A Ho'okena Update

     A couple days ago we joined our friends at Ho'okena for some snorkeling.  Sandra and I arrived around 8 AM.   We nabbed a picnic table with a killer view of the bay.   Having arrived half an hour early (it took only 45 minutes to drive down from Kailua) we had a chance to talk with a pleasant fellow who seemed to get down to our favorite beach with some frequency.

Spinner Dolphin, Ho'okena 2018

    There were dolphins swimming in the bay, and I, of course, was curious to know if he knew what the new regulations were, vis a vis swimming with the dolphins, and how they were enforced.  He said that last June and July, so two months after the regulations went into effect, there were federal officers at Ho'okena giving people tickets.  That had not been the case recently, and he occasionally swam near the dolphins and let them swim to him.  If I was talking to a complete stranger, I suppose I would say something of the sort.

   Kathy and her group arrived at 8:30, securing the last spot in the parking lot.   Soon the four swimmers were headed down to the south end of the beach.  Before we could enter the water, Kent and I had to attend to our injured feet.  I applied a Band-Aid and he put on socks, then flipper walked into the remarkably clam bay. 

Dolphin Pair Ho'okena 2020

It was a five minute swim out to the dolphins.  We had seen other swimmers with them for half an hour and there were two paddle boarderss, as well.   

   We got within five yards of the dolphins.  This was clearly the tail end of their morning frolic at Ho'okena, so I guess we were lucky to catch the last of the act.  Kent was especially happy to have seen the dolphins in the wild.  Five feet is a better distance for superior dolphin pictures so I'm including one or two taken at Ho'okena in days past.

     We had seen some good coral growing 30 feet down as we swam out to the dolphin pond.  Now as we swam back across the bay, we saw lots of coral, but no unusual fish.   As we swam along my bandaid gave up the ghost.  Luckily Kent was trailing behind and he nabbed it as he swam.  

    We checked out the pier and then Sandra left us for the beach.  I ushered Kathy and Kent to the coral where we have seen angelfish in the past.  A bit of patience yielded a pair of Potter's angelfish, but no amount of waiting produced a flame.  Bummer.

Potter's Angelfish, Ho'okena, 2016

    On our first circuit we had not seen Gilded Triggerfish.  As I have done in the past, I swam just an additional ten yards seaward from the angelfish coral and we found several Gilded Triggerfish,..handsome yellow fin margins and blue faces.  Delightful.

    The really good news is that Sandra completed this swim without a jaw problem.  

   We had one more adventure with Kathy which will appear in the next installment.

jeff