North Kohala Coast of the Big Island... exploring for the First Time!

 

Leaping dolphins, eager to come bowride in our wake, greet us. They don't see many boats on this side of the Big Island. This is why I work on an expedition ship, to take people and show them things that people normally don't see.

The towering cliffs of the Kohala coastline of the Big Island. Even though I have lived and worked in the islands for years, I have never seen these from the water. Usually the trade winds roar on this coastline, and the big winter swells slam against the cliffs here. Today the weather had shifted, and was storming out of the south. Boats on all the islands were scrambled to find safe harbors. Instead, we took the opportunity to go to a place where we had never gone before!

We usually have pretty predictable weather out here in the Hawaiian islands. Trade winds blow from the northeast so reliably that the tall ship traders would count on these winds to help them cross oceans and deliver their goods. Fast forward to modern times, and I count on these trade winds to hit the northeast side of the islands and then get blocked by the huge volcanos, giving us a nice calm ocean playground on the southwest sides of the islands. This works out fine, for more of the winter season, except every once in a while, the trade winds will shut off, and strong winds from the south will charge up and ruin all my nicely laid out plans. This happened to the extreme on this weeks trip.

As expedition leader, I am constantly checking the weather forecast. I'm most interested in strong winds and big swell, which can make launching and unloading our small boats and kayaks unsafe. Not to mention it can also mess up our usual snorkel sites with murky, wavy conditions. Now one might think that Hawaii, being islands, that one might be able to just go to the opposite side of the island to do activities when the winds switch. However, if you are familiar with the famous surfing waves of the North shore of Hawaii, then you realize that during the winter, even if there is no wind, you could have 20-30ft swell to contend with on the North side. As far as I know, our ship, the Safari Explorer, has never been to the wild North side of the Big Island because of the distance and the winter swells. That is, it had never done this.... because that is exactly what we did this week. And, boy, did it pay off!

As the rest of the islands braced for impact from the southern storm and winds, we wrapped up a wonderful snorkel at Puako, in the last little pocket of calm. The winds started to fill in as we picked up our small boats and loaded them on the back deck, preparing for the winds and waves to come. We got hit pretty much immediately after heading out. But, as reports of power outages, flooding, and boats breaking moorings started to trickle in, we turned North, putting the wind and waves on our stern, and headed for calmer waters around the backside of the Big Island.

I watched from the bridge, as the coastline changed, one that I had never seen from the water in my decade of running these trips. It felt like true expeditioning. I was checking weather, satellite images of little bays and islands, coming up with plans upon plans. Maybe we could do this or maybe we could do that. Going back and forth with the captain about possibilities. The coast guard was constantly on the marine radio, warning boaters to seek shelter or risk losing or capsizing their boats. But in the sturdy Safari Explorer we soldiered on North, not another boat in sight.

At the very Northwest corner of the Big Island, I looked through the binoculars and breathed a sigh of relief. Up ahead, past all the whitecaps, I could see calm waters. It looked so calm! But, just before getting to the calm waters, we went through a spot where the currents from two sides of the islands met, and the waves jumped up in height. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a dark shape, leaping out of one of these waves. It was a bottlenose dolphin! Then a larger shape leapt out, it was a breaching humpback whale! It seemed like the wild conditions just provided a watery playground for these marine mammals.

This was how we started our two day exploration of the wild North Kohala Coast of the Big Island. It was a first for me, and maybe a first for UnCruise Adventures. The sightings of dolphins and whales continued. The sightings of other boats.... non-existent. The calm waters remained, although a decent sized swell was rolling in from the North. We spent the afternoon sightseeing from the bow of the Safari Explorer. And what sights we saw!

Kohala is the oldest of the volcanos that make up the Big Island. Its North side is constantly soaked with rain, which has carved out huge valleys. There was also a giant landslide here, sometime long ago, where a good portion of Kohala volcano slid off, leaving behind vertical cliffs. As we approached these cliffs, we could see waterfalls pouring off the tops, cascading their way down to the ocean below. There were only a few islands off the coast here, which piqued my interest and desire to get even closer. Most of the guests stayed up on the bow with me, or up in the bridge, soaking in the majesty of this seldom seen coast.

There is something very satisfying, about taking our expedition guests to a place I've never been before, and discovering amazing things together for the first time. As the sun set behind the valleys, I started plotting and planning what might be possible tomorrow, in this new, wild, playground.

The North Kohala Coast is a very rugged coast with towering cliffs, deep valleys, and picturesque waterfalls.

We found quite a few humpback whales hanging out off the north Kohala Coast of the Big Island.

Leaping spinner dolphins. This pod of dolphins came scorching through the water towards our boat.

While watching the beautiful scenery go by, we would occasionally be visited by humpback whales or dolphins. We also spotted a few sea birds.

I like that you can see a second whale just below the water in the photo, about to come up and breath. In fact, you can see that he has already started to breathe out underwater.

Secret north shore valleys beckoned us to come for a closer look. This was Waimanu Valley, the second of a series of seven valleys along this coast. There is a trail that leads here for the intrepid, and a primitive camp site. I will mention that you might have the entire valley to yourself.

More beautiful diagonal lines and contrast as the sun set behind the valleys.

You can tell that the land has been carved by water from the V-shaped valleys.

As the sun got lower, the salt spray and mist seemed to hang in the air. I love that for photographs.

A very rare sighting of a black footed albatross soaring in the 40knot winds.

I was very excited to get a few pictures of the albatross. We only see this off the Big Island of Hawaii, and only rarely, maybe once a season.

And the whales weren't done yet. Here, a humpback, dives down after taking a big breath in front of the sea cliffs.

I tried to guess where these dolphins might come out of the water. Luckily I snagged this shot of them high above as they raced towards the boat.

A panorama is the closest thing to show off the magnitude of our view. The North Kohala coastline with all of its valleys and peaks, here in full display.

As the sun set, I had big ideas of trying to get everyone into our small boats for a coastal cruise tomorrow morning.