Kauai - Day 7 - Baby, Lemme Take You On A Sea Cruise

Early morning wake up call - we're booked on a snorkeling & whale-watching tour out of Port Townsend departing at 8am.  There are tons of boat tours to choose from - we went with Holo Holo Charters, and I would definitely recommend them.  They were very professional, and their guides were great as well.  We chose the Na Pali Snorkel Sail.  The tour lasts about 5 hours, and I think it was $95 p/p, something like that.  Worth it, for sure.
  
Like I said, the boat left at 8am, and we only sailed for about 10 or 15 minutes before arriving at the snorkeling stop.  Our tour only stopped this once for snorkeling, so we definitely wanted to take advantage of it.  Secretly, we were also happy that the snorkeling was first thing because they won't serve you any booze until you're done.  Oh, and beer and wine are included with the tour and after our strenuous day yesterday, we had already decided to take FULL advantage this inclusion.  Snorkeling isn't nearly as good in the winter as it is in summer, but we still saw some cool fish and a sea turtle!  The turtle was really cool - it swam right underneath Tim and me, and we were the only ones that saw him so close.  We probably snorkeled for about a half hour or so, but some folks stayed out for an hour.  After getting back on the boat, they had a continental breakfast laid out for us - bagels, breads, fruit, coffee, juice.  Not bad actually. 

And now that we've had our coffee, it's time for a Heineken!

Side note:  No matter where you travel in the world, you can always get a Heineken.  Seriously.  Anywhere.

Now it's basically just time to cruise and ooh and ahh at the Na Pali Coast and drink Heinekens.  Yeah, life is good. 

And then it gets better.  Spinner dolphins!  A ton of spinner dolphins are cruising around our boat.  It's still early, and they are sleepy, so it takes them a little time to really get a-spinnin'.  And then they're hurling themselves out of the water, spinning, spinning, spinning like crazy!  It's so cool.  They are so cool.  I love them. 

Hey, did I mention that I love spinner dolphins?

Before I go on, I will helpfully provide you with a few tips regarding Kauai boat tours. 

1.  Wear a lot of sunblock.  Reapply often.  I only got sunburned once on this trip, and it was today.

2.  Hang on when you are moving around the boat.  It's bumpy, and people get thrown off the boat all the time.  (Okay, I don't know if that's true, but Tim was yelled at several times for not holding on.  So you may not get thrown off, but you'll definitely get yelled at.)

3.  Do you get seasick? If you have ever been seasick or if you have a weak tummy, you may want to skip this tour in the winter.  Or at least bring your dramamine.  We saw several people who were either tossing their cookies over the side of the book or lying on a bench looking green.  Seasickness will greatly decrease the amount of Heinekens that you can drink.

Fortunately, I do not get sick on boats, so I was capable of putting back some more beers during the last few hours of our sea cruise.  They also put out a really nice lunch spread with turkey, ham, cheeses, a few kinds of bread, fruit, pasta salad, cookies.  I was actually pretty impressed with the food.  Tim and I were sitting on the front part of the boat eating our lunch when the best part of the tour happened.

The WHALES.  Whales, whales, whales.  We saw about 20 humpback whales.  They love to come to Kauai in the winter to have babies and make babies.  Yeah, it's romantic even for whales.  I could not believe how many whales we saw.  I wish I had some good photos for you, but sadly, the whales seem to be a bit camera shy.  I will tell you though, this is an experience I will never forget.  I was close to tears a few times.

Side note:  This is coming from a girl who, during the 3rd and 4th grades, refused to wear any clothes without whales on them.  I'm serious.  I had sweaters, turtlenecks, socks, t-shirts, barretts, all with whales on them. I loved whales then, and I love them now.

We got back to the dock around 230p.  We were sunburned and a little tipsy and very, very content.  We drove back to the cottage looking forward to continuing our relaxation.  We enjoyed a few drinks down by the river, grilled up some ahi steaks and veggies, and nursed our sunburns to sleep.