Kona: September, 2005

Thursday, Pride of America arrived in Kona, on the sunny side of the big island of Hawaii. We managed to secure a spot on the first tender of the morning, and after a delicious breakfast aboard the ship, we skimmed over the water in a lifeboat to beautiful Kona. We rented a car and headed south in search of sea turtles. Like the rest of this wonderful island chain, Kona has many attractions, and you can't see them all in one day. Sometimes, trying to see too much can result in missing what you want.

We definitely wanted to see turtles rather than volcanoes or sandy beaches on this trip, so we headed south. Punalu'u Beach Park purportedly would have plentiful Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles swimming in the ocean and sunbathing on the black sand beach. It's a long drive, but Punalu'u proved to be beautiful, with a black sand beach between the pristine ocean and a scenic lagoon.

Julie headed out to snorkel in the ocean alone, because we had our camera, wallets and other items that we didn't want to leave on the beach unattended. I wandered over to take pictures of the lagoon, and when I returned, I couldn't see her anywhere. Unbeknownst to me, a powerful rip tide had been sweeping Julie out to sea. A California girl, Julie knew to swim sideways to escape the tide, but she could only fight the rip by going toward the treacherous, jagged rocks. A strong swimmer, she managed to make it to the rocks and climb out. Remember: never snorkel alone, especially in unfamiliar water where no one else is swimming. We didn't see any turtles.

Shaken and disappointed, we backtracked toward Kona and stopped at Honaunau Place of Refuge. It proved to be the best snorkeling destination in Hawaii for us. Diversely beautiful fish were abundant in this crystal clear water with terrific visibility. The living coral that attracts the fish was also lovely. Much closer to the port than Punalu'u, we kicked ourselves for not stopping here first, especially when we heard that not only turtles but dolphins had been frolicking in the water all morning.

As we boarded the ship, the security personnel went through out possessions with a fine tooth comb, as they did at each port, keeping security tight. This should help answer one of the most frequently asked questions. No, you can't bring alcohol onto the ship with you to make drinks in your cabin on this cruise.

At almost every meal in the dining room, the waiters hyped Thursday as lobster night, so it wasn't surprising that almost everyone showed up at the dining room that night. It caused more of a backup and slowdown than usual. Anyone who judged the dining room on that night would probably be disappointed. Ordinarily, we had no trouble getting seated in the dining room between 6 and 6:30, but this evening we were given a pager and told we'd be seated about 7. Not a big deal for us, as we simply headed off to have a drink, like we would at a nice restaurant on land. One fellow passenger, however, took this "shabby treatment" as a personal affront, and as luck would have it, we ended up sitting next to her at dinner, listening to her rant for the entire meal. Like most cruise ship lobster, it was okay but not spectacular, and in retrospect, I wish we would have simply gone to the fantastic buffet instead, not because of the meal but because of that witch.

Cruising Hawaii affords passengers scenic opportunities most vacationers miss. About 10:30 that night, Pride of America cruised along the coast as bright orange lava flowed from the volcano into the sea. It's amazing to watch this island continue to grow, so bring some binoculars.

Are you ready for a simple-to-plan vacation in a casual environment? Would you like to enjoy the best of four Hawaiian Islands while unpacking only once? Call me at 310-546-9618.