I was fortunate to have a week of travel time in Maui, with a Sunday with no commitments. As fate would have it, the local masters swimmers have a regularly scheduled group ocean swim that departs from the beach next to the resort where we were staying. What a blast! If you can imagine, I'm going from Minnesota in January to the open water of Hawai'i, and it was a beautiful sight.
Several interesting observations: the locals wearing wetsuits (I thought the water was nice), many sea turtles, manta rays, gorgeous coral including arch formations, etc. We did about 3 miles altogether, passing by a clothing-optional beach.
Alas, the locals were disappointed. While we heard many whales, we didn't see any. There are some fantastic photos on a blog from Don, aka dolphin dude. I've highlighted his entry from the day I swam with the group, which includes photos of humans on land and in water, as well as the ray:
www.dolphindude.com/.../disappointment.html
He's got some amazing photos and videos on this site. It would have been great to swim with the whales, but I had a daily commitment that kept me from the beach.
Do you know where the Captain Cook monument is? Across the bay (Kealakekua Bay) from it, you can rent a kayak. When my husband and I were there a few years ago we rented a kayak and he kayaked across the bay to the monument while I swam. It's about a mile across. We got a two-seater kayak so that if I had needed to, I could get in.
i did that same swim when i was there last october. i had the exact same experience with the little jelly fish stinging me. i didn't know jelly fish were could be that small.
what was kind of crazy is that i was swimming along zoned out and i almost ran into a dolphin. when i looked up there was a whole pack of them out there that day and hey seemed to like to be around people. my husband and friend (who was doing Ironman in a couple of days ) were in a 2-seat kayak so i was committed to swimming both ways. they gave me fresh water a couple of times...boy, i was so glad i was a swimmer that day :)
the IM course from the pier is also a great swim. gosh i'd like to be in hawaii right now. it's raining cats and dogs right now.
Do you know where the Captain Cook monument is? Across the bay (Kealakekua Bay) from it, you can rent a kayak. When my husband and I were there a few years ago we rented a kayak and he kayaked across the bay to the monument while I swam. It's about a mile across. We got a two-seater kayak so that if I had needed to, I could get in.
i did that same swim when i was there last october. i had the exact same experience with the little jelly fish stinging me. i didn't know jelly fish were could be that small.
what was kind of crazy is that i was swimming along zoned out and i almost ran into a dolphin. when i looked up there was a whole pack of them out there that day and hey seemed to like to be around people. my husband and friend (who was doing Ironman in a couple of days ) were in a 2-seat kayak so i was committed to swimming both ways. they gave me fresh water a couple of times...boy, i was so glad i was a swimmer that day :)
the IM course from the pier is also a great swim. gosh i'd like to be in hawaii right now. it's raining cats and dogs right now.
