Dolphins, turtles, fishies...oh my! Big Island, Hawaii

While on the Big Island, we went to some amazing beaches.  Black sand, green sand, no sand, lava, you name it, we were there.

Kealakekua Bay State Park was about a 35 minute drive south of the villa on the Big Island.  After reading reviews, it sounded as though this was a good place to potentially see some dolphins.  Wow!  We were not disappointed.  Chuck and my brother grabbed their snorkeling gear and rented a kayak from one of the vendors in the parking lot.  Hubs didn't want to lose the kayak, so he snorkeled with it tied to his waist.  Those engineers...always thinking.

There were several other kayaks in the bay all swarming around a school of dolphins.  At one point the kayaks 'steered' the dolphins right to my husband...which resulted in all parties being startled...so much so that one dolphin did a little shake then shot up into the air and back down.  Apparently, the dolphins were in a sleeping phase where one eye was closed (thus allowing half the brain to sleep).  Some of the dolphins slept while the others kept guard.  Chuck said it was one of the coolest things he's ever experienced.  The guys snorkeled for a bit and my brother took some amazing shots of the dolphins underwater.

Count the dolphins!  There are parts of 10 dolphins in the following picture.

One day we drove a little further south to Punaluu State Park, which is known for black sand beaches and sea turtles.  This beach is located right off Highway 11 on your way to the Volcano National Park (from Kailua-Kona).  The little boy in this picture below is not ours, but the expression on his face was so precious as he sat there waiting for.ever...in all seriousness, he waited for about 30 minutes just staring at the turtle hoping it would move a body part and acknowledge to all of the beach-goers that he was, indeed, alive.

 A few underwater pictures of the fishies...

Note:  The underwater shots are compliments of my brother and his Nikon Coolpix tough waterproof camera.  It takes some amazing photos both underwater and above water.