In the Afternoon we went out snorkeling at Puako (or Waialea Bay). It took a bit of navigating to find it. Thank goodness Zach decided to get a roaming package for his phone so we could use Google maps. Where would we be without you, technology...

You have to park in a pretty small parking lot and we were lucky enough that a group leaving gave us their parking pass. The beach is obviously popular enough because it had a little wash house. We were pretty lucky because the condo we're staying at was stocked with beach things. So we had mats and chairs and towels and everything you'd possibly need. We set up camp a little further down from the main part of the beach most people were staying at. Found a quiet spot under some trees and near a rock outcrop in the water.

This was Zach's first time snorkeling, so we spent a bit trying to teach him what to do. Not that there's much to teach. Step1: spit in the goggles so they don't fog up. Step2: put the goggles on your face and make sure they're tight enough water isn't going to seep in. Step3: walk a bit into the water and sit down to put your flippers on (easier that way so they a. slip on with the help of the water and b. means you don't have to duck walk into the water). Step4: Stick your face in and breathe normally through the snorkel. I think he wasn't too happy that the mask had to have a tight seal on the face. It hurts a little at first (and after a couple hours) but you get used to it, especially it you're spending time staring at fish. He did have a bit of trouble with his goggles fogging up, but I think that's because he breathes through his nose a lot.

It's been a while since I've gone snorkeling (which was made obvious when I brought out my snorkeling gear from the garage and it didn't fit me anymore, hence the need for buy new flippers before we left) but it's like riding a bike. As soon as you're floating in the water, there's not much else to do. I still have a decent amount of muscle left in my legs, so swimming around wasn't any effort at all. (Perhaps my ease at swimming compared to Zach was because I took snorkel lessons in New Zealand?) And thank goodness for the invention of waterproof cameras. Not the disposable ones, but the actual, every-day point-and-shoot ones. My past couple cameras have all been waterproof because it makes me less nervous about using them or taking them out on trips, but I've never really had an occasion like this before to use it.

The water got deep pretty fast and it wasn't very clear. I don't know if that's just because of where we were with the rolling waves and bit more current than I'm usual for snorkeling spots, or if it was just because it was a little overcast when we first hopped in. There were a lot of fish everywhere, so obviously it was a good snorkeling place. And if you were brave enough to swim close to the large rock in the water, there were some fantastic fish hanging around. Even some really large parrot fish! It was a bit difficult, though, because the waves were coming in pretty hard and you had to swim fast if you didn't want to be picked up and thrown against the rocks (especially with all the prickly sea urchins that were around).

There were a bunch of fish I'd never seen before, and let me tell you, I have experience with tropical fish all the way from Rarotonga to New Zealand to Great Barrier Reef to Mexico. There were some really vibrantly coloured fish with electric blues and neon oranges. As I was swimming back around the bottom of the rock outcrop, I came across a puffer fish! Or, well, a box fish, I suppose, as it was box-shaped and didn't have any spines. He and I hung out for a while and watched each other. He was really cute, and I even managed to catch my Dad's attention so he could come over and take a look as well.

Then, as I was thinking of heading back in, my Dad pointed something out to me. A moray eel!! He was just chilling in the rocks, watching us as we floated around. He didn't seem terribly afraid of us, but kept to his little home. We eventually headed back in because everyone else had gotten tired and was back laying on the beach.

It was pretty quiet along in there, we didn't really have anyone near us and the tree we were under was giving us some good shade so we didn't burn. After a bit of a rest and trying to look through the pictures I'd managed to take (and failing miserably because the sun was just too bright to be able to see anything well), I decided to go back in. Zach didn't want to because he was tired and his goggles kept fogging up. His loss though, because I ended up finding more fish and swarms of them too!

Eventually I came back out because we were thinking of leaving soon and the sun was beginning it's decent so the water was going to start getting cold. Before leaving, though, we decided to go for a walk along the beach. Dave, who doesn't do snorkeling and had just been happy to relax on the beach, went off in search of Neil Young's house that was apparently near there. I wandered along by myself. The loose sand is much harder to walk on than you expect. A bit of a workout, even. Once we made it to the end of the beach, with no celebrity sightings, I headed back to our spot by walking along the water. It was a bit hard because there were some trees in the way. Finally went home wet and happy.

And then, after looking at fish all day, we had the Ahi Tuna we'd been craving along with mango salsa for supper. It's so fantastic to have such nice, fresh fish. Coming from the prairies, it's a really nice treat (and far cheaper).