Swimming with the Dolphins in Hawaii (11/07)

SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS

 

I just love the Big Island of Hawaii, especially the Kona Coast, must have been there 10 or 12 times. I was always looking for a boat that would find and allow you to swim with the Dolphins. Yet I was always told you can’t do that. So my daughter Nhiki (pronounced Nikki) and I would go on snorkel boats that would find dolphins on the way to the snorkel spot, and we’d see them ride the boat wake, sometimes jump just feet away, but it wasn’t the experience I wanted.

Finally on my trip last Summer for a friends wedding I found the golden boat. DOLPHIN JOURNEY’S, a small 6 passenger boat, run by the colorful Captain Nancy, and she brings her cute little dog as well. Seems the dolphins like the pooch, who barks as the pod approach the boat, ignoring the 2 or 3 other boats in the area. Just a 15 minute car ride from the major hotels, I opted for the morning half day, 4 hours, $175, with a very nice lunch.

 

I met the boat at 9 am, we rode for a short 20 minutes, Nancy knew just where the spinner dolphins spend their morning, not far off shore from the kona airport, and within minutes I was leaping into the water, snorkel and fins in place, nice not to have to put on scuba tanks, and was surrounded by 40 dolphins just feet away. It was a magical and spirtiual feeling, exciting yet peaceful at the same time. The spinner dolphin hunt at night so they are half asleep in the morning, yet some still playfully shot thru the water jumped in the air doing 360 spins, which is quite a show to see from under the water. There were mothers and babies side by side, none of us touched the dolphins, they stayed about 5 to 20 feet away, yet you felt totally excepted by them. Nancy and her CO-captain took turns swimming with us, and on the boat educating us about the lives of these dolphins she has come to know. everyone was free to rest on the boat, eat, drink, then jump back in and swim some more. At times the pod of dolphins would move off, but mostly they stayed around the same area.

The time flew by, and on the ride back in I was already planning my return trip one year later, this time my daughter Nhiki and boyfriend Jacob are coming, and I can’t wait till my 6 month old granddaughter Tehea (hawaiin name) is old enough to swim and snorkel so she too can experience this magical morning.

If you plan a trip to Kona Hawaii, call Nancy at Dolphin Journeys 800-384-1218. Book in advance because the boat only holds 6 pasengers. You wont be sorry.