Captain Cook & New Year's Eve

Aloha from the Big Island!

While I'm still catching up on posts, here's a little one about our really fun adventure to Captain Cook (otherwise known as "Kealakakua Bay") and an exciting New Year's Eve!

We left our condo around 7:30 for our boat tour to Captain Cook, which started in Kona. Once checked in, we headed down to the dock to get going for the morning. The last time we were on the Big Island, we also did this tour, and I remember it being an amazing snorkel site then as well. Even though I've had the chance to SCUBA dive in Hawaii too (check out the picture I found from our 2011 trip below), I believe Captain Cook is some of the best snorkeling on the Hawaiian islands - you're (basically) just as close this way!

Throwback from our 2011 dive at Molokini in Maui

Nick's also gotten to "drive" the boat on every trip we've taken so far, so the tradition continued here thanks to Captain Tony! 

Captain Cook is a phenomenal snorkel site for many reasons - the most obvious being the ocean life you can see - but also because of the history held at the site. Captain James Cook is one of the best-known explorers of the Hawaiian Islands, Australia, and Polynesia, but was killed at the modern-day snorkel site. While mapping the islands and avoiding the "Northwest Passage" the Europeans believed existed and became obsessed with, he stayed in the Hawaiian Islands per the request of the British Crown. The first time he arrived, the Hawaiians were worshiping "Lono," God of Agriculture and other natural things, as part of Makahiki, an annual festival . and was treated as a God for this reason. When he returned later, people were worshiping "Ku," God of War instead. They realized, however, that he wasn't really Lono and retaliated after Cook disrespected (and also kidnapped) their King because his boats had gone missing. Captain Cook later became "Captain Crunch" (our Captain's joke) or "Captain Cooked" (my dad's joke), and his bones were saved. The monument stands today near the spot he was killed as a gift to acknowledge what happened that day, and others exist around the US and Australia to commemorate his major accomplishments.

There's lots of articles out there if you're looking for a better explanation of what happened... Check out - 

• this History.com article for a short synopsis
• this entertaining "Drunk History" YouTube video 
• this much more informative video by John Green. (Story starts at 3:44) 
• this article that tells a better and more detailed version of the story
• this Wikipedia article, especially regarding the monument itself, noting that it was donated by Lord Byron's cousin.

We went to a second snorkel site later along the "Red Hill" portion of the Big Island, where we saw a variety of reef fish! Supposedly, there were also reef sharks, eels and turtles roaming around (but none of them came to hang out).

We stopped by Kahalu'u Beach Park (where we stayed in 2007) to spot some turtles and saw one in the water! We then went back to the condo to enjoy a little pool time before our New Year's Eve dinner. 

We enjoyed dinner at Lava Lava Beach Club with a reservation we'd made the other day, all based on my friend Braeden's original recommendation. It's a fun place to hang out, and I'd highly recommend it based on the ambiance and (of course) the food!

I certainly cannot wait for all this upcoming year will bring!

Amy