Outfitted with snorkel gear from Boss Frog's and Vietnamese sandwiches from Ba-Le, we drove over to Beach 69.
Just a handful of people were around on this small beach in South Kohala. We gave the snorkeling a whirl, and spied lots of little fish and some sea urchins. The waves were a tad aggressive, and tossed us around a bit, sometimes into the coral. We took breaks to read, eat, and soak up the sunshine, and eventually hopped back in the car for a short drive down to the small community of Puako in search of tide pools. We didn't find much animal life, though, and this goofball doesn't really count:
Plenty of white coral pieces were laying about, though, and imitating what we saw beside stretches of Big Island highway, we wrote our own messages with it.
We then headed back to Kailua, where we grabbed dinner at the Pine Tree Cafe on Paul Ota's excellent suggestion, and afterward paid one more visit to the old reliable Big Island Grill for some ice cream pie. Delish!Wednesday, April 6
Hoping to get the most out of our Boss Frog's gear, we drove down to Kealakekua Bay, one of the most heralded spots for snorkeling on the Big Island. Many people access the snorkeling area via kayak, but we opted to hike there, which takes about an hour from the road on a fairly steep downward slope. No matter how you get there, the destination is something to behold.
One woman we spoke to arrived by the power of a pair of flippers, swimming from the far shore pictured above (whereas our path led down from behind the camera's vantage point). She said she's made the trip a number of times, and once saw tiger sharks. Apparently, there were also dolphins, which she said help keep swimmers safe, but we were glad to hear all this after we had come out of the water.The snorkeling was truly amazing, with crystal-clear water and a wide variety of eye-catching fish. We stuck to the shallows, but the forest of multi-colored coral drops off into a mesmerizing blue abyss where scuba divers dare to explore at greater depths. It's a shame we couldn't take pictures from beneath the surface, but the ones from above didn't turn out so bad:
After taking a gander at the monument to Captain Cook that is nearby (big thumbs down to that guy), we made our way back up to the road and into the car just as a thunderstorm rolled in. We grabbed a bite at Patz Pies and then drove around a little, but the rain would not relent enough for us to actually do anything more than that. Finally, we stopped in at Keauhou Store, waiting out the weather while chatting with owner Kurt Brown about the facinating history of the place, which was opened by Japanese immigrants ages ago.
We departed as the rain was abating, and took in a comforting dinner at Teshima's Restaurant. After that, we went back to Kailua, and quickly canvassed an ABC store for last-minute omiyage -- since sadly, we would have to leave in the morning.Thursday, April 7
Goodbye, Big Island! Mahalo for the memories!In case you missed it, here are the previous installments from our honeymoon:
Honeymoon (4)
Honeymoon (3)
Honeymoon (2)
Honeymoon (1)
