Butterflyfish, Whitemouth Moray, Yellow Margin Moray, Yellow Tang, Orange Shoulder Surgeon Fish, Goat Fish, Crown of Thorns Sea Star, Cornetfish hanging in the open water (unusual?), lots of Urchins and many more fish I did not try to identify. Dive #1, Max Depth 40 fsw, 45 min, Water Temp 79º F. Dive #2, Max Depth 30 fsw, 40 min.
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On June 16 (our 25th anniversary), we dove with Dive Makai charters. Wonderful people and they know how to make you feel at home. They also know the dive sites and give the best briefing I have ever had. I highly recommend them if you dive out of Kona. Matthew, Kendra, and Kay were great. We dove Big Arch first. My only request was that I wanted to see some Nudibranchs. Boy, did Kendra pull that one off. We weren’t in the water for 5 minutes and she was signaling me to come see. I saw 3 different kinds of Nudi’s on this dive, 2 Varicose Nudi’s and two others, a White-Margin Nudibranch (tan), and a Pustulose Phyllidia (pink). The surge was fairly heavy and I never got a picture of them, but I did get pictures of the 2 Varicose Nudibranchs. I also saw a Tiger Flatworm. Very cool. We saw a Peacock Flounder (actually Donna saw it and took the camera away from me to take the picture, I never saw it until she pointed the camera at it). We also saw some Moorish Idols, several Whitemouth Morays, a Zebra Moray, and a lot more pacific fish. Matthew led the second dive at Manta Bay. We saw a Grand Trevaly. It was a very big one. After Donna and I got back on the boat, the second group up saw a Manta Ray. Donna and I both jumped in with our masks, but the Manta was gone. Dive #1, Max Depth 86 fsw, 49 min, Water Temp 79º F. Dive #2, Max Depth 63 fsw, 54 min.
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After our stay in Kona, we drove around the South of Hawaii by South Point. We didn’t actually go to South Point because our car rental agreement didn’t allow the drive to South Point. Why? I haven’t a clue. It was a very nice drive and we went to Volcanoes National Park, where we could see and walk down into the Kilauea caldera. We both enjoyed the park visit. The Blue Hawaii Helicopter tour was great. The tour went over the waterfalls North of Hilo and then over to where the lava was flowing out of a vent on the side of Kilauea. The pilot was very good with the helicopter and he knew the area very well, so we got a lot of local color as well as the volcano tour.
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We spent one night in Hilo and then flew to Maui. The trip to Maui was basically to do the bike ride and to meet Jim (Gilligan). The bike ride was a lot of fun, but Jim warned us that several people each week are injured taking the bicycle tour. We were careful and there were no injuries. Donna researched the tour company fairly well before we left for Hawaii and Mountain Riders Bike Tours is one of the 5 or so tour operators allowed in the National Park. They also started the safety programs used by the reputable tour operators. We took the wimp and cheaper version of the tour. Instead of meeting at 3AM, we met at 7:15AM and we were supposed to only take the ride halfway down. The tour guides told us that it would be easier if we just did the whole tour and also we would get lunch even though we didn’t pay for the full tour. So folks, take the $59 tour, you may just get the $115 tour anyway. What a deal.
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After the stay in Maui (2 nights) we flew from there back home, changing planes in Honolulu and then in Dallas / Fort Worth. We had a wonderful time, met several new friends, Lisa, Matthew and Kendra, and Jim. How could it get any better?
Edited by Dennis, 09 July 2004 - 01:24 PM.
