Wednesday
Had to wake up pretty early today (actually set an alarm) as I was going scuba diving! I’m certified and DW isn’t so she decided to stay back and have a spa day.
Another beautiful sunrise
I used Fathom Five because the book recommended them. They really were a great dive shop. It is only about 7 minutes from the hyatt. You go to the shop to sign in and pay and then drive over to the marina.
They have everything set up for you on the boat which is great. They also change the tank for you in between dives. Anyone who goes diving will tell you that it’s not so common and an awesome service. The boat is clean and comfortable. They have you take off the BCD and tank while in the water and then have a wooden plank with slats on the back of the boat. This made it extremely easy to get out of the water.
I haven’t gone diving in a while so i paid $30 for a quick refresher. Wasn’t really necessary for me in the end. The dive master just reviewed the real basics which I still remembered.
The dive sites are all pretty close to shore which is nice because I get pretty seasick. I took 2 dramamine an hour before and still threw up 3 times. Still totally worth it.
I don’t remember the name of the first dive site but the second was called Sheraton Caverns. They were both amazing. The waters off Hawaii aren’t as crystal clear water as you would expect but it is still awesome to dive there. There were many indigenous fish that you can’t see anywhere else. And of course there were the sea turtles. They are everywhere! We heard lot’s of whales but didn’t see any. One of the coolest parts was watching a pod of dolphins swim by. The divemaster said that he’s never seen that before. All in all, an incredible experience.
View of the coast
Looking up from 90 feet
Following a turtle
Some of the seascape
Sheraton Caverns
One of my favorite shots. You see the sea turtle in silhouette
0:00-0:35- swimming through sheraton caverns. pretty cool experience. our dive master only took us because we were all experienced. otherwise we would swim around it instead of through.
0:36-1:02- following a turtle. i was tempted to hitch a ride but quickly realized it would be a dumb idea
1:03-1:13- pod of dolphins
1:14-end- on my ascend someone came to say goodbye
I got back to the hotel around 1ish. We had used out Diamond gift towards a cabana. As @yehuda mentioned they aren’t so amazing but we had them heat up our mac and cheese and eggplant parmesan and bring it to our beach cabana. That was a really nice experience.
We then went to Po’ipu Beach for some snorkeling. I had my own snorkel and we bought a cheap pair for DW at walmart so we didn’t have to worry about renting and returning. As was recommended, we brought our water shoes with us. Definitely a great idea. It was pretty rocky.
The water was pretty shallow (about 3-4 feet) but was very clear. There was a little bit of a surge pulling us but wasn’t too terrible. We saw a lot of cool and colorful fish. DW was a little disappointed she wouldn’t see a sea turtle but as we were leaving the water, we saw a huge crowd gathering. A sea turtle was just relaxing on the beach!
Very colorful fish we saw while snorkeling
Turtle just chillin
We headed back to the hotel and hung around the pool. We got to use the waterslide a few times and it was pretty fun. Nothing crazy or scary at all. I do with it would have gone a little faster.
We decided to checkout sunset at Spouting Horn. It was very nice. It was also high tide so the geyser was putting on a really nice show.
Sunset at Spouting Horn
The Geyser
Some chickens in a tree. Never saw that before
Back to the hotel and dinner.