As I mentioned in an earlier post, when Beth and I swim we generally swim the same route day after day, starting at the south end of Hapuna Beach and swimming our way north, except on days where the current in particularly strong, when we swim with the current instead, again, as mentioned earlier.
Today was a particularly calm, sunny, beautiful day. The water had the kind of stillness and clarity that you only get a couple times a month. On these days the water is so clear that you can see the coral reefs from the coastal highway, which is always a treat!
We decided to take advantage of this unusual stillness and start our swim at the south end of the beach, but instead of swimming north along the beach, we turned and swam south, which we had never done before. Instead of sandy beach, this area is lined with craggy lava rock cliffs and the water is studded with jagged lava shelves and boulders, not a place you want to be swimming when the tide is coming in, that is for sure! But we had never explored this area, and had no idea what surprises it had for us, so we thought we would take advantage of this rare opportunity to check it out!
Before we get into that, here is a little story about my first Hawaii snorkeling adventure in 2003:
When we first moved to the Big Island six years ago, I was completely clueless about all of these finer ocean related details, you know, tide schedules, water clarity, large ocean predators, etc. Having never snorkeled before, I went to the store and purchased a cheap snorkeling kit, and set off for Hapuna to see what I could see. The surf was high that day, and I got just a little too close to the rocks resting near the shore.
When the tide came in I was swept up into the air and deposited right on top of a jagged rock sticking up out of the water. Before I even knew what had happened, another wave came in and washed me right off the top of that rock back into the water, tearing the back of my right hand open in the process. So there I was, floating in the water, dazed, confused, bleeding, and thinking about every “Jaws” movie I had seen as a kid, wondering how long I had before I would be gobbled up.
I slowly made my way back to the shore, but not without the ocean giving me one more swift kick in the ass before getting out. As I was trudging my way back through the shallow water to the beach one last big wave came in, and I mean big, large enough to pull the brand new mask and snorkel that I had just taken out of the package that morning and rip them off of their resting place in my forehead and wash them out to sea. I couldn’t even believe it! At the time I was working a pretty menial job, and that $25 snorkel set represented half a day of my take home pay. Unbelievable. I was ticked off, to say the least!
My bad luck was not to end there. Since I was still bleeding, my buddy Matt and I decided that it was a good idea to leave and get me home to bandage me up. I tossed my beach bag in the back of his truck and we headed home. When we got to my place, Matt pulled off to the side of the road and let me off, then sped away before I had a chance to get my bag out of the back, the bag which had my towel, cell phone, and, of course, my house keys.
I thought about calling Beth, who was working at a little gift shop down the street, but wait, I didn’t have my phone. I thought about walking down there to see if I could get her keys to let myself in the house, but wait, I was half naked and dripping blood and seawater. I didn’t want to get Beth in trouble with her boss by showing up like that, as we really needed they money from her job at the time. So I just stood there, wet, cold, and bleeding outside the front door of our crappy apartment until she got home. I know, I know…
Well, this experience was nothing like that! The water was calm, clear, beautiful, and above all, non-threatening. We swam out away from the shore and then cut south toward the cliffs. The coral reefs just around the corner from the beach were some of the more colorful that I have ever seen. Within a minute of entering this area, we had the treat of watching a honu (sea turtle) lazily swim along the coastline and half dozen different kinds of vibrantly colored tropical fish darting here and there. It was amazing to see the richness of this seascape in contrast to the relative “desert” of the sandy beach floor that we swim above almost every day.
Amazing that something so different and so beautiful could be in “our own backyard” this entire time without us knowing it. Just goes to show that it certainly pays to go exploring, even in places that are familiar with. You literally never know what might be hiding around the bend!
But our adventure didn’t end there, check out the next post…