Kona, Hawaii - September 2013

I've got to post a bit of a warning here, this post will have quite a few un-captioned photos of tropical fish, I'm not completely up to speed with all the different variations of our aquatic mates. This is also a bit of a retro post, going back to 2013 so some of the details are a little hazy. What I do remember though was anchoring in Kailua Bay on another beautiful day in Hawaii, after breakfast we went ashore on one of the ships tenders where we promptly jumped on a zodiac for a cruise down the coast.

There'll be plenty of these photos in this post.

The first activity today was to visit Captain Cooks Monument at Ka'awaloa Cove in the Kealakekua Bay State Historical & Underwater Parks. It was near here that Captain Cook was killed by the natives in 1779, the monument being erected in 1878. Before we got there though we had an exiting, if somewhat bumpy ride in the zodiac down the South Kona Coast, the shoreline being alternately composed of black lava cliffs along with beautiful beaches. Arriving at the sheltered Kealakekua Bay we were soon slipping off the side of the zodiac into the crystal clear tepid water.

The snorkelling at Ka'awaloa Cove was the best we did in Hawaii.

First up I've got to say that this was some of the best snorkelling that I've ever done, the zodiac anchored over a huge drop off which felt like we were floating over a deep blue abyss. Closer to shore there was some beautiful coral bommies to snorkel around, the amount of colourful fish here was stunning. As we snorkelled in and out of the numerous different corals the fish kept coming, we were also lucky enough to spot a sea turtle at one stage.

Parrot Fish

Some idiot.

One strange thing to note is that we weren't actually allowed on shore to check out Captain Cook's Monument, there was even a guard in place to make sure no unruly Aussies tried to bend the rules, as if I'd do that! So not wanting to take on the guard I had to swim in within a metre or so of dry land and take a photo of the monument whilst I floated in the shore break, easier said than done, The problem with my stealth approach was that I couldn't get a shot that didn't include peoples excess clothes in the shot, oh in case your shouting at the screen and saying that how did the clothes get onto dry land well it appears that if you walk down to the bay from the road you are allowed to access both the water and dry land.

Captain Cook Monument.

Sam at Ka'awaloa Cove, that's our zodiac anchored up behind.

Anyway after a couple of hours it was time to climb back aboard the zodiac and head back up the coast to Kona. The highlight of the return journey was taking the zodiac into a sea cave and also getting up close to our ship anchored in Kailua Bay off Kona. After saying our farewells to our zodiac crew we headed back onto the ship to drop off our snorkelling gear and have a shower. After refreshing on board we caught the tender back to the pier and went to check out town.

Getting up close to our ship on the zodiac.

Kona is a bit of a strange place, with a population of around 10,000 it's a very spread out kind of a city. The city is situated on what looks like an old lava flow with the land sloping downwards to the sea in a very uniformed and equal way, therefore there are no real hills in town its all just one gently rising slope. To be honest we probably didn't see the best of Kona, with only a few hours to spare we headed up towards the massive shopping centre that is the Lanihau Centre, but to be honest my heart wasn't really in it. Luckily for me Sam was happy enough to pass up on some retail therapy and we retreated to a bar on the coast and enjoyed a couple of drinks while sitting in the balmy breeze.

Our ship at anchor in Kailua Bay from up near the Lanihau Centre.

Enjoying the nice tropical breeze in Kona.

The Dirt.
Kona is on Hawai'i or if you prefer the Big Island and while the city of Kona wasn't overly inspiring the coast line to the south was stunning, the snorkelling was the best that we did in Hawaii. The Big Island is also home to some very active volcanoes so there's plenty to do there once you get out of town. Once again we cruised with Princess Cruises and once again we were more than happy with the experience. I can't recall the name of the company that took us down the coast on the zodiac but the half day trip was very reasonably priced, its definitely worth doing if you ever find yourself in Kona. You can also walk into Ka'awaloa Cove from the Mamalahoa Highway or sea kayak in from Napo'opo'o Wharf.

Kona from the deck of our ship as we sailed away.

Yeah, another sunset shot over the Pacific Ocean.