Snorkeling with sea turtles

We love seeing wild animals in their own habitat. Be it the large herds of elephants in a game park in South Africa or the frolicking dolphins in New Zealand. And since yesterday we can add one more species to the list as we snorkelled with green sea turtles in Hawaii.

Yesterday we decided to go to Anini beach. This is a quiet and beautiful beach nearby and is known as one of the safest and most protected beaches in Kauai. There is a 3 km long fringed reef along the length of the beach, making this a very calm, shallow and safe sea to swim and snorkel. Perfect for our family of beginning snorkelers. To reach the coral you need to swim some 100 meters offshore but it is well worth it. Clear waters, beautiful shapes of coral and lots of colourful fish. And on top of it we also found two sea turtles swimming near the reef. On land they look a bit clumsy, but there is something so graceful about sea turtles as they glide through the water. The graceful movements of these underwater giants can seem to make time stand still, and it’s a curious combination of relaxation and excitement whenever you see one in the water. Definitely one of the highlights we will remember for a long time.

So besides the snorkelling yesterday, what else did we do here you might wonder. We spent one day hiking the rugged Na Pali coast (okay, only the first 1 mile out the 11 mile till a great viewing point), we visited a local farmers market to taste local fruit and we spent many afternoons lazing in or around the pool. We went to several beaches and we visited the local playground more than I can count.

We will be in Kauai for another two days before we fly to the next island, Big Island. We love Kauai and  are enjoying every moment of it. The place has something special, the beaches against the backdrop of the mountains, the great rainbows we have seen most days, the light, the freshness of the air, the cool sea breeze, warm but not to hot temperatures, it all just clicks and very relaxing.