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. 2, 2014 --Anahola snorkeling; Super Bowl; Kee sunset;


It was another beautiful day here, even on the north side!  Not a drop of rain all day and lots of sunshine.

  Unfortunately, the surf is up on the north shore, so we headed to the NE beach, Anahola, to try snorkeling there again.  

Jan. 22, 2014- Wed--Big waves on the North Shore


Every since we heard about the big waves arriving today --- up to 50', I've been anxious to shoot them.   So we were up early today.  Had breakfast in the condo---more eggs and the last of the pancakes from Olympic cafe.  About 10 am we headed off to the North Shore---equipped with both my cameras and all 3 of my lenses.  Only used the dslr and 2 lenses, mostly the 18-200mm zoom.  If it looks like we're in the surf, we aren't, it's the advantage of having a long zoom lens.  We made several stops throughout the day.
These were taken from the road near the path to Lumahai (I think).  We've  never taken the trail down, but I think that's where it goes.

close up of the rocks that are normally above water.

  

Feb. 29, 2012---Leap day! Tunnels and Kee

We decided to attend our resort's owner's meeting bright and early this morning.  Forgot about it last Wed. and had company then, so it worked out well to get to it today.  So at 8:30 we were listening to the manager talk about all the "upcoming" improvements.  Now we're being told all the "soft" materials in the condos will be replaced within 3 years and then on a 6 year turn over basis.  That will be nice if that happens.   The carpeting in our current unit is certainly overdue replacement!!!

Back in the condo, I hit the internet to figure out where to go today.  According to weather.com, it was suppose to be 78 in Lawai and 85 in Hanalei.  Weather.com also said it was going to be partly sunny both places.  Kauaiexlorer.com said the waves in Lawai were 1-3 feet and only 3-5 in Haena and that Haena was the only one with a "good" visibility rating for the water .  The north surge was down, too.  According to weather.com, Hanalei is going to be socked in with clouds the next few days.  So I begged Ken to travel north one last time and hoped for some snorkeling at Tunnels and Kee.  So by 10 we were on our way.

First stop was breakfast.   No pancakes and eggs today!  We went straight to Mc Donald's and got our junk food fix (I actually had a yogurt, fruit and granola cup, too, along with my Mcdouble---very good!)  I got a big kick out of their pie ad!   Thought of giving it a try---then gained my senses!

Traffic moved well today and we were at Tunnels about 40 minutes later.  We did hit a little rain along the way and wondered where the sun was, but held out hope that it would come out.   Didn't find the temps rising to 85, either!  I think it was about 72 most of the day.  I'm not even sure kauaiexplorer was right!  When we got to Tunnels, it was almost flat!  Low tide was also going to be 2:30 today and I find the surf usually calms down more around low tide.  So I was stoked!  All that was missing was a little sunshine---and a fully charged underwater camera battery!  No sooner did I get in the water when my camera warning "charge battery soon" came on!   It did last a lot longer then I expected it to, though.

 Alluring and scary is the sudden drop off near so near to the shoreline.  It goes from shallow and crystal clear to deep blue and poor visibility.  What's out there --- besides the shark that startled me last year?!

 As I recall, this is a female Hawaii hogfish.  I've seen them at Anini, but it was much clearer here at Tunnels.

 I wonder if this is the juvenile blackside hawkfish?  The tail looks like the ones I've seen at Lawai, but those had black heads.  This is the first one I've seen with the speckled head.

 I was really excited when I saw this triggerfish.  I remembered seeing one of these 11 years ago on the Big Island.  This is the first time I've seen one of these vibrant triggerfish on Kauai.

 Here's the triggerfish that we see all over Kauai.

 As I was slowly floating along the edge, suddenly a VERY large turtle popped up from below so close to me that it really startled me.  Sure glad it wasn't a shark!  Here it is after I backed away.

 After about 2 hours of non-stop snorkeling, we decided to get out and warm up a bit.  Of course, it started raining.  So we packed up and figured we'd head to Kee.  By the time we found a parking spot, it had stopped raining (for a little while), so we jumped into that calm pool of water.

 At one point, I spotted these 2 lobsters.  It appeared that they were placed here---for use later--or already had their tails town off?  They were pretty far down, so I didn't investigate too much, but I doubt they lay around upside down on their own!

We were really surprised to see so much sand washed up against the reef .  We were just here last week and I'm sure there wasn't that much sand!  I wonder where it all came from!?

We spent about 2 hours snorkeling here, too, mostly on the left side of the "pool" where there is usually a current pulling out to sea.  Today it was totally calm.  Even came across this pretty snowflake eel.

 And another eel---not sure what kind.  It was brown and white and a lot more agressive.  But, of course, this is when my camera's battery decided it was done.

Shortly after that, I even saw a baracuda.  Could have gotten really clear pictures of it---unlike the ones I've gotten at Poipu in the churned up sandy area.  About 2 hours into our snorkeling here, it started raining, no---pouring!  We tried to sit in the water and wait it out since the rain was cold, but we finally gave in and got out.   We grabbed our stuff and headed to the car.  No 85 degrees today, but it was a GREAT day!

We headed back to our condo.  Traffic moved well again.  Got back and spent some time in the jacuzzi.  At 7, we decided it was time for more junk food---so off to Taco Bell! 

Another great day----even with all the rain!

 Feb. 22, 2012: kee, Kilauea Lighthouse, Hanalei

Today was an EARLY start.  Between my husband being on the computer at 4 am and the mainland visitors getting up, then, too.  I didn't sleep much past that. 

At least we did walk to the beach and watch the sun rise.  That was about 7:04am.  It was pretty cloudy, so it wasn't too spectacular, but it was a pleasant morning---probably low 70s and the wind was down a bit.

We decided to have breakfast at Scotty's.  Last time we were there breakfast was ordered off a menu.  Now it's buffet style.  It was pretty nice.  Pretty similar to Bobby's V's, but I will admit I prefer the ocean views from Scotty's.

Then we decided to make some reservations for some activities they want to do.  Being first time (and not knowing if it's their last), they want to see and do as much as possible.  So---we'll be going zip-lining and to Smith's luau on Friday and on a helicopter ride on Sat.  Plus they wanted to try snorkeling for the first time.  They also wanted to go to Hilo Hattie's and Costco and get souvenirs to take home. 

On the way back from Lihue, we took them up to Wailua falls.  That's a quick, but worthwhile stop.

Back at KBV, we stopped to take a picture of a "jurassic" tree (Morten Bay Fig Tree) amongst the trees lining the entrance to the resort.

Then we decided it was time to hit a beach.  We had heard that the surf was down on the north shore and conditions at Kee were listed as good, so we decided to take advantage of that and head north for a little snorkeling.  Loved the ride north with lots of beautiful views such as this one.

Even saw this cute little bird (the highly endangered  'Alae 'Ula, the Hawaiian Moorhen)  as we were driving along.

Also noticed they're apparently widening the road, or moving the road, along one of the curves on the far north side of the drive.

We noticed a parking spot by tunnels, so we stopped there to check it out.  It was doable, but with new snorkelers, we thought Kee would be a little better. 

So off to Kee we went and spent the next 2 or 3 hours there.  Snorkeling was pretty good.  It was near high tide and there was a bit of a current, but the newbies did pretty well. 

Although Coni did think the water was about 10 degrees.  Took her awhile to get all the way in. 

The first time snorkelers didn't venture too far from the shore, but they seemed to be getting the hang of it.

I was watching all our valuable towels and such while they were snorkeling when this giant rooster showed up!

When they had enough fun, Coni and I took a walk down the beach for a better view of the Napali.

About 5 we decided to start heading back to Hanalei and took them over to the hanalei pier for a little while.

Even got to watch some outrigger canoers.  Looked like fun.

It looked like the clouds were too heavy for a good sunset, so we decided dinner was in order.  As we were leaving, we noticed this post.  i don't know how long it's been there, but I've never seen it before.

Dinner ended up by Kalypso's again.  We even found out that on Wed. nights happy hour is all night!  So we shared wings (hot and bar b q --- exellent!), a rolled crusted and fried kalua roll (ok), fried calamari (wasn't impressed),  Coni had a couple mai tais (said they were great!), I had a pina colada (also great) and Ken and I shared a fish and chips dinner, while Coni and John shared the shrimp and swordfish dinner (no complaints there).  It was another great dinner---followed by lilikoi pie back at the condo. 

So ends another great day in paradise! 

2011-Feb. 24: East Kauai, Kee, Tunnels, Kilauea Light house, Shark!

It was a beautiful morning on the east side. But all the rain the day before washed lots of dirt into the ocean by the river mouths. There is a drainage ditch next to KBV, so lots of dirt was washed into the water by our condo.

The north shore was suppose to be the place to be still, so we decided to head north. On our way, we stopped by Lydgate to check out the red dirt washed into the ocean from the Wailua River. It was pretty daunting.

We continued up the East side.  This is near Kealia

 Love stopping and checking out the view from the lighthouse lookout.

Love this section of road through Kilauea on our way from the lighthouse look out.

Decided to check Anini out.   I was surprised to see the water calm and clear here and wondered if it would be as clear farther North.

  Found a guy playing a keyboard there at Anini.  He was really good! But we didn't stay long since now I was wanting to check out Kee or Tunnels.

 a north beach along our drive.

When we got to Kee, the ocean was calm and clear. We spent several hours here. First I walked down the beach marveling at the calm water and reflection of the clouds in it.

The rocky shelf by Kee.

 While snorkeling, we came across another eel we had never seen before. I believe it is a magnificent snake eel.

Also saw several more coronet fish, but this is the first one I've seen at Kauai with the intricate markings (had seen them in the Caymans before).

This is another new guy to me---a Hawaiian knife fish.

With the calmness of the water we were able to get way out by the opening in the reef. There is where I found this large school or Moi fish.

And another look of the Napali with it's reflection in the calm water.

We left Kee in hopes of getting a parking spot at Tunnels and catching a sunset there. We did get a parking spot.

Here's another new encounter! Fortunately I didn't see it coming or I probably would have flipped out. I was actually standing in the water taking the picture above of Bali Hai when it came up from behind me. When I went back into the water, this white tipped reef shark was about 10' off to the side of me and vearing away towards the deep water. Since it was going away, I took this picture, then I went the opposite direction and figured I'd had enough snorkeling for one day. Knowing things look a lot bigger under water, we figured it was probably only about 4 or 5 feet long even though it looked like it was Jaws at the time!  I even tried to warn another couple about my shark sighting and their response was, "You're not from here, are you?"  Then they took off to the exact spot where I saw it.

Still hoping for a nice sunset, I wandered around the beach for awhile.

Not the prettiest of sunsets, but not too bad.

When we were leaving the beach, I was looking for the hummingbird that I had seen the last time we were there. It showed up, along with a couple friends. As I was taking pictures of it, I realized it had antennae and therefore couldn't be a hummingbird, even though it was the same size and had the same hovering and darting motions. Someone later told me it's a hummingbird moth. Definately an interesting insect.