Awesome Vacation Day 7

Monday morning we woke up super duper early so that we could get on the road and get down to the southeast part of the island before there was any traffic. And it worked too. Today it really sank in - this was our last full day in Hawaii and our last full day to spend with our friends! Our trip was 500% better because of our friends! Thank you!

We spent the rest of the day driving from one thing to the next and enjoying ourselves. First stop, Halona Blowhole:


Next up, snorkeling Hanauma Bay. Aren't we lovely? Those masks are really a fashion statement. There weren't nearly as many fish as Shark's Cove, but the bay is in a lovely caldera and we saw a sea turtle! Sometimes a little closer than we meant to - we think the sea turtle may have been trapped by the low tide and was just waiting for the water to rise enough to let him/her out.


After snorkeling for several hours, we hiked back up the hill to the parking lot.


Then we headed out for a quick lunch at Taco Bell. After lunch our friends dropped us off at the Sea Life Amusement Park. It's small and doesn't really compete with all the other water attractions on the island (hello, there are real beaches) but it did have an okay dolphin show and they let us swim with the stingrays. We also saw their dolphin show while we were waiting for our turn with the rays and we saw a sea turtle up close through the aquarium window.

First we waded in and petted the stingrays while they swam past our legs - following the food the handlers were giving them. Then we put on the snorkeling masks and swam / floated in the water with the rays for another 20-30 minutes. It was kind of eerie when a big stingray appeared right below you in the water, only about a foot away. They seemed to like swimming up underneath your feet and then appearing in your vision once they're already halfway along passing underneath you. One stingray came up to Dan and bumped into his mask!



Our friends found the next stop - I'm glad they thought of it because I hadn't heard of it. We went to the spitting cave - you had to know to follow a little path between two houses down to the rocky cliff area and then we walked out along a little point of the cliff so we could look back at the cave. Here's my favorite video I took of it:



While we were watching the spitting cave we looked out into the ocean and saw this guy!


To finish off a very busy day we went out to eat. Our friends had gotten a recommendation for an Indian restaurant - it was delicious!