On our last day in Hawaii, we decided to revisit the Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (Place of Refuge) National Historical park because it was close by and we could visit it before heading to the airport. We had visited the park on a previous night, but didn't get to soak it in, as it had gotten dark. In olden times, this place was literally a place of refuge for people who broke the rigid "Kapu" (taboo) system. If Hawaiians were able to swim to this spot, they escaped punishment by death, which was the flat penalty for breaking Kapu. Things that were "kapu" ran the gamut from hard-core murder, to minor offenses such as stepping in the king's shadow.
At Place of Refuge, we found a nice gentleman dressed in a loincloth. He demonstrated and described to us the traditional Hawaiian method for octopus fishing. Anyone who thinks that ancient people were stupid, and didn't apply their ingenuity to feed themselves, are flat wrong.
A native Hawaiian describes Octopus fishing techniques
Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (Place of Refuge)
Mina follows the guided tour
Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (Place of Refuge)
Ki'i (Tiki)
Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (Place of Refuge)
We left Hawaii feeling rested, and inspired, and eager to come back some day.
On the day before leaving Hawaii, we decided to visit the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. I had visited this park more than a decade before, and I wasn't very impressed. However, Mark had never been. Besides, we needed to get our money's worth out of our annual U.S. National Parks pass, so off we went.
On our way to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, we stopped off at the Punalu'u Beach, a famous black sand beach where we saw as many as 11 turtles resting and feeding.
Turtle feeding at Punalu'u Beach
Big Island, HI
Sleeping Turtle, Punalu'u Beach
Big Island, HI
At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, we paid a visit to the visitor center and the Jagger museum before we decided to hike down into the Kilauea Iki Crater. This is a collapsed lava lake formed in 1959 (excuse my inaccurate geological terminology). Despite the view of the desolate crater from the overlook (see below), this is a verdant trail that descends through a lush rain-forest.
The Kilauea Iki hiking trail descends into this lava lake
Hawaiian Volcanic National Park, HI
Rainforest at Kilauea Iki Trail
Hawaiian Volcanic National Park, HI
Hiking along the rainforest-Kilauea Iki Trail
Hawaiian Volcanic National Park, HI
Flowers in the rainforest-Kilauea Iki
Hawaiian Volcanic National Park, HI
I enjoyed this hike tremendously: the rainforest made a nice contrast with the moonscape that we met at the bottom of the crater. The still steaming crater bottom was wild. I felt like we were un-supervised kids as we risked our necks climbing over and into still bubbling steam vents.
Despite our unlimited access at the crater bottom, I probably won't be paying another visit to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park any time soon. I am just not that interested in volcanoes or lava, despite the awesome film shown at the Visitor's center.
Kilauea Iki Trail
Big Island, HI
Thurston Lava Tube
Hawaiian Volcanic National Park, HI
After the park, we decided not to linger and returned to Kona. For dinner we ate spam musubi and fast food Hawaiian food at L&L Barbecue.
Today, we did some adventure diving. The local dive shop, Espace Plongee, recommended a site called Kona Paradise. Although it was not mentioned in any travel guide or scuba diving website, we decided to heed the local expert and try it out, anyway. It was some of the most exciting diving that I have ever done, not just for the marine life that we saw, but for the dark and foreboding ambiance of the place itself.
Kona Paradise is named after a quiet residential complex just south of Captain Cook, HI. At the end of Kona Paradise sits an unusual black pebble beach, the pebbles are fairly large, ranging from penny, to a quarter-sized in diameter.
One of the locals there was swimming his paraplegic dog with a hand held sling. Upon seeing our scuba gear, the man gave us intriguing, detailed dive site instructions. He mentioned that there was an underwater sea arch in the North that we would find if we just swam across a few canyons. We would know we were on the right path if we encountered a rift in the wall. Very knowledgeable of the dive site, he also told us to watch out for baby fish seen in the area. Baby fish eggs are swept down from the North Western Hawaiian Islands by the current.
Sizing us and our gear up, the man assumed we weren't beginner divers. However, he couldn't help but mention that a couple of snorkelers die at Kona Paradise every year due to deceptive currents and undertow. He wished us well, as we embarked on our dive and told us to watch out for the conditions.
One of the aggressive eels we encountered Kona Paradise, Big Island, HI
The first thing we noticed when we submerged was the sound. There was a rhythmic raking sound going on in the background, caused by the pebbles scraping against one another in the waves. The second thing we noticed was how dark the water seemed against the backdrop of black lava rock. The overall visual and auditory effect was a little haunting.
This dive site was characterized by fingers of lava dividing black rubble valleys. As the visibility was around 80+ feet, I felt like I was flying over the valleys. At around 65' in depth I saw an unmistakable cleft in a sheer wall. I honked excitedly at Mark, and we diverted from our path slightly to meet our first milestone. I was just happy to find the cleft in the wall, which had been described to us by our friendly local, and never expected to go much further in our search for the underwater sea arch.
However, as Mark led us over the next ridge, in the foggy distance, there appeared to be a low hill at 65'. It was the underwater sea arch we had been told about! I had never been good at heeding directions, let alone on land. Finding the underwater sea arch with vague verbal instructions and no map whatsoever was the most successful underwater search we had ever conducted. I felt like we were explorers in an undiscovered land.
We found the rift in the wall! Kona Paradise, Big Island, HI
And then we found the underwater sea arch! Kona Paradise, Big Island, HI
We had swum out fairly far out, it was fairly deep, there was current working against us, and an hour had nearly transpired, but we still had not turned around. I indicated to Mark that we ought to turn around, but he kept on exploring. As if in keeping with the haunted, desolate feel of the area, the eels in this area were particularly aggressive. In one patch of coral, we saw not 1, not 2, but 3 eels swimming out in the open trying to catch baby yellow tangs. While taking pictures of one eel, we had prevented it from catching his prey, and in its frustration, it snapped its mouth at us in a threatening display:
Aggressive, Snapping Eel
Kona Paradise, Big Island, HI
Mina diving on a wall, and concerned about turning around Kona Paradise, Big Island, HI
The doom and gloom of the place was certainly starting to concern me, as I feared we would not find our entry point with a still generous air supply. The only cheerful thing about this dark, mysterious dive site were the clouds of baby fish we saw everywhere:
Babies, Babies everywhere
Kona Paradise Dive Site, Big Island, HI
On our way back, we actually started to hear that rhythmic scraping sound again, a sound that should have told us we were at the beach (a hint given to us by the local dive shop). But we didn't trust the sound and head in as we should have, and continued on. When we reached some significant white water, and were considerably low on air, we decided to surface to see where we were. We had overshot the beach considerably. Taking a heading, and swimming back to our entry point, we saw a cute pair of baby Humuhumu trigger fish the size of my thumb getting tossed in the waves.
Back on land, we were excited to describe our dive to our friends at the local dive shop. Although the owners of the shop were primarily French speaking, we managed to pantomime to them that we had found the underwater sea arch, and I think they understood how awesome we thought the dive was.
In the afternoon, after a cup of our favorite Cafe de Pele Kona coffee, we perused the Farmer's market and bought some Dragonfruit, starfruit, guava, and passionfruit for our trip to the volcanoes the following day. Based on recommendations from the retired physicist we had met the previous day, we decided to eat at the Kona Brewing company. It poured cats and dogs as we ate outside on the patio listening to the live music. but rather than being disappointed, I fully enjoyed it, and think this was one of the most poignant moments on our vacation. I enjoyed seeing the kids prancing with their mouths open to the rain pouring down, and I delighted in the sound of the guitar music against the backdrop of a torrent of rain.
Dive Details:
Dive #206: Kona Paradise
Depth/Time/Temp: 68'/1:20/? deg F
-ridges and valleys, grand canyons
-schools of baby damselfish
-3 whitemouth eel hunting baby yellow tangs hiding in the coral. Only eel that hunts during the day, and will apparently collaborate with jacks
-cleaning behavior
Postscript
I can't help but wonder while writing this blog post whether or not the haunted ambience I felt at Kona Paradise was due to the snorkeling deaths that occur there yearly. I don't necessarily believe in ghosts, but I know for certain that different places boast different flavors. This particular dive site felt mysterious and not a little gloomy. It reminded me of the Monastery Dive Site, in Carmel, CA, which in my experience is one of the darkest, scariest dives I have ever done. Monastery also boasts diver and swimmer deaths yearly. Could the ambiance in these dark places be caused by the deaths, or is it caused by the conditions causing those deaths in the first place?
It was our 4th day on the Big Island, and our 13th day in Hawaii overall, and we wanted to kick back and relax. In the morning, we played with the feral cats at the Lucky Farms B&B and took pictures of the prolific plants in the backyard:
Feral cats on the porch
Lucky Farms
Flowers at Lucky Farms Big Island, HI
Morning coffee took place at the Coffee Shack, which was recommended in Lonely Planet. The coffee was nothing to be wowed by, but the shack had a magnificent view of the Kona coastline:
View from the Coffee Shack
Kona, Big Island, HI
Energized by our coffee, we decided to do a shore dive at "Two Step", the most famous shore dive in all of the Big Island. Two Step (the entry way consists of naturally formed steps formed into the lava rock) is situated just outside of the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park (Place of Refuge). The dive was justifiably famous. The entry was extremely easy, the water was the calmest water I have ever seen, and visibility was 100'+. Mark wandered as much as 50 feet away and I never worried that I would lose him.
Despite the fact that it was the Saturday on Labor Day weekend, we were the only divers in the water. And what snorkelers were there did not venture more than 20 feet from shore. The water was teeming with healthy coral structures, schools of butterflyfish (something I have never witnessed anywhere else in the world), and interesting topological structures to dive under and through, such as this coral overhang that Mark explored:
Coral overhang,
Two Step Dive Site, Big Island, HI
Mark swimming through a cloud of butterfly fish
Place of Refuge, Big Island, HI
My attempt on an "overwater/underwater" shot of snorkelers
Two Step Dive Site, Big Island, HI
Crown of Thorns,
Two Step Dive Site, Big Island, HI
Pair of Moorish Idols,
Two Step Dive Site, Big Island, HI
Mark underneath a rock overhang
Two Step Dive Site, Big Island, HI
Spotted Moray
Two Step Dive Site, Big Island, HI
School of Raccoon Butterflyfish,
Two Step Dive Site, Big Island
Yet another Turtle video (check out Mark in the back)
Two Step Dive Site, Big Island
Mark getting out of the water
Two Step Dive Site, Big Island, HI
Diving at Two Step felt like we had an entire Disneyland amusement park to explore for ourselves. The place reminded me of Point Lobos State Park in Carmel, CA, which is not only a protected park, but also a gorgeous underwater refuge. Like Point Lobos, Two Step is also the underwater extension of a government protected park. It is probably not a coincidence that the beauty seen on land extended itself underwater.
The beautiful dive made me wonder whether there are energy fields, or something unseen that are simply more present at certain special places than others. There are spiritual places on earth that have been treasured by humankind through the ages. Macchu Picchu comes to mind, as does Mount Everest in the Himalayas. Pu'uhonua O Honaunau, otherwise known as Place of Refuge, has been a sacred place to the Hawaiians since ancient times. It was so special, that it was saved, even when many other ancient Hawaiian sites were being destroyed.
I like to believe that modern Americans also felt the sacredness of this site (a sentiment that was echoed by a park ranger we met there), and made it a National Historical Park in order to preserve the site for the ages. Could these energies extend underwater as well, creating a strong concentration of marine life for us divers to appreciate?
After a 1.5 hours underwater, Mark and I were tired and decided not to pursue a second dive. A retired nuclear physicist who was also diving at the park provided us with some entertaining conversation, and some dining recommendations. In Kailua-Kona, we had coffee at Cafe de Pele. It was here that I finally had an excellent cup of Kona coffee. Lemony, and sweet, the coffee at Cafe de Pele exemplifies the unique acidity of Kona coffee. Not a fan of acidic coffee myself, I could even appreciate how good a cup of Kona coffee can be. For dinner we ate at Mi's, an excellent Italian restaurant on the Kona coast which combines Asian and Italian influences.
Dive Details
Dive #205: Two Step (Place of Refuge, Pu'uhonua O Honaunau)
Depth/Time/Temp: 69'/1:32/? deg F
Sightings:
-lots of grouper, one being chased by cleaner fish
-turtle
-ugly brown tang/butterfly
-trumpetfish being cleaned by purple and yellow fish
-eel
-shrimp
-mark saw interesting barracuda but smaller, and unique triggerfish with unicorn fin that popped up. Saw puffer fish
-70 foot visibility
-interesting topography, including small cave like structure being pounded by waves
-not a lot of variety, lots of little fish. Mark says aquarium.
A particularly large manta measuring 12'+ measured against the humans in the background
There are not enough superlatives that can describe the Manta rays we saw on our 3rd day on the Big Island. To be graced by these gentle giants is not just exciting, but truly an honor.
In Kona, Hawaii, resident Manta rays frequent nightly feedings and have come to associate divers' lights with plankton, and hence food. These rays (manta birostris) are relatives of sharks, and have been reported as growing up to 25' wide. But being filter feeders, they are completely harmless to us human beings. On our manta ray night dive, these behemoths came within inches of us, and actually hit one of the divers in the head so hard, he saw stars.
As we entered the water, we heard so much screaming from the snorkelers on the surface that we thought there must have been a frat party going on. As we got situated on the bottom, we could see why. I squealed out loud for my first 5 minutes underwater. Although the mantas come with fair regularity, it is not guaranteed that one will even see a manta ray on the nightly dives and usually manta rays number in the 5-6 range. That night we were treated to 21 manta visitations, which hadn't occurred in months. After more than an hour in the water, the mantas would not leave us alone. The mantas came right up to our swim ladder as we boarded the boat.
At the expense of sounding a little weird, being in the presence of these mantas made me feel like I was in the presence of good (versus evil). One other time I've felt this way while scuba diving was when a small pod of dolphins burst in on us scuba divers while in Cozumel, Mexico. These "devilfish" are truly angels.
I will never forget seeing these mantas so thick in the waters, that they were practically bumping into one other. I have one particular memory that I will never forget. At our safety stop on our twilight dive (before the night dive), we encountered a ginormous manta on its way to the feeding. I left the anchor line and swam belly to belly beneath this gorgeous creature before it sped off into the distance.
Mantas on our night dive
Dive Details
Dive #203: Garden Eels Twilight Dive
Depth/Time/Temp: 65'/1:04/75 deg F
Sightings:
-At least 12 mantas swam by us in anticipation of the night dive.
-zebra eel
-garden eels
-got separated at the begining of the dive
-2 green eels under a ledge
-crown of thorns
-swam belly up underneath a manta
-swam into a thick school of grunts.
-cuttlefish
Dive #204: Manta Ray Night Dive - Old Airport Dive Site
We were greeted to our first day on the Big Island with a wonderful breakfast at the B&B, consisting of a frittata and a fresh fruit platter made from fruits picked fresh from the farm. The passion fruit (Lilikoi), guava, papaya, rambutan and Jaboticaba platter reminded me of the twisted fruit portraiture of Giuseppe Archimboldo. Breakfast was served at the communal kitchen table with other guests.
Exotic fruit breakfast platter
But we couldn't linger long at the kitchen table before it was soon time to go diving with Wanna Dive. Steve, the owner of Wanna Dive, was very curious about our dive experiences in Maui, and seemed defensive of how Kona diving compared. Also, Steve's Hawaiian fish species expertise, gained from a lifetime as an aquarist, as well as a divemaster, soon became apparent. True to Steve's word, everyone on the boat were experienced divers. Three of our fellow divers were family members who scuba dived in Hawaii every year (lucky them). Shirley, another diver who loves nudibranchs, and who is an Aggressor Liveaboard veteran, capped the total on the boat at 6 divers. Wanna Dive was great about letting divers dive as long as they wanted. Cathy, our divemaster, chaperoned divers to the boat each time a diver ran low on air, while letting the rest of the group continue. However, everyone stayed down for longer than an hour.
At High Rock, our first dive, we encountered a voracious 4' long sea turtle who was using all 4 flippers to grip the coral he was demolishing. If sea turtles were more self-aware, they would realize how silly they look while eating underwater. But fortunately they are not, which makes for more entertaining viewing for us. So consumed was the turtle by its food, that he didn't even notice me as I picked algae off his shell while he ate.
Our second dive consisted of a series of lava tube swimthroughs. This was where we were ushered through Suck 'Em Up Cavern, Skull Cave, and Aquarium. Suck 'Em Up is an interesting dive where periodic suction occurs at the exit of the lava tube. This suction makes it difficult to exit, unless you time your escape properly. In more challenging conditions, we were told that divers were sucked out of the hole in the ceiling, so we were told to avoid the champagne bubbles underneath the sky lights. In the following video, I time my exit properly, but still have a difficult time swimming completely out of the tube's pull.
Later on, we spotted 5 spotted eagle rays in a flying formation out in the deep. Cathy, our divemaster, led us out into the deep bottomless blue to get a closer look. Despite monitoring my depth, I still ended up at 85 feet deep, and got close to running low on no-decompression time. But it was awesome. Any dive where you see a small school of spotted eagle rays counts as a great dive in my book.
For dinner, we ate on Ali'i drive in Kailua Kona: a salad and a mai-tai rounded out my evening:
Dive Details:
Dive #201: High Rock
Depth/Time/Temp: 59'/1:22 minutes/76 deg F
Sightings:
-Big sea turtle biting off chunks of coral.
-wire coral goby
-shrimp on basket starfish
-white margin nudibranchs
-juvenile dragon wrasses
Dive #202: Suck Em Up, Skull Cave, and Aquarium
Depth/Time/Temp: 86'/1:17 minutes/77 deg F
-5 spotted eagle rays in the distance, we all swam deep off the wall to take a look. Got as deep as 85 feet.
-had 51 minutes of NDL left when DM had 7.
Today, we flew from Maui to Big Island. During the plane ride, we got amazing views of Molokini crater, and Wailea, Maui:
Molokini Crater from above (M. Goodnow)
Multi-billion Dollar Wailea Coastline of Maui
(M. Leung)
The views of Big Island as we got ready to land were much more foreboding: this relatively young volcanic island is made up entirely of relatively new, black lava flows.
Upon landing on Big Island, we booked dive operators. At first, I was in favor of Jack's Diving Locker. But after comparing operations, we decided to book with Wanna Dive instead due to their smaller boat size, slightly cheaper prices. Also, Wanna Dive claimed that the other customers booking with us were fairly advanced divers as well, which meant greater freedom in choosing dive sites. With the exception of Catalina Scuba Luv, Mark and I favor smaller dive operators and dive boats.
We checked into the Pomaika'i Lucky B&B Farms, which is a working coffee farm, in addition to being a bed and breakfast. We had read about this rustic B&B in an article on affordable Hawaii in the New York Times. Situated in Captain Cook on the Kona coast, this B&B is situated in the famous Kona coffee region, and it is also near world class shore dive sites, such as the Place of Refuge, and Kealakekua Bay. When choosing Pomaika'i Lucky Farms, I thought to myself: "Kona coffee and scuba diving, what more can I ask for?"
After quickly checking in, we bumbled upon Place of Refuge, or Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park. Lucky for us, we caught it at sunset, which is the most spectacular time to visit this park. To say this park is a special, spiritual place may sound cliched, but it is true. In olden times, this spot was literally a place of refuge for people who broke the rigid "Kapu" (taboo) system. If they can manage to swim to this spot, they escaped death. As I watched the sun setting, I stilled my mind, and felt a sense of sacredness and gratitude wash over me. The spirituality inherent in this place is indisputable.
Sunset at Place of Refuge (M. Goodnow)
Soaking in the Sunset at Place of Refuge
Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (M. Goodnow)
Place of Refuge (M. Goodnow)
Ki'i (or Tiki in Marquesan) statues
at Place of Refuge (M. Goodnow)
Ki'i statues at Place of Refuge
For dinner we at Manago Restaurant, a third generation family business where they serve Japanese home cooking. Mark didn't agree, but I thought the food was inexpensive and delicious. The patina and history in this establishment was undeniable.
On our last day in Maui, and our 6th day in Hawaii, we visited the Haleakala Crater National Park.
Frankly, I was unimpressed with the scenery at the park. Mark appreciated the powerful scenery, but I thought the crater looked rather small, even though it was 27 miles across. We ventured off the hiking paths, against park rules, and found some Hawaiian offerings underneath a bush. We were told by the park ranger, that although native Hawaiians are Christian, they do feel a spiritual afinity to the land and towards their ancestors.
Private offerings--
Haleakala Crater (M. Leung)
As the fog was rolling in, we decided to leave the park early. I didn't enjoy Haleakala crater as much as I thought I would. Perhaps I was visiting the park at the wrong time, though --the views are supposed to be spectacular at sunrise, however we were too lazy to get up at 3AM, and got there at 9AM instead.
Haleakala Crater (M. Leung)
Silverwood Plant-
Haleakala Crater (M. Goodnow)
Afternoon
We spent the afternoon napping, relaxing at the beach, and watching Spike TV. Who knew "Repo Games" could be so entertaining? Repo Games is a game show where people get their car repossessed, but have a chance of winning their car back if they can answer some general knowledge questions. Needless to say, the questions aren't exactly difficult ("What were 2 of the original 4 flavors of Jello?"), but the contestants still couldn't answer them right. I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time.
"Repo Games"
For dinner, we ate at Sansei in Kihei, known for their innovative Japanese cuisine.
Hamachi Tartare-
Sansei Restaurant, Kihei, Maui, HI
