Snorkeling Kauai

Snorkeling Kauai

Probably my favorite thing to do on vacation is snorkel---or is it photography?!  I guess it would have to be underwater photography!  As of 2015, we've made 13 trips to Kauai, all during the winter.  I read a lot of comments saying that snorkeling on Kauai isn't very good.  I'm here to offer a different opinion.  I love snorkeling Kauai----and Maui, and the Big Island, and St. Thomas, Grand Cayman, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitt's and lots of other places.  But since we always get drawn back to Kauai, I decided to make a blog of our snorkeling on Kauai.  I figure I'll start at the westernmost area we snorkeled: Saltpond;  and travel to the south side: Lawai; Poipu; and Maha'ulepu Beach--- then to the East side:  Lydgate and Moloaa; Anahola--- and last but certainly not least, to the North shore:   Anini; Tunnels and Kee.   They each have their own unique character to them.

On the South side:

Saltpond:

 Lawai:

Poipu Beach:

Maha'ulepu Beach:

On to the East side:

Lydgate Park:

Moloa'a:

Anahola:

On the North side:

Anini:

Hanalei:

Tunnels:

Kee:


So whether it's raining on the north shore, or windy in Poipu, or beach closed due to shark sighting at Tunnels, or whatever, there are plenty of other great places to find to snorkel at around Kauai.  Check the surf reports and go where the surfers don't. 

Feb. 8, Sunday:
 
It was another morning of waking up early (for me).  Was able to watch the sunrise from our dining room in our new OF room.  The other room was nice being on the 2nd floor, but this one has a much more expansive view.

 It's also just steps to the beach, so I took a walk along the beach.  There's a shelf of shallow water by the resort.  Not sure what this couple was spearing for---octopus?  lobster?

Jan. 28, 2014 --Hubby's big birthday!


The old guy reached another landmark birthday today!  Now he's 62 and able to draw social security!  Yea!!!  I made him plan the day today.  Should make him do it more often.  It was another great day!  Even the weather was great again.  Nice to see lots of sun again.  It was quite windy---20-25mph out of the north with gusts of 40.    But it didn't stop us.
DH decided we should finally ride bikes on the East side bike/walk path.  We've talked about doing this for years.  We found a shop behind Ono Restuarant in Kapaa that rents them for $10 for 2 people for 1 hour or $15 for 2 hours.  My cruiser worked quite well.  I was surprised how well it did in the 25mph headwinds.  Ken had problems with his and ended up waiting by the pier 3 or 4 miles into the ride for me to get back from the end of the trail.  Here are a few pictures from the trail:

Jan. 23, 2014-Thurs--south to Lawai and Saltpond:

Another beautiful sunny day, albeit a bit cooler---only up to about 74 today.  The first 4 days have been up to about 80.  Cool tonight to about 62.  Kona winds right now, but trades coming back in a few days.  No more pancakes and eggs for breakfast, so we had cereal.  

Finally made it out of the condo about 11 and headed south.  We did stop at Walmart, Macy's, and K-mart.  I was in search of new shorts to wear while snorkeling.   Also  replaced my short sleeved rash guard with a long sleeved one for sun protection (being more cautious after a recent melanoma spot removed).  Finally found what I wanted  at K-mart!  Also found the malasada lady there and we got 3 malasadas to share.  They were very good and quite a deal at only $1.50/3.

We continued on to Lawai beach.  Changed into our swimsuits and hit the water.  We were surprised and disappointed to see the sandy entrance area was almost all gone.  Made getting in and out tougher on us tenderfeet.  But snorkeling was great.  We had to get out a ways to get to clearer water, but we spent about 2 hours visiting with the fishies.  We were also excited (or I was) to see the Hawaiian ice place back!  Unfortunately she closed before we could get back to her.

On to snorkeling----

March 2, 2012:  Lawai and Poipu

And another Kauai vacation is about to come to an end!  Time goes by so quickly these days!!!  At least it ended with some sunshine!  To help insure that, we headed south.   On our way, I made DH detour a bit in Lihue (or Puhi---or whatever it is) so I could get a picture of this driveway.  We need a new driveway!  I think this would be perfect in St. Louis!  And the original owners would probably never know I stole their idea!!!

After the little detour, we continued south.   I've read lots of rave reviews about Joe's on the Green, so decided we should finally try it. 

 To describe it in one word----Wow!!!!!  I can't believe we waited 11 years to go here!!!!  Being on the golf course, I expected the views to be awesome, but I didn't realize you actually ate outside.  I also wondered if they had a dress code, but they let us in with our swimsuits and coverups and others were dressed pretty much the same.

 Prices seemed reasonable, too.  Maybe even a bit less expensive then our meals at Olympic Cafe!  The lunch menu looked really good, too.  Will definately be going back here!

On our way out, we said good bye to this little guy.

 Then we turned and saw this one!  Never saw a brown one here on Kauai before.

 It was time to get our last snorkeling fix for a LONG time.  So we headed to Lawai.  Note---we actually got to use the sun umbrella we borrowed!  This was the first time we had a chance to use it!

 OK---I like palm trees, and triggerfish!  Since I included the ones from Tunnels, I have to include this black triggerfish from Lawai.  Lawai is still the only place I've seen these guys.  Only saw one this trip.  I hope they aren't being fished out!

Also came across this guy.  I imagine it's a type of bleney, but I've never seen one like this before .  There were actually several of them on the dead coralhead right by the shoreline.  (strasburg's Blenny?)

After spending about 3 hours here, we decided to go throw our lei flowers in the water at the small boat harbor.  So far the flowers have always come back to shore, so that means we keep coming back!

 Even saw several fish in the water---made me wonder what it would be like to snorkel there?!  I imagine it's probably against some law, though.

 I know it hadn't been that long since breakfast, but we were thirsty.  So off to Bubba's.  Of course, we had to eat, too.  I even had a chili dog---it was very good. 

 I couldn't help but notice this sign!  I think it applies to me!!!!

 Then we headed off to Poipu beach.  Found some interesting birds (Hawaiian Stilt or Ae'o) enjoying the new Poipu lake (x-Poipu beach parking lot!)

Once we put all our stuff on the beach and headed out to snorkel, we first tried the area by the lifeguard stand again.  Again there were hardly any fish there.  Did see this in that area---a wierd sea cucumber, I presume (Light-spotted sea cucumber?).

We didn't hang out in that area very long before heading over to the other side of the tombula.  There were lots of fish there.  But you sure could tell the difference in the clarity of the water after being at Tunnels the last 2 days!  Visibility was at best "fair".

 But there were a lot of species of fish and we stayed entertained for quite awhile.

 About 5:30, Ken was itching to leave.  Had to get back to the east side and get ready for our midnight flight.  So one last picture of Koloa as we headed out.

 And another picture of green stuff!!!  Don't know when we'll see that again!  I'm sure nothing's green in the midwest yet! 

Now on to packing!  Can't believe our time is up already!

Feb. 18, 2012: East side and Lawai

Today was the 1st of our "move" days.  But since we spent the first 2 nights also here at Kauai Beach Villas, we were able to pack our stuff up, leave, and they moved everything for us when our new room was ready.  So after packing everything back up (not that we have that much since we've learned to travel here with carry on only, but it always seems to expand when we "move" in) we headed out.
First stop was to the farmers' market at the Community College. 

 Seems to me this market prices their goods higher then many of the other's we've been to.  But we did get a few things---like apple bananas and some weird little round fruit (Longan fruit) that reminded me of rambutons in flavor.

And, of course, we had to get a piece of Right Slice pie!  Usually I get the mango lilikoi one, but this time we shared a macadamia nut piece.  It was very good, too.

A sign here really caught my attention---What the heck is tard hummus!? (ok, better eyes then mine say that's taro hummus.)

When we left there, we headed to Kalapaki Bay to check out the waves and surfers.  It was another beautiful day, but very windy.  The wind howled so loud last night it sounded like our condo was being blown away.  Between the wind and the rain, it was loud! 

Another view of Kalapaki looking back at the Marriott.

Since we were in the area, we decided to stop at Kalapaki Joe's and get a late lunch---grilled fish salad for me and chicken caesar for Ken.  Too bad it wasn't about an hour later, they have a pretty impressive looking happy hour menu.  But the salads were good.  Another 2nd floor restaurant, but not nearly as entertaining as Olympic Cafe.

Shortly after lunch, the condo people called us to tell us our condo was ready so we headed back and picked up our keys and anxiously headed to check out our ocean view 2 bedroom unit.  It is on the ground level, but still has a pretty impressive view of the ocean and it's close to the pools at the hotel next door.  It's nice that they let us use their pools again.  Here's the view from our patio.

After settling in a bit, we decided snorkeling was in order again so headed south.  Ended up at Lawai.  There was a pretty good current running there this evening, but we still enjoyed a couple hours there.  Saw lots of fish, especially at these many cleaning stations.

Shortly before sunset, we got out and were gazing at the water when this playful pup came over.  He had a tennis ball and went up and down the beach getting people to throw it for him.  He really liked when it was tossed into the water so he could swim out to get it.  If noone would throw it, he'd dig at it in the sand until it went flying behind him then he'd chase it.  We spent at least a half hour playing with and watching him.

As the sun was setting, I wandered around the Beach House lawn and Lawai beach taking pictures.  It was a bit of a dud sunset, again.  Here's as creative as I could get tonight.

On the way back to the east side, we stopped at Walmart for a few more supplies.  Including our gourmet dinner---hotdogs (not Puka Dogs or Costco, plain 'ol package dogs from Walmart.)  The dogs actually tasted pretty good for a change.  Can't say when the last time was I made hotdogs for dinner!

2011-FEb. 23: Lawai, Shipwreck Rock, Moir Gardens

Looked like it was going to be a gorgeous day. So we decided to head south again. We headed straight to Lawai beach and into the ocean.

Here's the usual managerie of fish greeting every new entry in hopes of a treat. We never feed them, but many people do, so they are not afraid of humans at all.

Lawai is noted for it's many "cleaning stations", as well as the best place to find turtles. At this particular cleaning station, an unusual goat fish showed up for a cleaning. I've never seen any of these blue goatfish before.

Also don't remember seeing these Black stripe Hawkfish before either, but saw a few of them at Lawai this year.

 a file fish

 the not so common saddle butterflyfish along with a rock mover wrasse

 male bird wrasse

 christmas wrasse

 black triggerfish

 we can almost always find turtles here.

 female redlip parrotfish

 blue stripe snapper

 orange bar surgeonfish

 general wide view at Lawai

 After a couple hours snorkeling, we started hearing thunder. Then came the lightening, so we got out. Everyone else in the water also got out. Then a tour group actually entered---lightening and all!  They were probably a group from the cruise ship trying to enjoy their one day on Kauai. 

The rain quickly followed. Hoping to wait out the rain, we decided to hang around the south shore awhile. So to kill time, I happily wandered through another garden---the free Moir orchid and cactus garden at Kiahuna Plantation resort while Ken waited in the car.

 This is a little gem.  It's actually the landscaped yard of a resort, but it was started years and years ago by the original owner of this plantation home now restaurant on property.  And it's free!

 I did get caught in some rain, but I had my underwater camera, so didn't care.

 Half the garden was orchids, the other half was cacti.

 oil and rain on the pavement---looks like a heart to me.

Then we went to Shipwreck Beach and walked up to the top of it to get a better vantage point for viewing whales. Saw some whales spouting in the distance, but not much breeching.

one of Hawaii's notorious rainbows.

 view from the top

 The clouds continues to build and more rain started, so we headed back down the rock.

 At the bottom, we saw a few people gathered around a young lady laying motionless on the beach. That particular area is a very popular boggie boarding area because of it's rough surf.

Don't know what happened, but a fire truck and ambulance were arriving as we left. There are always some accidents that happen while we're out there on vacation. One year 2 touring helicopters crashed within 3 or 4 days of each other. One time a surfer was attacked by a shark. One time a family vacationing there was knocked off Lumahai Rock(called lumadie by many) and the father and mother were killed, their son lived. Another time there was an ocean kayak that disappeared and the lifeless boaters were found in the ocean a few days later. There have been a few other drownings and many near drownings when we've been there, too. Then this year a glider plane crashed into the ocean and the dead instructor and student were found in the ocean a day or 2 later. It may be paradise, but it is a deadly paradise.

When it rains, a trip to Na Hoku jewelers is a logical expedition to me! So we headed to Na Hoku. I'm getting quite the nice collection of jewelry from there. This time I liked the uniqueness of a reversable palm tree/rainbow sterling silver pendant and necklace. Ken was more infatuated with the inlaid koi pendant and sterling necklace---so he got me both!

We'd also heard rave reviews of Keoki's Paradise, so we decided to give it's happy hour a try. Can't believe we had never gone there before! It was very nice. The early bird dinner looked really great, too, but we settled for appetisers this time---fish and chips, and edamames, and a beer.

No sunset, just more rain.