20 Days in Hawaii and Disneyland - Yes, we are Lucky Nuts (Updated 9/19)

[Chellymouse]

Glad to hear the Pirate Princess is settling in! Safe travels as you head back home!

 

[cj9200]

Day 2 in Hawaii Continued: More Diving and Then Dining AKA: Lobsters, Sharks and Dolphins? Oh my.

Made it home from dropping the child off at college. She has settled in and seems to enjoy her classes and college life. After 1,300+ miles each way, thank god for the Disney podcasts I loaded on the I-Pad to pass the time.

So we were at the first dive. As I said earlier, the seas were 1-2 feet and that was “rough” for Hawaii. It was a good dive and some pictures to prove it.

Some coral. I had problems with the external flash which is needed in Hawaii. So colors all look blue.

A very friendly lobster?

Our guide playing with him. He took video during the dive which I bought. Some great shots, especially on the second dive. More on that later.

OK, it was just a shell after a lobster molted. No self respecting lobster would let someone hold him or sit on someone’s head.

There were some good swim throughs

And a video. The popping you hear are from fish near the surface that make that noise. They are called popcorn something or other fish
http://youtu.be/uYhmVN8-30w

While we were there, a couple of White Tip Sharks came swimming by. If you look closely, you will see a large hook in his mouth.

Not to preach but shark populations are being devastated in the world’s oceans. They are truly magnificent animals and over harvesting for their fins or trophy jaws is creating havoc in the oceans and reefs. Off soapbox now.

Another swim through

Ooh, pretty fish

An eel hiding in the reef

There was a strong current at the end of the first dive and when I got on the boat, I was a little tired. Begged out on the second dive. It was too bad because turtles and spinner dolphins were spotted on the dive. While they were tying the boat of at a buoy, the spinners were jumping out of the water and, well, spinning as they crashed back in. Very cool. Our guide captured them both out of and in the water on video but because of copyright considerations I can’t post them here.

For all her diving, the Pirate Princess never saw a turtle underwater. She spotted the first one and let everyone know where it was. As a bonus she also saw another one. Adding to that, she got to see dolphins in the wild while diving, something I never saw. Needless to say, she was over the top when she got back on the boat.

The Diving Princess and the guide about to go under

And getting out of the water

Think she is happy after seeing turtles and dolphins?

So after getting back to the pier and the van ride to the dive shop, it was back to the resort to shower and get ready for dinner.

Space Time Continuum Alert Thing

For those that read this update as originally posted, you saw that we ate at Huggos two nights in a row. And had the same thing and the pictures looked the same. Well, that did not happen. Chalk it up to trying to get an update posted and driving 2,600+ to NJ and back. Cut and pasted the wrong thing. My bad.

Felling a little beat, we went to the bar lounge at the Royal Kona; Don's Mai Tai bar. For dinner, the Princess had the Humongous Fungus. A portobella mushroom marinated in white wine and fresh herbs, flame broiled and topped with caramelized maui onions, roasted garlic, gorgonzola cheese and fried leeks. served with a marsala demi-glace. According to them, this one has won awards. Around $11.00. She sucked that down. I had a pedestrian Ham and Swiss panini that was also very good. Around $10.00 Both were tasty and filling. Sorry no pics too tired and hungry to think of taking any.

After dinner, we went back to the room to crash. Having gotten a workout diving, we both slept like logs. Purposely kept the sliding door cracked open (we did it every night we were there) so we could hear the waves lap on the shore.

So the first day of diving was a hit. Wish I was up for the second dive and see the dolphins, but I was perfectly happy with the one dive I did. Glad the kid finally saw turtles underwater and the dolphins were a bonus.

Up Next: The Mantas, I promise. AKA: No more teasing.

 

[jekjones1558]

The dive video, though short, is cool! I love Huggo's, glad you liked it too. This extended report is making the fun last longer!

 

[dgbg100106]

Thanks for a wonderful update and I would have been over the moon for the dolphins and turtles also..


That is wonderful.

 

[AquaDame]

Hmm... maybe we should try to get certified before we go back next year... that looks amazing!

 

[Pinkocto]

Did you have the same dinner as the evening prior or am I caught in the breakfast space/time contiuem?

The dive looks great. You had me quite fooled with the lobster. I was wondering how you weren't afraid of those giant pincers.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

After 1,300+ miles each way, thank god for the Disney podcasts I loaded on the I-Pad to pass the time.

I'm sure there were some highly intelligent individuals on those podcasts. And the DIS Dads, too.

OK, it was just a shell after a lobster molted. No self respecting lobster would let someone hold him or sit on someone’s head.

I figured he was posing a little too well.

While we were there, a couple of White Tip Sharks came swimming by. If you look closely, you will see a large hook in his mouth.

Wow!

Not to preach but shark populations are being devastated in the world’s oceans. They are truly magnificent animals and over harvesting for their fins or trophy jaws is creating havoc in the oceans and reefs. Off soapbox now.

Don't worry, I promise I won't be shark-hunting anytime soon.

For all her diving, the Pirate Princess never saw a turtle underwater. She spotted the first one and let everyone know where it was. As a bonus she also saw another one. Adding to that, she got to see dolphins in the wild while diving, something I never saw. Needless to say, she was over the top when she got back on the boat.

Awesome!

It is right on the shore (they call it Huggos on the rocks) and the setting is breathtaking. Here is DD at the table.

Looks like a beautiful spot and a great meal!

So the first day of diving was a hit. Wish I was up for the second dive and see the dolphins, but I was perfectly happy with the one dive I did. Glad the kid finally saw turtles underwater and the dolphins were a bonus.

Sounds like it was absolutely worth the time and effort. Great pics!

Up Next: The Mantas, I promise. AKA: No more teasing.

Uh huh. Promises, promises.

 

[CarolynK]

Did you have the same dinner as the evening prior or am I caught in the breakfast space/time contiuem?

...

OK, I had a deja vu when I read that, too!

As for the sharks, how big are they and (I guess) it's safe to be in the water with them??

 

[franandaj]

That was an awesome update, but I too had a deja vu. Didn't you have the flank steak the night before at Huggo's?

 

[cj9200]

Did you have the same dinner as the evening prior or am I caught in the breakfast space/time contiuem?

The dive looks great. You had me quite fooled with the lobster. I was wondering how you weren't afraid of those giant pincers.

OK, I had a deja vu when I read that, too!

As for the sharks, how big are they and (I guess) it's safe to be in the water with them??

That was an awesome update, but I too had a deja vu. Didn't you have the flank steak the night before at Huggo's?

Picky, Picky. Did you really expect this to be a true account of what we did? No, we did not eat the same thing at the same place. The update has since been correctly updated. We ate at the bar at the hotel. Another nice dinner. Glad you guys pointed it out because I didn't have a clue.

Currently with my Brit friend and his son in the Keys. Shoulder has bothered me so no diving yet, hopefully tomorrow. Another update when I get back.

 

[CarolynK]

Picky, Picky. Did you really expect this to be a true account of what we did? No, we did not eat the same thing at the same place. The update has since been correctly updated. We ate at the bar at the hotel. Another nice dinner. Glad you guys pointed it out because I didn't have a clue..

Since I never write trip reports (they seem really time-consuming ), I have lots of time to pay attention to stuff like what you guys ate for dinner.

 

[BigEeyore]

So jealous of your trip, and as always enjoying your TR! I really hope we can make it out to Hawaii with our kids someday.
I did my first dive on the big island when I was about 15 years old. I can't believe they let me do it! No certification, just a quick lesson in the hotel pool and then off we went. I am now a certified diver, but my kids have put a serious crimp in my diving. Your photos really really make me want to get back under the waves!

 

[afwdwfan]

Made it home from dropping the child off at college. She has settled in and seems to enjoy her classes and college life.

That's great to hear. I'm glad she's doing ok there.

After 1,300+ miles each way, thank god for the Disney podcasts I loaded on the I-Pad to pass the time.

I hope you didn't listen to the DDC Pluto bracket podcast. That could cause a serious accident on the highway.

A very friendly lobster?

As long as it doesn't want to play "got your nose"

They are called popcorn something or other fish

I thought it was popcorn shrimp.

While we were there, a couple of White Tip Sharks came swimming by.

Cool

Not to preach but shark populations are being devastated in the world’s oceans. They are truly magnificent animals and over harvesting for their fins or trophy jaws is creating havoc in the oceans and reefs. Off soapbox now.

I think they're fascinating animals. Preach on.

There was a strong current at the end of the first dive and when I got on the boat, I was a little tired. Begged out on the second dive. It was too bad because turtles and spinner dolphins were spotted on the dive.

Seriously, when you decided not to go back in, you should have known that there was going to be something really cool to see.

For those that read this update as originally posted, you saw that we ate at Huggos two nights in a row.

I would have assumed you just really liked it.

 

[cj9200]

Diving Day 2 AKA: OMG

In the next couple of updates, I hope to knock out both remaining dive trips and focus on the Royal Kona resort. Here is our Manta dive.

The first time diving in Hawaii is under our belt and we could not wait for the Manta dives. Breakfast was again at Lava Java where I had, you guessed it, the Eggs Benedict. If it isn’t broke, why fix it?

Jack’s Dive Locker does these night dives every Wednesday and Saturday. This time we decided to head to the Marina ourselves instead of them driving us in one of their vans. We had to arrive around 3:30pm in order to give enough time for them to load our gear and get our wet suits. We both own 3mm shorties but wanted to rent a full suit for the night dive. (diver geek talk) Basically we wanted to stay warm in the cooler nighttime air and water.

Here is a shot of her in the full suit. Pooh hates diving in any wet suit let alone a full one but if it meant seeing Manta’s she suffered. The smile on her face is all fake. She hated wearing the suit.

She said it felt a little better once she was in the water

I was worried about this dive because she would be devastated if we did not see any rays that night. Even though yesterday brought lots of neat stuff for her to see, Manta’s were her NUMBER ONE GOAL of the trip. Going to Aulani, OK. Visiting Disneyland, nice. The dolphins were neat but the Mantas were the number one get of the trip. She was psyched for this since we first starting planing the trip.

And there were no guarantees. As they warn on their Website: “Although we see manta rays about 80% of the time, mantas are wild animals and are not guaranteed on the Manta Night Dive. Likewise, there may be times when ocean conditions require us to dive at sites other than the traditional manta dive sites.* For this reason, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to dive at the manta dive site on these trips.” No Mantas on this dive and there would be one sad little diver on the boat ride back.

The boat takes you to what I called the gathering site. After years, the rays know you will be in this particular area and they know the buffet will be open once the sun sets. Mantas eat krill, plankton and other small creatures. They are basically big vacuum cleaners that filter their food through huge gills.

The first dive is at twilight. The guide takes you to where all the divers meet up for the night dive and then shows you around the area. Not a ton of things to see around here.

Well, there is my Little Mermaid. Maybe they can use this pic to get the hair right on The Little Mermaid Ride.

Most of the site is surrounded by black lava rocks

The drop off gets in the 60 foot range

This was the one time that the external flash worked so I did get a couple of shots with a little color

A few of the big boogers were early for their ADRs and spent the time before the buffet opened to check us out

Like this shot. May clean it up a bit and put it on my diving pics wall.

You can see in her eyes that she is not really excited to see the Mantas and anticipating what the night dive would bring. Guess she was glad she decided to wear the full suit so she could go.

Missed this one of the spotted eel (you see it at the bottom)

More coral and a butterfly and another fish having a stand off

Kind of like this one

So with the first dive over, we head back to the boat for the sun to set and the big boys (mostly they were girls) to come out. Again, they change your gear over and feed you. The Vegetarian Pirate Princess had her veggie sandwich waiting for her. We all oohed and ahhed over the sunset (sorry no pics but I didn’t want to break down the camera to get surface shots).

By now, the boats were stacked up. They only have a few buoys to tie the boats off and they do not want other boats dropping anchor on the reefs. The solution was to tie the boats to one another with the lead boat anchored on the buoy. A Jack’s sister ship tied off to our boat and another unrelated operation tied their boat behind them. Must have been 20+ boats of all sizes and types.

Soon we were briefed on the dive. The snorkelers got off first. We didn’t have any but the other Jack’s boat was all snorkelers. They have these large floatation rings that everyone hangs onto. We were designated as the last group on our boat to in and while we were waiting we heard these yells, squeals and screams from the snorkelers. Our guide smiled and said something along the line of, “There must be a lot of them out there tonight.” I looked over at the kid and I guess like me, she had an ear to ear grin on her face. It seemed like forever, but we were soon at the edge of the boat for our turn.

I have done a few night dives and this was similar in many ways. The water is completely black after you jump in. The only visibility comes from your and others flashlights. These small beams are they only area in the vast ocean where you can see anything. It can be very peaceful and a bit eerie. But this dive was different in one big way. There were probably over 100 divers and snorkelers in the water at the same time. All with lights. The whole area was lit up. The divers congregate in a big circle on the lava rock and point their light upward as the snorkelers float above you and point theirs downward. It looked other wordily and pretty cool.

By the time we got down there, the Manta’s knew the buffet was open and they were feeding like Barry dining at Ohana’s. The lights attract their various food items and they just swim in and suck it up.

These are huge but graceful animals. Each has a distinctive spotting patterns on their underbelly. Researchers review photos and videos from these dives to see who showed up. They also are named. Some of the older ones first starting showing up here in the late 70’s.

Most of the stills didn’t come out well because of the scatter from the krill etc but here are a couple.

This was Toby. One of her cephalic fins (the front fins that are used as “scoopers” to funnel food into their mouth) was missing. She is one of the older residents and it seems missing a fin hasn’t stopped her much.

Think she is having a good time?

These were captured from one of the videos

Other fish also come out for the free feast

Oh, did I mention videos? Most of these are short little snippets so I can splice then together easier when I do a vacation video. In hindsight, I wish I kept some of them running a little longer.
http://youtu.be/2JFpT7aWo5k

http://youtu.be/4vf-hVKZbRM

http://youtu.be/Kkcqg15h53o

Pooh getting buzzed by a Manta
http://youtu.be/OQCh-DuBIKQ

Since we got into the water late, we could stay down after everyone was leaving for the surface. We had the place to ourselves for about 15 minutes. By then I shut down the camera just to soak it all in. The guide laid on his back on the seafloor and the rays skimmed right over him. DD copied him and also got a real close up view. Neat perspective but I decided to not do it.

Soon it was time to leave and while the others continued to play near the boat for a while, I decided to head up to the surface. She was up after a bit and I could tell immediately the dive was a big hit with her.

We returned to shore a little tired but still hyped. Back at the resort, I wanted a cocktail and something to eat but the bar just closed. Headed back to the room instead and after showers we hit the sack. And slept pretty well.

So my overall reaction? I have done a number of dives including a few at night and this was by far my neatest experience under the water. We had between 20-25 of them swimming around us. Incredible animals. Graceful, acrobatic and HUGE. While they are not the largest Manta species (the deep water ones are larger), they averaged 10-15 feet across tip to tip. I kept saying in my mind while on the dive, “WOW,” over and over again.

Up next: Final dive and the last two days at Kona. AKA: I don’t want to get out of the pool.

 

[jekjones1558]

Just amazing shots of the dives! This trip is one to treasure for a lifetime. That princess is one lucky girl!

 

[Chellymouse]

Amazing creatures! How awesome for you and DD!! I'm sure your pics, while awesome, don't do the experience justice. Can't wait for the next update!

 

[cj9200]

Bittersweet day for the Diving Dad. Glad you made it there safely!

I'll be thinking about you two today. It's okay to shed a tear or two as you drive away, but it's also perfectly acceptable to do a little seat dance, too! As each year of college passes, less tears are shed and more seat dances are done by me. We are on year four, so I'm just about dancing the whole way home! =) I hope she has a spectacular year and a good roommate!

That's certainly a long drive. Whew! Good luck today

Thank you for the diving thoughts. I'll definitely incorporate some into my trip. The manta dive is top on the list.

Happy to report that she has settled in nicely. No roommate problems and she already has some friends that hang out together. Talked to her yesterday and she has her first cold. She will be going to the infirmary today to see if they can give her something to get over it.

Phew! For a second there I thought you were planning on diving the North Sea

If you think that's expensive, wait until you visit the UK -it's probably double that here

There are two areas where I will not dive. One is the West Coast of the US and the other is the North Sea. If I have to wear a dry suit to dive, I’m not going in the water.

Luckily when I am in the UK, my friend will be doing the driving and will probably refuse my offers to pay for gas.

Nice that there is help for hauling stuff to rooms. Almost makes it worthwhile for The Diving Dad to be broke for 4 years!

That is nice that they had people on hand to help out. I hope she likes her new roommate!

Drive safe on the way home and enjoy your stops. We'll be here when you get back!

Glad everything went so smoothly, and that there was lots of help, seemed like it was pretty organized..

It was well organized. I think that is the least they could do considering the money I am spending. But, the parents of the kids doing the moving are also paying.

What a great deal, $110 for tickets, transportation, food, drinks and companionship!

If they pass out "free" 2016 T-Shirts it will encourage the students to stay on track and graduate in 2016. We also will be having a graduation in 2016, but ours is high school. Sarah is already checking out colleges, none local. A few are across an ocean, most are on the west coast which would make me happy as I am originally from Washington (the real WA not DC).

I’m trying to figure out how to get up there to see a game. The Pirate Princess looked at a number of schools and her dream was to go to Australia. That wasn’t going to happen. She first started thinking local schools but I encouraged her to get out of Miami to see another part of the country. When it was time to go, she was ready to get out of town.

Good luck to Sarah in the search, it is a fun process.

Glad to hear the Pirate Princess is settling in! Safe travels as you head back home!

Took my time on the way back. Saw some friends in DC and my SIL in Savannah. Not a bad trip actually.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Guess she was glad she decided to wear the full suit so she could go.

She had to go? In the rented suit? I guess that's one way to help warm up the water.

We all oohed and ahhed over the sunset (sorry no pics but I didn’t want to break down the camera to get surface shots).

That's OK. I'll go back and look at the ones you posted earlier.

It can be very peaceful and a bit eerie. But this dive was different in one big way. There were probably over 100 divers and snorkelers in the water at the same time. All with lights. The whole area was lit up. The divers congregate in a big circle on the lava rock and point their light upward as the snorkelers float above you and point theirs downward. It looked other wordily and pretty cool.

Diving has always been on my bucket list, but with the little kids and time/money constraints it's going to have be more a mid-life hobby that DW and I want to pick up. This just makes me want to do it even more.

By the time we got down there, the Manta’s knew the buffet was open and they were feeding like Barry dining at Ohana’s. The lights attract their various food items and they just swim in and suck it up.

Do they make nice little piles with the shrimp peels and chicken bones, too?

By the way - that was last year's pile. To see this new one from our latest trip, you'll have to follow along with my TR.

She was up after a bit and I could tell immediately the dive was a big hit with her.

Dad Level: +1


Excellent pictures and descriptions, CJ! It looks like so much fun!

 

[Pinkocto]

Wow! That looks absolutely amazing! How wonderful you were able to see so many of them.

 

[BigEeyore]

I am just speechless - what a fantastic and memorable experience. I am guessing your DD will never forget that.