When we arrived to the slip a very friendly crewman greeted us and invited us onto the boat. Once we were on the boat we stowed our daypack under the bench seat and struck up a conversation with the other family that was on the boat. This boat is known for its small groups, but I really did not realize the exclusiveness of this charter until we were pulling away from the dock and I realized that the days group consisted of my girlfriend, another family of five and myself.
It did not take long for us to reach our snorkel spot; the first mate briefed us on the area before we got in the water. He pointed out where we would be able to find some sea caves, an underwater arch, and a coral head that is home to a large population of bright colored reef fish. We got in the water and checked out all the areas that the crewman told us about. I found some nice sized Jacks swimming around the entrance of one of the caves as well as a few small eels that were hiding in a crack in the rock.
We took our time to carefully examine the area fairly well before we eventually made our way back to the boat to eat lunch. When we climbed back onto the boat the first mate gave us our sandwiches and served us drinks. I grabbed a beer and my girlfriend grabbed a cola and we headed towards the front of the boat to relax on the soft netted area between the two hulls that is known as the trampoline.
As soon as we were all onboard the boat our captain pulled anchor and raised the sails. We sailed directly away from the island straight out to sea and as we got farther and farther away from the island it seemed like the winds continually got stronger. We enjoyed the quiet tranquility of being under sail for about a half an hour before we eventually turned around to head back towards the harbor. Right before we turned the boat around we had an exciting encounter.
The waters off of Kona are very deep and the area is world renowned for its excellent marlin fishing. As we were sailing along a disturbance in the water on the left side of the boat caught my attention as well as the first mate. Upon closer inspection it became very apparent that a GIANT BLUE MARLIN was swimming near the surface of the water right next to the boat. He had to have been more than ten feet in length and everyone one on the boat got a good look before he dove out of site into the deep water.
As we got back to the harbor we said our good byes and made our way back towards Kona to go relax at our hotel. Our snorkel trip on the Kamanu was an excellent way to begin the day…….and getting to see that Marlin swimming so close to us is something that I dont think I will ever forget.