dolphins & snorkel

Is it me or is snorkel a funny word? It reminds me of the Modern Family episode with Snorkels the sea lion. Such a good episode.

Anyhow, here's my post for Friday August 11, 2017

Another early morning - this time we all went to Lahaina for 7:15 am to take a dolphin and snorkel adventure with Pacific Whale Foundation Tours. Before I describe our day I have to say I was so impressed with Pacific Whale Foundation. They are a not-for-profit and all the staff were educated professionals (all marine biologists). Their focus is to teach about the oceans and conservation. And they were incredibly nice. Of course I am partial to supporting non-profits.

OK on to our day...

We think we got the best seats on the boat right in front of the captain.

As we sailed toward the island of Lanai the crew spotted a pod of spinner dolphins. We were entertained by them for quite a while. Some were playing around and underneath the boat and some went spinning up in the air. The highlight was watching the baby dolphin practice it's spinning. It was about the size of a football and would come flying out of the ocean like a little torpedo. It was hilarious! I wasn't fast enough to get a photo.

We anchored in the bay of Lanai which is 98% owned by Larry Ellison (of Oracle). Lanai used to be full on pineapple production, but that's a thing of the past. Now the natural landscape has taken over again.

Snorkelling was lots of fun. I saw two turtles and tons of fish. I bought a fish reference guide so I know what I'm looking at. Back on the boat we had a delicious BBQ lunch and drinks. The ride back was through choppy water which I absolutely love. There were a number of sea sick people on the boat though!

Lanai

Next time we will have to try parasailing!

We looked around Lahaina a bit and then headed up the road to Kapalua and Ka'anapali. We saw the PGA golf course that features the Hawaiian Open. Tiger Woods used to have a home here before he made some poor decisions. We did a bit of window shopping at Whaler's Village and then it was time for happy hour. We listened to a band while enjoying our refreshments.

There was a light rain as we drove back toward our Condo. The traffic was horrible but we were treated to a beautiful rainbow.

Back at the condo we had dinner and walked across the street to watch the sunset. The sun sets at 7 pm. It was stunning as always. Mahalo nui loa Mother Nature.