Hawaii Day 3 Na Pali Coast - Catamran

What a beautiful day for a catamran ride!!! We had to travel about 45 minutes from the hotel to Captain Andy's. Here we are aboard the "Akialoa". First we were fed a continential breakfast ....which tasted mighty good because I was hungry.

As we traveled to our destination of the Na Pali Coast we were able to see lots of Spinner dolphins....when they jumped out of the water, they would spin!! It was pretty cool. They followed the boat...if the boat sped up, so would they! Even a sea turtle came to the surface to get his picture taken by all us silly tourists!! Notice the color of the water...beautiful!

Does this rock formation look like anyone famous to you? How about the profile of King Kong?

The next several pictures are of the Na Pali Coast. This is the coastline that is steep cliffs, waterfalls, caves, sandy beaches, accessible only by ocean kayaking or hiking on steep trails. There is no road access to this end of the island. I'm afraid my new camera didn't do it any justice. It was so BEAUTIFUL! The water was so clear and blue!! There were several beaches along the coast line that were pretty white sand!! It was just like in the movies!! In fact they pointed out several spots along the coast where several scence of movies were made. Two that I remember were King Kong and Coonies, and I think the mystical island of "Bali Hai" in South Pacific was also a part of the coastline. It was just breathtaking!!!! Because it was such a beautiful weather day, we were able to sail up the coastline a lot further than the tour usually goes. I just can't express the beauty of it!!! Enjoy the pictures!

On the way back we were VERY fortunate to come across a momma whale and her calf. Whale season usually ends in April, so to spot a whale this time of the year was very unusual! Our guide said it must have been a late birth and the calf wasn't ready for the long swim back north. He also said it is very possible the calf wouldn't survive because of the lateness. Momma never "berched" (is that what you call it when a whale comes out of the water?) while we watched her. The pictures aren't that good....trust me, it was a whale!!

Part of the expedition was a chance to do some snokeling in one of the coves. It was a little over rated. We saw a few different species of fish, but it wasn't that exciting. None of the fish were very colorful. But it was still fun. Check out the Love Birds!!!! After a short snokel, lunch was served. We made sandwiches and had salad and fresh fruit. It was great!

With full stomachs and the warm sun it was easy to just relax and enjoy the ocean air. (or maybe he was tuckered out from the kissing?...ha ha) This expedition was well worth the money we paid!! I'd do it again in a heartbeat....a great day, with great people. By the way, we had a crew of three terrific guides. They were very informative about the coast and quite entertaining also!!

After docking, the group decided to go for Shave Ice (notice I said shave ice, not shavED ice). This place is famous for shave ice. Talk about a delicious treat!!!! It is very fine ice with flavoring and cream over ice cream. YUMMY!!!!! My favorite was the Berry Blast!! I can't even tell you how good it was!! (Does anyone remember the slush that Gpa Pete used to make? Do you remember having the cherry slush with the soft vanilla ice cream? That is what it reminded me of?) Great stuff....we had it three different times!

We ended the wonderful day at a mexican resturant for dinner. Here we are again with a few of our good friends. Once again a fun filled day!! It is going much toooo fast!!

I bet you can hardly wait to hear what we do next, right? Be patient....it's taking longer to blog this than I thought!! Stay tuned...............