Snorkel Time!

Last weekend Douglas, the owner of the farm, took us snorkeling at Ke'ei Beach at one of the national parks on the coast. It was a little tricky getting in as we had to jump off the lava rock when the swell died down so we didn't get trashed on the coral. But it was well worth it, as we saw some beautiful coral and tropical fish. One of them was the yellow tang. A fish that used to be so abundant on the Kona Coast that it would turn the waves gold as they rose into the air. This is how Kona got the nickname of Gold Coast. But now, unfortunately, the unregulated pet trade has severeley diminished the amount of fish on the Kona Coast. Hunters use big sucking machines to just suck the fish right up. They can catch thousands in a day, ending up in home aquariums all over the world. Kind of crazy.

We ended up swimming all the way out to Palemano Point (in the center of the picture) where some nice waves were breaking. The water got super deep and dark, but then we road the current back to shore. Good thing Douglas didn't tell us about the time he ran into a tiger shark out there until after we were out of the water :) What a great day!