Aloha! - Day 4

I am not a big fan of tourist attractions when I am on vacation and I definitely don't like to sign up for an adventure that includes 100 other strangers on vacation.  I did want to do a snorkeling adventure in Hawaii to see turtles, but I didn't want to be 1 of 100 people on a catamaran.  I think I get this attitude from my father.  Before we left I did research online looking for snorkeling tours and a lot of them sounded awful where I would be stuck on a boat with a ton of randoms until we reach our destination and then I get to join all the 100+ people in the water for some not so peaceful snorkeling.  I did come across a kayak and snorkeling tour with Eco Tours and it said you are with 4 - 8 other people.  This intrigued me so I read reviews and they were all positive.  I was kind of worried about the kayak part since neither of us have ever kayaked, but then again I figured how hard could it be?  Plus, it would be fun to try something new.  I was instantly sold on this tour and we got signed up.

We arrived at mile marker 14 to meet the tour guide and our small group.  We arrived early and to our surprise we found out it was only going to be the two of us and the tour guide...sweet!  Jackpot!  Our own private kayak and snorkeling tour...what could be better than that?  We received our instructions on how to kayak, our life jackets and we were ready to rock.  A little nervous, but excited as well, I headed into the ocean with Andy, a kayak and our snorkeling gear. 

I wonder if I was a professional kayaker in a past life because I was awesome at it...or at least that is my opinion. We kayaked for a while and then arrived at our destination.  It was time to remember the instructions we received on land about how to get out of a kayak without tipping it over...it was a success!  The tour guide really knew his stuff and informed us about Maui, the mountains and all the fish and turtles we were seeing.  Yup, we were swimming around with 3 - 5 foot turtles.  I have never seen anything like this before.  It was amazing to witness.  I took a million photos with my crappy $22 underwater camera and I swear only a couple turned out ok.  I plan to upload them into Photoshop to see if I can save any of them, but I am not being positive about it.  Anyway, at one point there was a giant turtle who parked it on the weight that was holding the kayaks.  He started scratching himself on the rope that attached the kayaks and weight.  The turtle did not leave the weight as he hung out and kept giving himself a rub down.  It was really cute and just awesome to watch.  Besides the turtles, we also saw plenty of bright beautiful fish swimming around.

Here is a large turtle.  I wished it would have come out clearer because it was neat to see.

The turtle is going up for air.

 

Here is a turtle head above water getting some air.

One last turtle picture that semi-turned out.

Following snorkeling we went to Whaler's Village so I could do a little shopping.  Following shopping we headed to the beach for a couple hours of afternoon lounging in the sun.

After some washing up we had a drink at one of the resort bars.

Dinner was in Whaler's Village at Leilanie's.  We had a table right on the boardwalk and an awesome view of the sun going down.

 After dinner we did the usual and headed back to the resort for a couple drinks before it was bedtime.