I was only at Volcanoes National Park for a few nights, but it was refreshing to return back to the sea where I belong.  I woke up bright and early Sunday morning and headed straight to Kua Bay.  I am pretty sure that internet searches told me that the beach park gate opens at 9 AM, but I rolled in at 7 and it was open.  The best part was the dolphins!  They use shallow sandy bay’s like this to rest and play in during the day.  They prefer these nice sandy bottoms because if there was a predator nearby (like a shark) they would be able to see it clearly against the bottom.  They are smart little creatures.  I swam out a few hundred yards (solo I might add) where a few tour boats were waiting for the dolphins.  I saw them for a few minutes and before I knew it they were spinning in the air way out deep, past where I was comfortable swimming.  But i was enjoying the beautiful crystal clear water and decided to stay for a while.  But only 15 minutes later the dolphins returned and came to me to check out what I was doing.  At first about four or five of the dolphins were coming so close I thought they were being territorial and were about to kill me, but I am pretty sure they were really playing.  They leaped and danced only feet away from me.  And the best part was that I had this view to myself.  It was my most epic dolphin encounter yet, and I have had many!  If you haven’t yet watched my Big Island video, view it here to see these incredible dolphins!

 

The rest of the afternoon I hung out at the beach, and snorkeled and napped.  The rest of the day was spent at the Kona farmer’s market which was super fun!  I got some delicious food and shopped around for the whole afternoon.

 

My last day was spent with Wild Hawaii Ocean Adventures (WHOA) which was a freediving/snorkeling adventure/safari.  I highly highly recommend this company to anyone who visits Kona.  It really is a must do. You never know what you are going to see or do, any that is the joy of it. Some day they come across huge pods of dolphins, pilot whales, oceanic white tip sharks, silky sharks, ect.  The day I went the first thing we came across were pygmy killer whales!  These are super rare and it was such a blessing to see them.  We hopped right into the water and before I knew it I was swimming with these whales, how freaking cool!!! There were about 30 in this pod, and they were so beautiful and smart.  EEK I can’t even begin to explain my excitement.

The rest of the day we were on the lookout for more marine animals, and the day ended south of Kona in an incredible cave/lava tube in the sea.  This dive spot was called the twin sisters, and it was one of my favorite spots to ever free dive.  The water was beyond clear, and we could swim like 200 feet back into this cave system. It was epic. The boat ride back was also really fun because this company uses one of the fastest boats in Hawaii, a Navy assault vessel.  Not only did this boat go super fast but it was really comfy, we actually lean against the seat instead of sit, which was surprisingly nice.  It was also awesome to see the crazy tricks this boat could do, like make super fast turns and even stop and break on demand. Again, if you find yourself on Big Island check out this adventure!