Whales and Dolphins and Turtles, Oh My!!!

Today may have been the best tourist day of our lives. Not the best traveling day or best trip (I still think cycling through Hokkaido was the best vacation we ever had), but the best day of being a tourist. We booked an all-day snorkeling tour through a company called Ocean Riders, where they were going to take us around the neighboring island of Lana'i to see shipwrecks, wildlife and coral reefs. Light breakfast and lunch included all for $139 each. Sounded fun and was, for Hawaii, rather cheap.

So we geared up and found our way in the darkness to the boat launch at 6:30AM. They had given us directions with landmarks, but with virtually no streetlights, even at 10MPH, we drove right by the church with "Jesus Coming Soon" out front, at first.

Captain Patty and First Mate Jason quickly organized the twelve of us, had a nice breakfast of granola bars, fresh fruit (which on Hawaii actually means, fresh) and juice for us while they gave us instructions and stowed our gear in various places. The boat was small and the fourteen of us were about all that could comfortably fit, and by comfortably, I mean there were seats for about six and the rest of us were sitting on the sides of the big inflatable raft that was the boat. It was a good thing, for this and other reasons I'll mention later, that everyone on the tour was younger and/or in good shape. There was only one couple older than us, and they were experienced divers.

So, on our way to the first snorkeling stop, we must have seen four or five pods of humpback whales at varying distances. We only brought Sumi's iPhone, since nothing we owned was waterproof, and we were going to be in the water all day long, so we couldn't get many pictures while in the choppy water. At the first snorkeling spot, we were told there were a lot of turtles in the area, so we may see one. Well, for these guys, by "may" they mean you may have one come up and shake your hand. There were many green sea turtles hanging out in the reef, and, by following their instructions (don't stop directly over a turtle, they don't like that), I had to stop swimming entirely, so I didn't accidentally smack the turtle that came up to say hi. He hung out with me at the surface for a few minutes getting some air and staring at me, then headed back down to the reef. And I wasn't alone. Most of us had Close Encounters of the Turtle Kind in our 30-45 minute stop.

After getting us back on board, we headed over to a few shipwrecks off the coast of Lana'i. These are not Spanish treasure ship-type wrecks, but WWII and earlier era boats that ran aground or were purposely beached (the standard way of getting rid of unwanted ships pre-1950s). The first one we saw was an old cargo ship that had blow onto the reef during a storm as it was being towed.

Note the rebar mesh. This is a concrete ship!

The island-facing side fares much worse, due to the more constant sun exposure

 The second, that we couldn't approach as closely, was a 1940's fishing-style boat that was run aground and left to die in the Lana'i Ship's Graveyard.

Our next stop was more snorkeling, where we didn't see more friendly turtles, but an amazing amount of colorful tropical fish and coral reefs in very clear water. No waterproof camera = no underwater pics, sorry! After that stop, we headed to a remote beach on Lana'i, where they used to dump female criminals overboard and let them swim a mile to shore and survive on Lana'i, which was a female prison island around the turn of the 20th century. Had we not all been in shape, we would not have stopped here, since the only way on and off the boat was to swim to/from shore. Sounds easy until you note the five foot waves and steep shoreline. Getting to the island was easy: jump off the boat and let the current carry you to shore. Getting back to the boat was a bit more challenging. You had to time the waves to not knock you on your butt (something we failed at, twice) and then swim against a strong tide to the boat. It was a LOT of fun! The beach was deserted and pleasant, and we got to walk around while they get lunch ready.

Lunch was no-frills do-it-yourself deli sandwiches, pasta salad and chocolate and after a morning of snorkeling and boating in the tropical sun, was absolutely delicious. We spend about an hour relaxing with lunch in the cove, then off to see the northern, more severe side of the island with it's steep cliff faces and sea caves.

Hundreds of these little caves dot the island

On our way to our last snorkeling stop, we came across a school of dolphins and Patty decided to "become one of the pod", and we ran with them for a little while!

You will have to forgive the videographer. Sumi was stretched out over the bow of a boat, hanging a few feet over the somewhat choppy water with her iPhone. I chose not to think about either her or the phone ending up in the ocean and just enjoyed the dolphins.

Our last snorkeling spot was possibly the best, with a vast, colorful coral reef complete with turtles, lobsters, schools of tropical fish, and visibility of up to thirty feet underwater.

Minus the shark and manta ray, that's about what we saw

On the way back, we followed a bunch of fighting male humpback whales as they vied for a female's attention. Imagine some cats play-fighting on your living room floor. Now imagine those cats are 35 feet long and weigh about 70,000 lbs. And they're only sort of playing. And there's about five of them. The water would have been a bit choppy without them fighting, and with it, I was afraid Sumi's phone would end up at the bottom of the ocean, so no video, sorry.

So, at the end of our trip, it have been almost nine hours out at sea, we had snorkeled at three separate reefs, each with it's own unique flavor, seen sea turtles, humpback whales and dolphins up close (some up VERY close), viewed shipwrecks, walked on a deserted beach, swam in the ocean, sailed around the island of Lana'i, got quite the history and nature lesson and enjoyed some good food and friendly company. I know we were lucky to have a really nice, laid-back group of passengers with us, but I can't give enough praise to Patty and Jason for just a wonderful trip. They were amazing, and I would recommend this excursion to anyone with the following caveats in mind:

You need to be in shape to get the most out of this. Their site says no one with "severe back or neck problems or pregnant women". I would go further and say if you can't swim for several hours, can't handle a full day in direct sunlight, can't handle very jarring and bumpy rides and are unwilling to pee in the ocean (you're out all day in a tiny boat), you shouldn't go on this trip. If you can, this is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable excursions you will find at a very reasonable price.

So, after that unpaid advertisement for Ocean Riders, all we had energy to do was get some dinner at the aptly named "Penne Pasta" restaurant a block from our hotel. The food was very good family-style Italian at a Hawaii-reasonable price. I had the vegetarian baked penne, Sumi had the whole-wheat?(we don't think it was) spaghetti and we shared a bruschetta. All of it was very tasty and we stumbled home and retired at....5:00? It was an exhausting day.

Tomorrow is our first unplanned day, and if my muscles right now are any indication, will be a very quiet, boring day.