A few days ago I mentioned that we had visited the ancient historic site at Honaunau. While we were there we noticed quite a scene at the nearby lava-wrapped cove. There were lots of people standing and sitting on the rocks and swimming in the water, even though there wasn't a beach, just all those lava rocks.
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| From tropicalsnorkerling.com |
As I read about the different snorkeling sites on the Big Island I kept running into descriptions of this area. Some said it was the "premier snorkeling site in all the Hawaiian Islands." Those who weren't quite so enthusiastic still admitted it was right up there in the top five sites. If one liked snorkeling, it wasn't to be missed.
The only problem with it was that in the absence of a beach, snorkelers entered the water via two lava rocks that formed steps down to the water. These gave the place its nickname, "Two Step." Sounds okay until you factor in the wave action of the waterfront.
When entering the water the snorkeler can simply sit down on the first step, wait for a small wave to surge up, and swim out with the wave which pulls them out over the second rock. To exit one would do the reverse. Not too difficult except when the surges were larger than usual. If the water is at all choppy to exit one must swim up to the lava step and sit there while carefully observing the wave actions and then time their movement to the top step so that the wave helps push them up and out.
Hmmm....this sounded a bit sketchy to me. Could I enter and exit safely, or might I be caught by a little surge of water and get bashed into the rock? And wouldn't those rocks be slippery? Well, I figured I'd be with Ben and Lotus, two intrepid outdoorsmen. Surely they would give me some help if I needed it. Especially my sweet husband. Over the years with Ben's help I've done many things outdoors that I never would have without his guidance, and Lotus had been an Outward Bound instructor for some twenty years without losing anyone. So I decided to give it a shot. And I was sure glad I did, because it was an awesome experience.
Here's a photo of the two steps that most snorkelers use to get in and out of the water. It doesn't show the constant wave action, which usually is gentle but occasionally is not. I had no trouble getting out; seeing a school of yellow Tangs right next to the steps certainly motivated me! Then, when I was done snorkeling, I exited slowly but quite safely, sitting on the bottom step as I pulled off my flippers and put on my the water shoes that gave me the tread to stand safely up and move over the slippery second and then the top rock. Lotus did, indeed, give me a hand, and Ben was, indeed, supportive while I did this maneuvering. Tomorrow I'm going to leave my flippers off and just wear my water shoes snorkeling, so I don't have to do even that maneuvering.
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| From tropicalsnorkeling.com |
Because, yes, we are going again tomorrow and then on Saturday and maybe even early Sunday morning before we check out of our unit. The snorkeling was that amazing! And close enough to our VRBO that we can get up and out and back by 11:00 with the rest of the day to relax, which is pretty sweet.
Here's a few photos to show you just how amazing it was.
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| From ropicalsnorkeling.com |
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| From tropicalsnorkeling.com |
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