Hawaii 2015 Day 4

Hawaii 2015

Day Four

Wednesday, February 4

 

This was a busy day! Our Big Island Diver activity is

in the evening. Swimming with the Manta Rays after dark.

But that meant we had the day to fill.

We jumped in the car heading north to Hawi. They have

a statue of King Kamehameha. I do not know the history.

 

Only that they have a series of them that are obviously very

important to Hawaii. It was a beautiful drive. And very cool

to see. There was a steady stream of other tourists coming

to see him too. We stopped in a small town to look at the

shops. We found Castro right outside a cigar shop.

He was hanging loose. haha

At one of the shops, a lady insisted the
Whitebear would take a good picture posing

on her fountain.

 

There were so many beautiful places to stop.

 It was just a wonderful drive.

 

Then it was time to head out to the marina.

Our Big Island Divers captain was Patrick.

 

And he had two helpers. I could not find a

picture of Lori. She was marvelous. And

 

 

Emily was wondergirl. I call her girl because

she is so young to me. She was amazing.
They all took very good care of us. They did

everything possible to make sure we had a great time.

I had only one issue with this night. Patrick repeatedly

agreed the water was rough, yes, but not dangerous.
He is the expert and I agree. But if you are taking people

out to snorkel, you should do your best to make sure they

will have something to see and will be as comfortable as

possible. Divers can go down deep where the water is fine.

They have a chance of seeing things. But in such a deep place

and with the water so rough, it would not be a fun time for

people snorkeling. Especially people that aren't experts.

We really would have had no chance of seeing much of

anything during a snorkel in this place.  

It was set up to be a two part event.

I had thought it was to be snorkeling

in a cove somewhere and then we would move out to

the place to swim with the mantas. But it was not that way.

 

 

First the water was very rough. The first part snorkeling

was to take place in the same place as the ray swim. The

water was so rough. The boat was rocking every which way.

I did not think it looked like fun for us snorkelers.

There were 5 scuba divers on this trip and they were fine.

But they would be down where the water is quiet. Snorkelers

would be thrown all over the place. It was so deep,  

 there was nothing for the snorkelers to see. I asked

the divers and even they said they didn't see much. And that

was 40 feet down. So I did not get in for the snorkeling. It was

just too crazy rough to be floating on top.

Then it was time for the manta swim. I was so determined

and so excited to do this. The water was still crazy rough.

But they have a raft thing out there for snorkelers to hold

on to. Divers go down and lay on the bottom. They each

have a light. They have lights mounted on the bottom.

 

 

They have guides all over also with lights. The boats and rafts

all have lights. It is an awesome sight. The lights attract the

plankton. That attracts the sea life.

 

 

Between the divers planted

on the bottom and the snorkelers bobbing around on the top,

there were thousands of fish and bubbles rising up. Eventually

a majestic amazing ray floats in. It glides thru in pure grace.

I gasped and sucked in a bunch of ocean water. Then, another

ray floated thru. The people on the boat said they were

probably about 10 feet across. It was the most awesome sight!!
After a little while more waiting, I was getting cold. 

My mouth was totally dry from the salt water. And my tummy

was not entirely happy. I looked up to see what was happening

above water. Lori, the guide with my raft, was looking right at me,

asking if I was all right. I felt like we had only been there a

short time. But I didn't think I could last much longer, so I

asked her to take me in. It was a pretty long swim back to the

boat and the water was still rocking. I took in plenty more ocean

water on the way back as I followed Lori. I got in the boat,

 which is no easy feat! Sat down, just as I was catching my

breath, my stomach rebelled! Big time. I fed the fishes. Oh boy, did I

feed them good. Over and over. Terry was happy as he finally

got to see the fishes. They swarmed. I wasn't the only one. I

was surprised to see two of the scuba people hanging over the

side as well. I guess because the water was so rough.

A few minutes after I sat down, the divers started arriving back

to the boat. There weren't any more rays. So I was glad I didn't

miss anything.
It was the thrill of a lifetime. If we get back there, I will do it

again, gladly. I will try to remind myself to take pictures too.

This time, I completely forgot.

 

The end of day 4. I can't believe how fast this vacation is going.