Snorkeling in the Tide Pools

Up and out by 8:00 AM for a 2-hour drive to Kapoho Bay Tide pools, on the east side of the island. We found them to be crystal clear and teeming with tropical fish. Here is a link to one of Mari's GoPro videos:

Snorkel in Kapoho Bay Tide Pools

For fun and Games, here's a small sample of some of the common tropical fish seen in the Hawaiian waters, maybe you can find some of these fish in the video:

for extra fun, here's a coral id chart:

All the pretty colors you see on the above coral chart are no longer visible. All the coral we see is covered in white goo, which I understand to be a stress reaction to the warmer water. We are losing a world treasure, the magnificent coral reefs, and the tropical fish that feed on the algae that grow on them. This is the beginning of one of the ocean food chains. The loss of the coral will be felt all the way up the food chain.

The water was not as warm here as on the west side, where all our previous snorkeling has been, but we're being picky. It was still pretty nice. We stayed in for about 30 minutes. Its just so mesmerizing watching the fish swim and feed. They seem not to be one bit concerned about our presence.

We hauled ourselves out and headed on down the road to Issac Hale Beach Park, home of a warm swimming hole, heated by the volcano, of course.

The water was nicely warm. We shared the pool with a man from back east on the mainland who's life work was building drystone walls, like this one:

He has a home here. He said he trained here for the Peace Corps back in 1968, and has wanted to come back ever since. He said, "It took me 40 years, but I made it." He said he would start a business here if he could, but he could never compete with the Tongan Stonemasons. He said they are the size of Sumo wrestlers and work in a team of 15. Really strong and fast.

Ok, YOU try and find a picture of  Tongan Stone Masons! They are hefty, even with flowers in their hair!

We had a nice chat in the pool and he suggested a "Don't Miss" place to visit: the telescopes up at 9,000 feet on Mauna Kea. We're adding that to our agenda for next week.

We got out, dried off and started back home, through a beautiful woods: