Capturing the Moment

  Enjoying beautiful views, 6000ft up the side of Hualalai Volcano. This is a high ridgeline next to a massive volcanic fissure. In 1800 the land split apart and lava came fountaining out, creating this ridge we are on. Hawaii is filled with amazing hikes. There are hikes to waterfalls and up steep hills to WWII bunker relics. But some of my favorite hikes are well off the beaten path. That definitely describes the hike we went on today. Way up the side of the Big Island's Hualalai Volcano, behind closed gates, is a wonderful hike that passes interesting volcanic geology, through pristine native Hawaiian forest, all while being serenaded by endemic honeycreeper birds. All of these things are seldom seen by locals, and almost never seen by tourist visiting the islands. You need special permission to access these ancient royal lands, but that is why I wanted to take you with me through photos and stories into this wonderful, wild, place. Known as the 'Hidden Craters' hike, on...

  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...

  Manta Ray gliding over the reef. Heading out for an exploratory morning snorkel. The weather was a bit strange today so the area up around Puako was the only calm waters to snorkel. I knew there were spots to snorkel here on the reef, but I didn't know how good it was going to be. After getting tied up, we jumped in the water to see what we could find. A dangerous looking crown-of-thorns sea star was spotted early in our snorkel. You don't want to see too many of these on the reef, because they eat coral. I've heard that the spikes of a crown-of-thorns sea star are very sharp, like glass. I haven't tested this out yet. I almost didn't believe my ears when someone said manta ray. But sure enough, here it came, gliding over the shallow reef. I tried to freedive down under the manta so I could get a photo ID. We use the black marks on the underside of the ray to catalogue them. This was an 8ft male named Pu'uwai. Snorkelers and divers unite to swim with mantas. H...