[TBD]

We had to be at the harbour by 8:30am, and it was about an hour drive so we left our place at 7:10am. We pretty much drove to where we turned to go to the canyon to catch our boat at Kikiaola Small Boat Harbor. We were excited but nervous after Captain Rob went over how to not get sea sick, and how this likely will be a problem. Lola didn’t bring any med, not even Advil, so she was especially nervous. Then to see how small the boat was… eeeeee. Others were also nervous by his speech…except for the family of 7 – 5 teenaged girls with their parents who met everyone on the boat before we even got to the boat.

We took off our shoes and headed on the boat. Lola picking a spot in the middle of the boat, under a canopy to try and conker the sea sickness.

We pulled out of the harbour, and to our excitement we thought we saw something in the water… nope drift wood, not super exciting. Although not far after we saw whales. This was not a whale watching tour, but we got to see some!

the drift wood

As we got out into the open ocean, wow the waves were huge. We tried to get photos and video, but it just didn’t cut it, we were going up and down on the waves like a surfboard, in our boat that our caption kept saying was made of Styrofoam.

We saw whales on our way out to the top part of the island of Kauai that is only accessible by boat or helicopter, or foot.. but no cars. People are also prohibited to live on the Na Pali Coast there since about 1948 (when they made all the Hawaiian people leave).

The coast was spectacular, at a height of 4000 ft tall. The wind was “calm” so there was a lot of sea mist, and it just floats there as the wind doesn’t push it inland very fast.

AA went to back/side of the boat to get some photos, while Lola went back and forth, as she felt better facing forward than sideways. She couldn’t sit at the back of the boat as it was occupied by a lady that threw up well into the first hour of the boat trip. We saw sea caves, ancient burial grounds and the most amazing cliffs of the shield volcano. The captain was very excited to be able to chat with AA while he was snapping photos.

listening to Captin Rob

We were out on the water for 5.5 hours, the coast was spectacular, and something we don’t regret doing. We ended the trip by going back to the “side” where we had lunch on the boat (Lola even got a gluten free turkey sandwich, she had to take the cheese off though), bag of chips, and juice.

As we were heading back, we saw a pod of spinner dolphins come right up to the boat. After lunch we headed past the harbour and went for a little snorkel. The water was deep, but we saw a turtle. It seemed way closer in real life in the water than the photos show (hopefully you can find it).

school of fish

can you find the turtle?

A quick 15 minutes back to the harbour we got off found our shoes, and headed back to the car. What an incredible thing, and Lola didn’t get sea sick. She knew the tricks, looking at the horizon and trying not to be on her phone too much.

We drove back to the condo and we both had a nap. Lola doesn’t nap, but wow she slept over 1 hour. AA had to wake her up, not sure if it was the early morning, or the stress of being out on the boat for 5.5 hours.

We were determined to see the sunset, so we walked to the beach. The turtles were there, and so was the sunset. The moon was so beautiful too. Once the sunset, we walked in the water to see the sea turtles coming in. The water was calm and so refreshing.