Thursday May 5, 2016.
Today we had big plans to hit the road and head down south to the green and black sand beaches after hitting the Place of Refuge. After a couple returns to the room and loading the car with our snorkel gear we headed off to find breakfast. We stopped at this little cafe called Caffe Florian. It was quite tasty and we had geckos and a pretty bird as guests. 🙂
Then we stopped at Pu’uhonua O Hanaunau National Park, or the Place of Refuge.
We walked the tour of the park via the pamphlet they gave us and walked some tide pools.
We saw some sea cucumbers and a baby eel!
As well as lots of various fish. Then we drove over to Two Step next door to do some snorkeling. The small bay has a large area covered in coral and marine life. We saw a large eel and lots of different types of fish, Parrot fish, trigger fish and Moorish Idol fish. Some puffer fish and too many others to remember! It was lots of fun and it was the type of snorkeling I like to do, swim around and see stuff versus just float. There were lots of thermoclines where the water was warm and then all of a sudden cold. Weird but pretty neat.
We decided after having lunch when we were done snorkeling, to head back to the hotel versus trek down to the south tip when it was already 2pm.
We came back to the hotel and got cleaned up then took a walk around the hotel grounds.
We headed out to the Thurston lava tube we visited the other day and I made an offering of my lei.
Then it was dinner at a Mexican restaurant for Cinco de Mayo and back to the hotel for an early night.