Today we have our dolphin Watch and snorkel at the island of Lana'i and we
couldn't be more excited! Brooklyn's birthday wish is too see dolphins and
Maddie's is a snorkel cruise. Even though Brooklyn's birthday is in December,
we are taking time to celebrate it here as well. So we have combined their
treat into today, while Shan and Ana are here so they can enjoy both as well and
we have the added value of the kids going free.
We sail out from Lahaina harbor, so it's another trek up the highway and
around a different part of the island. It is so different being on the d ry
side. The road to Hana has lush forests and rain and is green, the road to
Lahaina is dry and desert like.
We get to the slip to be told that it is delayed more then an hour because
a cruise ship will be coming into town today and 60 of today's passengers are on
that boat but haven't disembarked yet to get on ours. So while the kids waited
with Shan and Ana we walked over to Bad Ass coffee for some morning
refreshments.
The cruise passengers were very friendly and because it was a full boat we
got to make some new friends from Salmon Arm BC. We were just nearing to coast
of Lana'i when our first pod of spinner dolphins was spotted playing near the
shore. As we got closer they came to play at the ships bow and swim nearer us.
The kids were delighted to watch the babies jump from the water and were very
excited. It truly was the best. Our first trip to the islands where we got to
see wild dolphins and we are feeling pretty blessed.
We pulled into a little harbor and bay at Lana'i for our snorkel part of
the trip and some dolphins followed us and skirted around the limits of the bay
while we hopped in the water. Cammie did not like the water slide down into
the water and it set the tone for her snorkel. She was Whiney and crying and
riding on my back blocking my snorkel. We hung out near the outer side of our
dictated region of snorkeling for awhile hoping the dolphins would join us.
Then headed towards the coral formation near the shoreline. The kids were told
that due to the colder waters surrounding the island it's rare to see sea
turtles, they were over the moon when they saw one. He didn't hang around long
though. I was having issue with my underwater camera and by the time I solved
that, he was gone. Ana was getting sick From the journey and water, so swam
back to the boat offering to take a squirmy Cam with her. Cam wanted to stick
with me and after another 20 minutes of listening to her misery, daddy peeled
her off of me and swam her back to the boat where a nauseous Ana graciously
watched her.
Maddie joined auntie Shannan and followed one of the marine biologists on
board for a snorkel reef tour, learning about different fish and coral
formations. Sydney became a fish and learned to dive down beneath the surface
for closer looks at the things she wanted to see.
I am always amazed by the people on these trips. Almost everyone jumps in
to snorkel at the offset, by 20 minutes in half have gone back on boat. By 45
minutes in 80% are back on the boat and at the point we got the 10 minute
warning, 80 minutes into the snorkel, only Grant and I and a couple others of
the 110 passengers were still in the water. I told Grant there was some nice
coral formations over closer to the harbor. I found them at the point he had
taken Cam back and thought he would like to see them too. We swam in that
direction and discovered several hundred fish had schooled around them. They
were a greenish yellow tinge with black stripes, but I haven't discovered their
name yet, as well as quite a few of another kind. We swam with them until we
figured we were testing the boundary of our ten minutes and the swimming
area.
We swam back to the swim aboard platform and I sat there taking off my
mask and fins and looking back towards where Grant was still coming in. There I
saw them. A pod of dolphins, swimming within our allowed snorkel range. I
pointed them out to Grant and he stopped swimming in. Our guide in the kayak
told us we really didn't have time left to go see them, but I was already
putting my fins and mask back on and swimming off the platform. Then there they
were, all around us. A pod of fifty or more. Circling us, coming out an in at
the edges of our visibility range and around us, checking us out. We were both
completely wowed out that we had this experience and at the point we got on the
boat, we were both on cloud nine.
The meal on the boat was great, although we were both eating more out of
adrenaline then hunger at that point. The boat returned to harbor with us just
buzzing. The kids sat in on the biologists nature talk and surprised all the
other passengers and the biologist alike by answering all their questions about
the types of fish, habit, etc right. Making them learn all that through an iPad
app really worked.
We walked front street for awhile and bout some t-shirts and souvenirs
before picking up our tickets to head to thee Royal Lahaina luau. The kids
enjoyed the show. They all got up on stage to learn how to hula before it all
began. The food was very average but they were happy. The dancers were
magnificent. Both the girls and the boys ;). Cammie fell asleep part way
through and we headed home after it twas finished for the warmth of our beds.
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