Snorkeling, surfing and then some

Okay, so obviously I decided it was better to make mini-posts about the trip, complete with pictures. This should be the last such post.

After the wedding, K and I -- and the maid of honor -- all went to Haunauma Bay to go snorkeling. It's one of the best snorkeling sites in the world. I went two years ago when I was in Hawaii, but I didn't think we went on a good fish day. I was excited to go again with K.

Imagine our disappointment when we arrived at beautiful Haunauma Bay to see this:

The person working the front entrance told us that 24 people had been stung that day alone. The jellyfish had been ot for about 10 days. Usually, they're only out for about three or four days, but this time, they were out longer. I did a quick poll of people leaving the bay, and no one coming out had seen any jellyfish or seen anyone else get stung. The last two guys I asked said, "No, we didn't see jellyfish, but we saw turtles!"

I said, "Hey, I jumped out of an airplane yesterday. I can handle some jellyfish!" We did discuss the fact, though, that if one of us got stung, someone would have to pee on us.

We had to watch this nine-minute video before we could snorkle. It told us things like not to feed the fish, not to step on the corral and to respect the creatures in the bay. The video had a couple jingles that went along with it, and I was cracking up at the cheesiness.

Once we got into the bay, though, we saw quite a few really pretty fish.

a sea slug

And the best part? We didn't even see any jellyfish! Once we got out, our bravery was rewarded when we looked up and saw a really pretty rainbow.

We had one place left to go that day -- a lighthouse. We stopped off at a fiew scenic points along the way.

We saw this couple taking wedding pictures. I'd have been scared to be climbing on those rocks in such a long dress, but I'm sure once they get the pictures, she'll be glad she did!

We saw this gecko when we were by the blowhole. He was trying to run away at first, but once K caught him for this picture and put him back down, I guess he realized we weren't going to hurt him. He sat right on the concrete ledge where K put him for a good two or three minutes, just letting us take pictures of him.


Doesn't this picture make you want to live there? And this is right off the highway, on my uncle's daily drive to work. Must be nice!

After those stops, we made it to Makapu'u, the lighthouse off the coast. It was about a mile-and-a-half hike to the actual lighthouse (you can see the lighthouse from the road, but this is -- obviously -- a closer view), and there was a whale-watching point halfway up. I'm not sure if we saw any whales or not, but we did see some rain moving in from the ocean. It was really pretty and neat to see.





K and me at the whale-watching point.











the rain moving in

Once we made it to the top, we had a great view of the lighthouse from that angle, as well as another part of the shoreline and two small islands -- one of which I think is Chinaman's Hat.

Okay, I feel like I've been blogging -- and formatting -- for three hours now, so here are our surfing pictures. Fun fact, by the way: The guy who taught K and I lessons that day is the very same guy who taught me how to surf two years ago that very weekend!

K loves this picture because I'm laughing while I'm surfing. Personally, I think it looks goofy. Oh well. :)

Hey, you gotta make sure you're decent while you're up there for the world to see!