It didn’t look nearly so blue to us, of course, since our eyes were adjusted to it. Each window had a pair of cards with pictures of different types of local fish labeled with their names, and the entire trip was narrated by a guide familiar with the local marine life. They did a good job of steering so that people on both sides could see everything.

You can’t see it in this photo, but in a lot of places you could still see the wrinkles of long-cooled a‘a lava beneath the coral.

By the end of the dive, we’d gotten out to where there was mostly sand, and very little exposed rock, so there was hardly any coral (and not many fish, either).

Here’s a view of the submarine from the ferry after we disembarked:

The view of the shore was, as most views were, fantastic. Note the clouds blocking any chance of seeing Hualalai!

This last photo should probably have gone in with the post about exploring Kona: it’s the ‘Ahu‘ena Heiau, King Kamehameha’s personal heiau dedicated to the god Lono. This shot was taken from the pier as we waited to board the boat.

Note: This tour was Wednesday, April 6, 2005.

On our first full day, we just headed south to see what we could find. We randomly turned down Napo‘opo‘o Road, which while acceptable by rental-car standards, was a very winding road with lots of drop-offs. The road leads to Kaleakekua Bay, a major kayak launching point, where we stopped and got a view across the bay.

This shot quickly became my new desktop background on the laptop. Way off to the left (not visible in this photo) is the obelisk marking the spot where Captain Cook was killed by Hawaiians in 1779. Right by the road are the remains of the Hikiau Heiau (a heiau is a Hawaiian temple), where Cook read the burial rites for one of his sailors.

According to guidebooks, this was also the site of Napo‘opo‘o Beach until Hurricane ‘Iniki washed away all the sand in 1992.

Back closer to town, there’s a great scenic point off of Kamehameha III road (which connects Ali‘i drive along the coast to Highway 11 a few miles in and up). We caught a sunset here the first evening, and we stopped by to check out the city lights (such as they were) on the drive back from Volcano and interrupted a couple having a midnight rendezvous.

There are a lot of great views along the shoreline in Kailua itself. At one point we stopped in Hale Hulawai Park, and I caught these photos of Oneo Bay and Kailua Bay:

This is a view from the Kailua pier. The water’s so clear you can actually see features beneath it. I’m not sure exactly what the park is, but it’s next to the ‘Ahu‘ena Heiau, which was apparently King Kamehameha’s personal heiau dedicated to the god Lono—yes, the one Captain Cook was mistaken for when he showed up.

Edit: And here’s the heiau:

We didn’t actually make it to any of the historical sites in town. Something for the next trip, whenever it may be…

These photos were taken from April 4-6, 2005