Snorkeling With Manta Rays

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A few months prior, my friend and co-worker Lisa, approached me about visiting Hawaii's Big Island. Her family owned a condominium just outside of Kailua-Kona and would be selling it this year. So for one last hurrah, she asked both Kevin and I to join her for a quick weekend trip. Of course not having to spend any money on lodging, I jumped at the chance. We had an evening flight on Delta out of LAX with 5 hours of flying time ahead of us. Arrving in Kailua-Kona just after 9pm, we quickly retrieved our bags and hailed a taxi to take us to Lisa's nearby condo. After settling in and figuring out our sleeping arrangements, we headed out in search of someplace for a late dinner and to pick up some snacks and food for the next 4 days. Approaching midnight, the only option was Denny's and afterwards we stopped by a Safeway before heading back to the condo to call it a night.



Our first full day in Hawaii and as expected, it was a bit of a struggle to get Kevin and Lisa up and running for the day. These 2 can move at the pace of a glacier at times. With myself always being eager to get out and explore, I was starting to get a little annoyed. The plan this morning was to drive all the way down to South Point and check out the famous green sand beach which would include a fairly strenuous hike. Beforehand, we had to make a few stops at a nearby Sport Chalet to pick up some swimming shorts for Kevin. While there, Lisa had left her phone in one of the public bathrooms. She didn't realize this until we were already pulling out of the parking lot of the shopping center. Retracing our steps, we tried to locate her phone but were unsuccessful. Not knowing what to do, we went into a nearby Verizon Wireless store where Lisa began the process of obtaining a new phone. While waiting, we had the bright idea to go into my phone and use the "Find My Phone" feature. Apparently, Lisa's phone was still somewhere in the parking lot. Kevin and I walked around trying to find any signs of who may have the phone with the app stearing us towards to parking spots in front of the Ross parking lot. Not able to locate it, we made our way back to the Verizon Wireless store where we then had the idea of sending her phone a text message hoping they would call back. Within a few minutes, someone called to inform us they had the phone and they would meet us in a few minutes. With Lisa having her phone back, she proceeded to still continue the process of getting a new phone, making me wonder why I went through all that effort to find it. 3 hours later, we finally left the shopping center and were back on the road. Instead of going to the green sand beach, we decided to just make our way to the famous Two Step snorkeling spot. We parked in the lot for the Pu'uhonua O Honaunau Historical Park and made the short walk to the beach. As with most beaches on the Big Island, the beach here constists of sharp black volcanic rock. We staked out a spot on the volcanic rock, put on our snorkeling gear, and made our way into the ocean. This famous snorkeling spot is called Two Steps because as you enter the water, there are 2 levels of rocks that you have to get past before you are actually in the ocean. Getting in was easy, simply just sit own your but and make your way down to the next level. The water was quite choppy today with the waves softly pounding us into the rocks. Enough that I had a few cuts that were openly bleeding. I found that the water was a little too choppy for my liking so I didn't snorkel for too long. As I getting out, I saw that Kevin and Lisa also had the same thoughts. We would have other opportunities to snorkel over the next few days so I wasn't too disappointed. Since we were here and we had paid the parking fee, I decided to walk over to Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park. Clearly, Kevin and Lisa were not interested so I let them relax and smoke while I promised to quickly check out the park. Translated into place of refuge, Pu'uhonua O Honaunau was a place of sanctuary for those seeking to escape and evade their pursuers. I made a quick walk around the site admiring the beautiful setting right on the ocean with black volcanic rock and palm trees. I didn't have much time to read any of the exhibits to get a better understanding of the site's significance. I just had to be content with a quick walk through admiring the things that caught my eye such as the wood carvings and the thatched wood carvings. Clearly, we just did not have enough time here. With the time wasted dealing with Lisa's phone situation, we had to definitely cut our time short in order to make it back to Kailua-Kona for our night snorkel with the manta rays.





Prior to departing on this trip, I had read that one of the most memorable things to do while on the Big Island is to do a night snorkel or dive with the manta rays. I had researched a few outfitters and settled with Liquid Hawaii. After our snorkel earlier at Two Steps, we drove back to the condo to change and freshen up before making our way to Honohokau Harbor to meet up with our group. After some difficulty finding where we were supposed to be, we finally found our boat, checked in, and in no time we were off. With the boat going full speed, we travelled north up the coast near the airport to a cove where the manta rays come close to shore in order to feet. When we reached our spot, I was a bit surprised to see that we weren't going to be the only ones. There were other outfitters there to take their customers snorkeling or diving with the manta rays as this was one of the only reliable spots to see them on a nightly basis. With our wetsuits on and all of our gear fitted, we sat back and relaxed a bit enjoying a gorgeous sunset. With the sun now having dipped below the horizon, we were all instructed to get into the water and hold on to a surfboard shaped apparatus that contained lighting. This would help keep the entire group together as well as provide light to help lure the manta rays close. Not long after entering the water, the manta rays started to appear. Attracted to the lights of our surfboard apparatus which illuminated the plankton, the rays swam in acrobatic circles while feeding on the plankton. It was simply amazing to sit back and watch these beautiful creatures glide through the water beneath us. Many times they came so close to the water's surface that they actually bumped in to us. We were in the water for only about 30 minutes before we were back on the boat and making our way back to the harbor.

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Photos

Kailua Coastline
Mt. Hualalai in the distance