A Night Snorkel at Kahalu'u

    Earlier this week, Sandra and I went snorkeling at night with Bob Hillis.  For a very large number of years I have wondered how easy it would be to go swimming at night at Kahalu'u.  With the Hillises leaving for San Diego this week, the time seemed ripe .

    If I were you, there are a few things that would concern me about swimming at night at Kahalu'u. From the administrative standpoint, I am happy to report that all indications point to the gate remaining open and the lights beaming brightly in the large kiosk until 11 PM.

    I have been a bit skeptical of the crowd that I might encounter at night at this venue.  For sure, there was no lifeguard presence.  Or that of any other authority figure.  We encountered a few adults that were quietly

A small anemone crab and some large fingers.

 eating take out food at the tables.  One family was having an evening picnic dinner.  And there was a father horsing around with his children.  Beyond that, there was a group of youths in the 12 to 14 year range.  They were very friendly and posed no problem.  As we never bring anything of value to the beach, there was virtually nothing aside form a few towels and a mesh bag left on the table when we went in to swim.

   On this night there were no drunks, drug addicts or thugs.  I can not speak for other nights.

    We hit the water a little after 7 PM.  the congregation of youths was on the rocks by the entrance.  One of them made a joke about a shark, but mostly they were supportive, wishing us a good swim.

    The tide was about half point, so the water was quite shallow as we crawled through the sand channel.  We were probably a little early seeing only cardinal fish for the first ten minutes.  As the night wore on we saw a couple bristle worms about two inches long swimming free.  We spotted a small scuttling anemone crab which Bob held while I took his picture.  At this point I must tell you that, aside from that one marginal shot of the anemone crab at very close range, my photographic results were abominable.

My best effort with Octopus ornatus.

     Over the next twenty minutes I saw the expected squirrelfish and soldierfish.  I was lucky to see a stout moray and a dwarf moray.  Dwarf moray is a distinctive yellow, approximately the shade they used to paint the hallways in VA Hospitals.  So its not all that pleasant to look at.  But its better than a BKA.   (Old VAH joke.  Google it for the surprise answer.)  It was the first dwarf moray I had seen in a couple years. 

    The lights were blazing brightly in the kiosk all the time.  After about a half hour of flopping around, we
 followed them in.  Up to this point, we had not seen anything of much interest.  But as we came to the last patch of coral, I was suddenly presented with a small octopus.  It was an Ornate Octopus, with a head a bit bigger than a large lemon.  This beauty is also known as the night octopus.  Although I had never seen one before, one has the sensation that if you went snorkeling every night, you might see one three times a year.  As it is, I go night snorkeling about once a year and I will probably never see another!

    The night octopus preened in the glow of our lights.  His  legs were significantly thinner and longer than one would find on a Day Octopus of the same size and, as one would expect, his head was shaped like

Twist his head 90 degrees and you've got a Night Octopus

 Stewie Griffin, only more pointed on the leading end.  ( In the upcoming movie, the octopus will be voiced by Seth MacFarlane.) 

    Eventually this hit of the evening became bored with our adoration and swam off, spurting some ink as a final farewell.  This sort of thing has happened a lot to me.  Especially in high school.  


   Back on shore, everything was as we left it.  We took our cold showers and headed out.  As we reached our car the group of boys passed Sandra and I, heading up the hill.  We all exchanged a pleasant good night.

    I apologize for the lack of photographs.  And for such a milque toast tale.  Getting a night snorkel at Kahalu'u has been on my bucket list (I hate that term) and I thought it only fare to alert those of you who might have similar aspirations.  It is definitely doable.

jeff