We were up early and skipped breakfast in order to get on the road with ZAK and head down south to the black sand beach we had heard about where the turtles come up to bask on the sand.

We had a bit of a sleep in this morning before heading down for breakfast and then to the dive shop to pick up our gear.  Dave and Monica were heading home today so it was time to start wrapping things up.  

We were up very early this morning to head up to the north end of the island for tour of the Waipio Valley on horseback.  Some of the not-horsey members of our group opted for an ATV tour of the valley instead but luckily both tours started at the same pick up point so we all travelled together.  

OK...so I could talk about some other stuff that happened today...but really...nothing compared to the dive we did tonight.  We had a do-over opportunity for the Manta Ray Night Dive because on our first attempt no Mantas arrived.  Tonight we were not disappointed.  It was unbelievable!!!!

We got a bit of sleep in time today as Ecky had a helicopter tour first thing in the morning and Brian had a job interview.  After a late breakfast we headed to the dive shop to get full tanks for a shore dive.  Our plan was to head up north this time instead of down south.  As we were driving we heard that there were wind warnings for the north and mountain regions of the island so asked the experts at the dive shop if heading north was wise.  They said no...that when the winds are strong it can get pretty tough to shore dive up north...so we recalculated and headed back to a more sheltered site near the marina.  We had seen dolphins there several times when heading out on the boat so were hopeful that we could see them from in the water this time.

The surf was rolling in when we got there but we were not to be deterred...we suited up in all of our gear and trekked over what seemed like a mile of rough mounds of lava rocks...and finally ended up on the beach.  Hot sweaty and puffing by this point we were all happy to get in the water.  While it was cooler in the water it was a bit exciting trying to get masks on...fins on and juggle camera gear!  Wade seemed to have no trouble with his fins and mask and was soon through the big waves and floating on the swells in comfort.  I was struggling...luckily Monica came to help me and held my camera as I was trying to wrestle into  my fins.  After consuming my daily limit of salt water I decided that it may just be best if I sit this one out.  I told Monica thanks but I'd head back to shore...this was feeling more like work than fun and I didn't want to end up in a dangerous situation exhausted!  Monica agreed and I held her camera as she got herself ready...about this time we both noticed Ecky was struggling a bit too...he had broken a fin strap!  I quickly unclipped one of mine and Monica swapped it for the broken one...crisis averted :-).  Soon Monica and Ecky were heading out to join Wade and Dave in the deep water and I dragged my waterlogged butt and gear up onto the beach.  

I waited patiently on shore...trying to hide from the sun...and the chatty locals who all seemed very friendly...and was entertained by a local who was very talented on his boogie board riding the waves.  Soon I saw heads pop up in the waves and zipped my wetsuit back up so I could wade in and help the divers out of the water.  There were a few scary moments as I watched the waves push the boys a little closer to the lava rocks on the shore than I would have like....especially after having one of the locals tell me he had just pulled a few divers off those rocks when they got too close and were slammed into them!  But soon the boys navigated their way between the rocks and we got everyone back on land safely even if they were a little tired :-).

Next item on the agenda for the day was a Luau!  What trip to Hawaii would be complete without a Luau?  We had booked in at the King Kamehameha resort as we'd heard their Luau was the best around and hadn't been to impressed by what we had seen of the one at our place.  Got cleaned up and headed over to check it out.  The food was really great...lots of choices and most of it was delicious.  I don't think Wade will ever try Poi again though LOL.  The entertainment was good...a mix of humour, dance and some education too...who new there were so many steps involved in getting the milk out of a coconut LOL.

Whew, another long road trip!  We headed out to Volcano National Park today and got to see lots of cool lava formations.  It was lots of driving...lots of walking and not nearly enough eating!  LOL

We are all safe and sound back at the hotel now and are finally full....so no time for blogging...time to sleep...updates to come tomorrow if we can squeeze in some time between diving and the luau!

UPDATE:

Ok...some time to catch up now.  It was quite rainy and foggy on the south and west sides of the island.  We spent quite a bit of time exploring the different areas of the volcano park and finally ended up at the Jagger Museum that overlooks one of the craters that was venting steam.  It was kinda hard to see it well or take photos because of the heavy mist but very interesting none the less.  We were hoping to be able to view the area where the lava was flowing into the ocean but none of us had the gumption to tackle the miles of walking that would have required.  Not to mention the warning signs everywhere about all of the poisonous gasses and dangerous particles in the air!

By this point of the day we were pretty much starved so decided to head to Hilo (the other major city on the island) for dinner as it was closer than heading all the way back to Kona.  We had no problem finding Hilo...but were really surprised by how unlike Kona it is.  Kona is a very bustling tourist area with tons of restaurants, hotels and bars.  Hilo seemed much more industrial and we really struggled to find a place to eat that wasn't fast food or Pizza Hut!  Luckily we stumbled across a sports bar called Cronies (LOL) so we quickly parked and headed in.  The food was amazing...I had the most delicious Mahi Mahi!  With our tummies full and everyone back to their cheerful vacationing selves we were back on the road again to head home.  The drive back was rainy but uneventful and we were happy to be back on the sunny side of the island once again!

Moral of this story...

If you want to visit Volcano National Park, plan a whole day, pack a lunch to avoid afternoon starvation and put Cronies in your GPS for dinner!

We had a bit of a sleep in day today.  Up for breakfast at 9:00 then we hit the road to do a bit of exploring on the north side of the island.  We consolidated the group into two cars…stopped for some Kona coffee and then started the exploration.

It was interesting to see the different climates on the different areas of the island.  It went from huge black lava fields…to arid desert…to green grassland…to lush jungle.  Amazing to see it change.  We checked out a few little towns along the way and had lunch of home made pizza in a tiny little café.  Then Dave and Monica’s magical GPS told them about this little place that makes doughnuts to die for…so, next stop…Tex’s drive in…and yep we ate 100,000 calorie doughnuts…and yep…they were goooooood.  Onward to find the riding stable we are hoping to use on Saturday…no problem to find it but the rides were over for the day so no one was around except for the resident guard dog that really, really wanted to play fetch LOL.

Soon stomachs were growling…maybe hunger…maybe protesting the doughnuts and pizza…but it was time to head back to home base and get ready for Monica’s 50th birthday dinner…yep Hawaii 5-0.  

We had ‘light’ dinners to compensate for the fat-laden food consumed earlier…but then chased it with chocolate birthday cake.

Now we are sitting by the pool…chatting and having a couple beverages celebrating yet another day in paradise.

We  had a really full day of dives yesterday that had us busy from 7:30 am when we met for breakfast until 11:00 pm when we got back to our room after a late late dinner.

We had an awesome first two dives with an excellent captain (Mike) and dive master (Vinny).

The first dive was at Pawi and it was FULL of fish.  This was a protected area where no collecting of fish was allowed...and it showed...there were millions of fish everywhere and they were not shy! Not long after the start of the dive we were treated to the sounds of whales singing.  It is truly an amazing experience to be in the water hand hearing that music.  Very cool! We were enjoying a great dive when our dive leader Vinny signaled Monica to follow him...the rest of us hung out with the fishes thinking he was taking her though a swim through...but much to our delight a minute or so later they both appeared giving the SHARK hand signal!  We quickly swam up to see and sure enough there was a bit of an overhang and underneath there were 4 GREAT WHITE tip sharks swimming around under there!  We dropped down and grabbed on to rocks on the bottom so we could be still and watch the sharks.  It was tough to stay in one spot with the surge pushing you back and forth but it was worth scraping off a few fingerprints to get some pics of these beauties.  Soon it was time to head up as our air was running low…we were sad to see the dive end.

Our second dive was at Suck ‘em Up!  During the dive briefing our fearless leader explained that it was named that way because of the under water formations that you can swim in and out of but if you aren’t careful…and if the surge is strong…you can get sucked right up and launched out the top of the tube and splattered on the rocks…at which point the captain will shout ‘Please get back in the water!’…LOL.  Sounded like a fun exciting dive, right?  We were also warned to watch for the ‘champagne bubbles’ as they are a pretty good indication that you are about to be launched skyward.  Wheeee.  As exciting as this all sounded on the boat it didn’t amount to much as there was a bit too much surge to risk the entry so we enjoyed a great dive with lots of fish and….ANOTHER SHARK!  Yep, Vinny our shark whisperer found us a beautiful one that was kind enough to give us a couple of close up photo ops.  Awesome!

On our way back in to the marina the spinner dolphins gave us a nice show to welcome us back.  It doesn’t get much better than this!

We were quick to hop in our vehicles to get back to the resort to quickly charge our batteries and download our memory cards and grab some lunch before heading back to the marina to be ready for our twilight and night (Manta) dives!

As we headed out of the marina we were treated to a hump back whale show…there were about four of them that were at the surface!  Awesome!

Our twilight dive was at a location called Freeze Face…named because of a fresh water outlet that is substantially colder than the salt water…luckily we didn’t find it…so my face didn’t freeze J.  This was a good dive but our new dive master Mike was a bit of a speed demon…his interpretation of a nice slow dive was quite bit different than ours! 

Next it was time for the long anticipated MANTA DIVE!  The weather was a bit questionable and it was raining a bit.  We saw a few boats heading back from the north dive sites so our crew decided to stay where we were and try to attract the mantas to us rather than risk a rough site where we’d have to abort…so we tied up to our sister boat who was also out for a manta dive and waited for dark.  Sadly…no mantas came…so we did a nice night dive and saw some cool critters but were disappointed that we didn’t get mantas.  The shop offered us 50% off a ‘do over’ trip so we are signed up for another try on Friday J.

After we had our feet back on shore it was time for some dinner…then off to bed!  We were pooped!

We were up early this morning for breakfast before heading to the dive shop to rent tanks for some shore diving.  Because we missed a dive yesterday, due to the crazy surf, the shop offered us a replacement boat dive, so we signed up for a twilight dive to come just before our night manta dive.  As a result, our manta dive got moved to tomorrow when we already had two morning dives booked...so tomorrow is a 4 dive day!  Yahooo

After getting our tanks and gear loaded we headed out to see what the conditions were like at the near by shore diving sites we had checked out earlier.  We were a little late getting out there and as a result the surf was quite strong again.  We decided to go in search of a site south of Kona called Two Steps.  It was described as a protected cove with lots of fish and turtles so that sounded like our best bet.  It was a bit farther away than we were expecting but we found it and the entry looked doable...so we suited up and headed in.  There were indeed 'two steps' (actually rocks) where we got in so the entry was pretty easy.  The dive was nice...lots of coral and pretty fish.  Not too much surge or current.  We explored for about 45 minutes and then headed in.  Our exits were not quite as graceful as our entries but there was a lot of group effort to get everyone out with their gear and limbs intact.  We only had a few pulled muscles, bruising and minor bleeding.  Success!

It was funny watching all of the sun bathers who were basking on their towels on the lava watching the creatures from the black lagoon hauling each other out of the surf!  LOL

One of the highlights of this dive was the huge turtle that was hanging around right at our exit point...it was almost like he was trying to help us get out...or maybe he was just coming close to get a good laugh at the clumsy humans!

We were up bright and early this morning for another great breakfast before heading to the marina for an 8:30 departure.  Our dive crew was funny, friendly and really wanted to take care of us.  All we were responsible for was breathing our air and chewing our food...they would take care of the rest :-). 

We were soon all on board and pushing back from the dock.  As we were heading out of the marina we were told to watch for spinner dolphins and sure enough they appeared right away to escort us out.  It was cool to see them playing around the boat. After a short ride out we arrived at our first dive site 'Golden Arches' , named after the arched coral and golden fish...not the burger chain LOL.  Soon it was time to suit up and get ready to splash in.  After cursing my way into my new 5 mm wetsuit I was the first to hit the water.  I hung on to the line on the boat until our group was all in and then we signalled to descend....but there was no descending for me or Wade!  Our new wetsuits are not only thick and hard to get into they are considerably more buoyant than our old ones.  We anticipated this and added more weights before we jumped in but didn't add quite enough.  So, we signalled our dive master and headed back to the boat for more weight.  One of the dive masters on the boat saw us coming and met us part way with more weights.  Great service!  He gave us each 4 more pounds and boy...I sunk like a ROCK!  I think I'll give back 2 next dive.  

We soon joined our group on the bottom and had a great dive.  It is different scenery here than what we are used to seeing in the Caribbean.  Lots more hard corals and no sponges or soft corals.  Lots of fish and some new ones that I hadn't seen 'in person' before.  There was a bit of current and surge pushing us around a bit but nothing like the ripping current in Cozumel.  We had no troubles stopping to take photos on this dive.  There were some spotted eels and some cool macro critters...I got a pic of one of them (that I can't for the life of me remember the name of...little purple guy with a yellow border) but I really could use a macro lens for my camera :-).  

At the end of the dive just as I was climbing the ladder a huge pod of dolphins swam through the rest of the group.  I'm hoping one of them got pics as I missed the whole show while trying to get back into the boat without getting bashed by the ladder as the swells were growing quite big by this time.

After everyone was back on board the crew brought out some snacks and beverages to keep us entertained during our surface interval.  The boat was really rocking in the waves by this time and a couple of folks were turning a bit green so our captain got us underway again to try and smooth things out a bit.  Not a chance ... we were soon on an ocean bound roller coaster which was quite exciting and fun for some of us...and not so good for others.  Our second dive was called due to the risk of getting on and off the boat in such conditions so sadly we headed back to the marina.  I was happy to see the crew putting safety first and ensuring we lived to dive another day :-).  Apparently the wind NEVER blows from the direction it was blowing today so conditions like we faced were rare...kinda the same story in Cozumel with the currents shifting directions on us all the time.  We are beginning to think that our dive group has some sort of weird magnetic force that messes with the tides LOL!

We spent the afternoon enjoying some Kona coffee...had some lunch...then joined back up by the pool.  I spent more time with my camera trying to capture the cool variety of local birds as well as the spectacular surf that was rolling and pounding into the shore.  

Soon it was time for dinner and we decided that we'd go to Bubba Gump's again...it was just as good the second time!  We may even try it a third time...we haven't found a bad menu selection yet and the service is amazing!

Tomorrow we are hoping to do a shore dive in the morning if the surf has smartened up and isn't going to pound us into hamburger...then we have a night dive from the boat with the Manta Ray's tomorrow night!  If this keeps up we may have to learn to surf!