Kauai - Day 5 - Napali Coast, Snorkeling and Luau
Today was a full day! We were up this morning at 5:45am to get ready for our boat trip up the Napali Coast. It was an hour and a half drive to Waimea to the Kikia'ola Small Boat Harbor where we met up with our captain. There were about 30 people on the 49' powered catamaran. It was a perfect day with just a little northerly wind and the swells weren't too big. I still made everyone (including me—which is a little embarrassing considering how much of my adolescence was spent out on our commercial fishing boat) take some dramamine before getting on the boat. It's worth it to not be a half hour into a 5 hour trip feeling sick and wanting to get off. That was a "Mom" moment just in and of itself. Me climbing over the seats in the minivan while driving on winding Hawaiian roads breaking up dramamine tablets and shoving them into small pieces of banana so the kids could swallow them. It was quite hilarious!
We made our way around the point where the military base is and up the Napali Coast. We saw spinner dolphins jumping and playing and spinning in and out of the water. There were dozens of them. They were really beautiful! The kids loved that. The views of the Napali Coast were amazing especially when you were in the shadow of the cliffs so the sun wasn't shining in your eyes. Throughout the trip we kept seeing whale spouts and backs/tails in the water but they were a little far away to truly appreciate. After our delicious deli lunch (seriously good sandwiches) our captain nudged out to where he saw some action a little closer. All 7 of us had since made our way to the bow of the boat and were sitting front row with our legs dangling off of the front of the catamaran, with our legs tucked under the railing. It was a great view. Soon a calf surfaced really close to us. The captain turned off the engines and put the microphone into the water. You could hear the whales singing. It was amazing. There were at least three whales and we were watching them spout and surface pretty close to the boat. All of a sudden we looked down at the water 5 feet below our feet and there was the enormous mother humpback whale! She came right under the boat and surfaced right below us, spraying our feet with her spout! We could see her entire body and she was HUGE! But so graceful! We saw every inch of the length of her body come up, surface and slowly swim away right below us! It was a truly amazing experience. I choked back the tears it was so beautiful! I felt like I was in the "Life of Pi!" And our family was so lucky to have front row seats! No one else on the boat saw her like that. The captain and deckhands said they have never seen a humpback whale swim so close before! It was probably because it was the mother protecting her calf. Wow! I was kind of sad that I didn't have my camera at that moment but I was also glad I could just relax and enjoy the experience without trying to capture it on film (or whatever it's called now).
On the way back we saw flying fish several times. Real flying fish! And they were so close you could see their eyeballs. They would jump out of the water and fly along the surface, even hovering and darting around a little. They looked like giant dragonflies or hummingbirds with their wings/fins moving so fast they were a blur. It was so cool!
We got back to the harbor around 1:30pm and headed to Poipu to check out the beach. It was so crowded. We had to circle the parking lots several times before finding a spot. We were all pretty tired but pushed through anyway and decided to try snorkeling. I walked a few blocks down from the beach with Isaac to rent snorkel gear. They were sold out but the nice lady searched around and found us a few random masks without snorkels and charged us $3 for the day. The kids snorkeled around and saw lots of fish. I love how you can just stick your head underwater and see colorful, beautiful fish with the first look! But I will be honest, it's not that fun to snorkel without a snorkel! Too much breath holding wears you out!
After an hour and a half at the beach we packed up and headed to the Smith Family Luau. We arrived a little late and had to change out of our swimsuits in the parking lot. I'm sure we were a sight brushing hair, gelling hair and getting ready in the parking lot. (We did change clothes inside the car so hopefully we weren't a "sight" with that part).
The gardens around the luau were beautiful. We watched them take the pig out of the ground and got a few pictures. The food was really delicious! We had kalua pork, teriyaki beef, mahi mahi, all kinds of salads, mashed potatoes (Isaac's favorite), poi (not as bad as I remembered but still not good), and coconut cream cake and jello for dessert (Mikey's favorite). Scottie (and Avery) got to go up front and dance the hula in front of the whole group because it was his birthday.
The show after was actually really good! They had live music and did all the polynesian dances and even some from China, Japan and the Philippines. But we were so tired that it was a little hard to appreciate. Mikey was quite the heckler during the performance with some classically timed comments that made everyone laugh (not my finest parenting moment). During the first song he said "Is this song ever going to end?" After the finale of the fire dancer they had each performer come out and we applauded. Just when we thought it was going to end they announced they had one final song for us. During a lull in the music Mikey said, "Are they seriously singing this song again?" You know everyone was thinking it. Then Jeff said, "Mikey!" to try and correct him and Mikey said, "What? You said it first Dad!" Pretty funny stuff to be honest. But not the best manners. Sorry!
I could barely keep my eyes open on the half hour drive home. Every one of the kids fell asleep. Thankfully Jeff held it together and got us home safe. What a great day!
The whale came right up under our dangling feet. The kids literally could have dropped down and rode on the Whale's back.
We made our way around the point where the military base is and up the Napali Coast. We saw spinner dolphins jumping and playing and spinning in and out of the water. There were dozens of them. They were really beautiful! The kids loved that. The views of the Napali Coast were amazing especially when you were in the shadow of the cliffs so the sun wasn't shining in your eyes. Throughout the trip we kept seeing whale spouts and backs/tails in the water but they were a little far away to truly appreciate. After our delicious deli lunch (seriously good sandwiches) our captain nudged out to where he saw some action a little closer. All 7 of us had since made our way to the bow of the boat and were sitting front row with our legs dangling off of the front of the catamaran, with our legs tucked under the railing. It was a great view. Soon a calf surfaced really close to us. The captain turned off the engines and put the microphone into the water. You could hear the whales singing. It was amazing. There were at least three whales and we were watching them spout and surface pretty close to the boat. All of a sudden we looked down at the water 5 feet below our feet and there was the enormous mother humpback whale! She came right under the boat and surfaced right below us, spraying our feet with her spout! We could see her entire body and she was HUGE! But so graceful! We saw every inch of the length of her body come up, surface and slowly swim away right below us! It was a truly amazing experience. I choked back the tears it was so beautiful! I felt like I was in the "Life of Pi!" And our family was so lucky to have front row seats! No one else on the boat saw her like that. The captain and deckhands said they have never seen a humpback whale swim so close before! It was probably because it was the mother protecting her calf. Wow! I was kind of sad that I didn't have my camera at that moment but I was also glad I could just relax and enjoy the experience without trying to capture it on film (or whatever it's called now).
On the way back we saw flying fish several times. Real flying fish! And they were so close you could see their eyeballs. They would jump out of the water and fly along the surface, even hovering and darting around a little. They looked like giant dragonflies or hummingbirds with their wings/fins moving so fast they were a blur. It was so cool!
We got back to the harbor around 1:30pm and headed to Poipu to check out the beach. It was so crowded. We had to circle the parking lots several times before finding a spot. We were all pretty tired but pushed through anyway and decided to try snorkeling. I walked a few blocks down from the beach with Isaac to rent snorkel gear. They were sold out but the nice lady searched around and found us a few random masks without snorkels and charged us $3 for the day. The kids snorkeled around and saw lots of fish. I love how you can just stick your head underwater and see colorful, beautiful fish with the first look! But I will be honest, it's not that fun to snorkel without a snorkel! Too much breath holding wears you out!
After an hour and a half at the beach we packed up and headed to the Smith Family Luau. We arrived a little late and had to change out of our swimsuits in the parking lot. I'm sure we were a sight brushing hair, gelling hair and getting ready in the parking lot. (We did change clothes inside the car so hopefully we weren't a "sight" with that part).
The gardens around the luau were beautiful. We watched them take the pig out of the ground and got a few pictures. The food was really delicious! We had kalua pork, teriyaki beef, mahi mahi, all kinds of salads, mashed potatoes (Isaac's favorite), poi (not as bad as I remembered but still not good), and coconut cream cake and jello for dessert (Mikey's favorite). Scottie (and Avery) got to go up front and dance the hula in front of the whole group because it was his birthday.
The show after was actually really good! They had live music and did all the polynesian dances and even some from China, Japan and the Philippines. But we were so tired that it was a little hard to appreciate. Mikey was quite the heckler during the performance with some classically timed comments that made everyone laugh (not my finest parenting moment). During the first song he said "Is this song ever going to end?" After the finale of the fire dancer they had each performer come out and we applauded. Just when we thought it was going to end they announced they had one final song for us. During a lull in the music Mikey said, "Are they seriously singing this song again?" You know everyone was thinking it. Then Jeff said, "Mikey!" to try and correct him and Mikey said, "What? You said it first Dad!" Pretty funny stuff to be honest. But not the best manners. Sorry!
I could barely keep my eyes open on the half hour drive home. Every one of the kids fell asleep. Thankfully Jeff held it together and got us home safe. What a great day!
Calvin got some better dolphin pictures but I left that camera in the car. I'll add one or two later.
The Napali Coast was so beautiful!
The whale came right up under our dangling feet. The kids literally could have dropped down and rode on the Whale's back.
By the last half hour of the boat tour, everyone else had gone to lay down on the bench and sleep (dramamine) but Kate, Isaac and I stayed on the bow and had a great time "riding" the waves as the boat rose and fell and sometimes crashed down on the swells. It was really fun! I really do love being out on the ocean. It has so many good memories of my childhood for me (although it was never quite as warm or sunny in Washington). :)
We stopped off for some coconut shrimp and fresh fruit smoothie before hitting the beach in Poipu.
Luau photobomb
I think this was Mikey's third helping of red jell-o.
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