Day 2

Our first diving day - 2 dives on the South Kona shore. The surf was 2-4 feet so we went to this more protected shoreline to do the dives. On the boat ride there we saw a pod of dolphins. The dives were nice but not very special. The coral wasn't spectacular and we saw a couple small things, like the leaf scorpion fish which is very odd looking. 

We went diving with the Kona Diving Company which is a smaller group and takes out smaller boats which I like. They were very friendly and showed us fish in the fish book. My favorite part was the warm fresh water shower they have on the boat. Feels awesome after the dives.

The water is much colder than the Caribbean so we wore 5mm wetsuits.

When we were getting off the boat, we saw a massive turtle hanging out by the dock. 

We had lunch at Huggos on the rocks (adjacent to Huggos). Food was ok but the drinks are awesome! I love anything with Lilikoi - passion fruit!

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the beach and made lobster for dinner.

Day 1

I had initially planned to start diving on day 1 but fortunately did not. Instead, we had a relaxing breakfast watching the waves crash from our balcony. 

We explored the town of Kailua-Kona a bit and headed up to see the summit of Mauna Kea - the highest point on the island at 14,000ft with a world class observatory. We didn't get far up the mountain when we were stopped by rangers and emergency vehicles. We ultimately had to turn around as the road was shut down for fatal car accident that flipped over the guard rail. It was quite a to do as we saw 3 ambulances and 2 medical evac helicopters. 

We did get to enjoy beautiful clouds and magnificent rainbows along the drive. 

We had dinner of classic Hawaiian barbeque. 

Arrival at the airport

I heard that Hawaii has since changed entry rules but at the time required a save travels certification of vaccine status vs recent negative test prior to entry as well as a questionnaire of symptoms within 24 hours prior to granting entry. Fortunately United told me about this so I could prepare in advance. However, the website is definitely not super user friendly. 

Despite all the weather forecasts of rain, it was sunny and beautiful on arrival and we made it just in time for the sunset. 

It was New Year's Eve so we stopped at a deli/liquor store to pick up some champagne and provisions. Prices were sky high. 

At midnight we were able to see fireworks from many areas of the island from our balcony. 

Hawaii - the big island of Hawai'i

The Covid has definitely put a damper on international travel. Normally when I think of fun in the sun and scuba diving, I think of the Caribbean, Mexico, or the south Pacific. But this year, it's the big island of Hawaii. I had a hard time picking an island. Maui versus Big Island. I did the research, asked around, and ultimately went with my gut and picked the Big Island. I did it for the better diving, the manta ray dive!, the volcano national park and a belief that it would be less popular than Maui. I don't know if the third panned out as there's a ton of people here but maybe even more in Maui? I rented a condo and a car - more expensive than anywhere else!! How does anyone in Hawaii afford Hawaii prices?

It's amazing staying next to the water, listening to the crashing waves and having little turtles and fish come check out our tidal pools.