Wednesday was easily one of the ten most amazing days of my life. As far as I’m concerned, it’s right up there with skydiving.
Traveling east from Kalani (where I’m staying in Hawaii), we visited the Wai’opae tide pools; it’s considered one of the better snorkeling areas in the world.
Secretly, I was actually quite terrified to go snorkeling. We were told that the coral is razor sharp – and I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of marine life. In the back of mind, the theme song for Jaws played on loop.
Truth be told, the tide pools are rather unassuming from above the surface. From atop, it looked like any of the marshes that we have in my home state of Rhode Island. The water was flat and peppered with a few rocks. It was beautiful, but seemingly ordinary.
I stepped my feet into the water. Because the ground was uneven and slippery, I decided to take a look underwater and find better footing. I’ll never forget the feeling of looking under the surface for the first time. Schools of tropical fish – in every color of the rainbow – were circling my feet. A few yards away, forests of coral trumpeted up from the ocean floor. It was like nothing that I had ever seen.
It was extraordinary.
Snorkeling through the reefs was, in some ways, a spiritual experience. It leaves you changed. You can’t help but feel a tremendous connection to this planet – and a new appreciate for your role as its steward.
I so love it here.
October 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I remember my first time snorkeling as well. It was transformative.
I later went on to get my scuba certification and have dived in the Caribbean, Palau, Guam, Chuk and many other places. To see a lion fish is awesome. One time diving near Palau, I saw 23 sharks in my field of vision at one time. They were so beautiful and I just hung there reflecting that sharks basically haven’t changed in millions of years.
I would definitely encourage you to think about scuba. The great thing is that you get down to see the things up close. And when you get your buoyancy neutral, it really is the closest thing to flying.
October 28, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Omg that sounds absolutely breathtaking! I probably would have cried a lil bit lol, the sea is my favorite thing on this Earth…I’ve always wanted to go snorkeling, never had the chance yet. Lovely story!
October 28, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Davey , Put some more pictures up … They are Terrific !
October 28, 2011 at 12:34 pm
yay! champagne ponds!
October 29, 2011 at 6:12 am
Hopefully you’ll get to do like wise on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef one day!
October 29, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Yes, Davey, do post some more photos. They say a lot in snapshot (pardon the pun). You’ve heard, a picture tells a story of a thousand words, or something like that. Most of all, enjoy your journey!
October 29, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Davey, if you loved that then I would suggest going a little deeper and go scuba diving around a coral reef. It is absolutely phenomenal. I did it when I was visiting the Bahamas one year. It is something that is still with me today. So I highly recommend that you experience that next.
October 30, 2011 at 10:37 pm
glad youre having the time of your life-everyone needs to pursue happiness.remember that you are in the extreme minority these days-many of us blogbuddies wont do a fraction of what you do-due to the crappy economy and job market.i-for one am more concerned about my immediate friends-their welfare-and mine.paying the mortgage-utilities-gas for my car-buying groceries-making it till next week.working out-losing even more weight-feeling good about myself.these arent selfish thoughts.i am more wealthy in thought and deed.i dont need a BMW-numerous holidays to justify my happiness.i luv myself and others-including DW.thats my wealth.if i was to do something for me and society-i would and am participating in the Occupy Wallstreet Movement-what say you?and for what it matters-how bout all of us blogbuddies?
November 1, 2011 at 12:06 am
Seems the coral is dead and bleached. If it was alive you’d have much more vibrant colors /:
November 2, 2011 at 2:22 am
Davey, now that you’ve snorkeled and loved it, you NEED to get scuba certified. I have done snorkeling and its nice for sure, but scuba diving is AMAZING. I have never enjoyed anything more. I mean that literally, I have never felt better than I have underwater, breathing through a tube. Its intimidating at first, and I was kinda forced to do it because otherwise I would have been sitting at a hotel for a week while the rest of my family was doing it, but turned out that now I want to focus my career on coral reef protection. (add invaded my comment, sry)
point being, scuba dive. if you thought snorkeling was spiritual and life changing and “top 10 days of your life”, scuba diving would qualify as top 3 days for sure. I really hope you try it
-Clint
November 2, 2011 at 2:31 pm
The WaiʻOpae tide pools are fabulous, I was there several times last month and saw just what Davey saw. The coral is not dead, some of it is just light colored. There is some that is lavender there as well. There is a lot of mushroom coral that can be seen in the top photo and itʻs a pale color and shaped like a mushroom, sometimes a huge mushroom! Love going there and canʻt get enough of it!
November 3, 2011 at 9:16 am
REFERENCE: “I was actually quite terrified to go snorkeling.”
You may have a nice man’s body, but you have the brain of girl.
November 3, 2011 at 10:20 pm
—— And a silly girl at that!
November 7, 2011 at 3:32 pm
I have the brain and body of a girl and I love snorkeling. Tide pools and beaches all over Hawaiʻi are lined with very sharp and dangerous chunks of lava — I have a few scars to prove it. Gotta be very careful around it. Lots of people are terrified looking at that and I donʻt blame them. But once you carefully walk over the lava and ease into the water, itʻs awesome, but still have to avoid the sharp lava while in the water.
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