Well...it certainly wasn't the most challenging paddle I've been on, but it sure was pretty! My family is vacationing on the big Island of Hawaii and staying in Kailua-Kona, and we heard that one of the best snorkeling spots on the Island is at Kealakekua Bay, which is 12 miles south of Kona. In order to get to the best area in the bay (right off the Captain Cook Monument) your choices are to go on a charter-boat excursion from Kona, or swim 1 mile from where the road ends at Kealakekua Bay, or rent Kayaks and paddle the one mile from where the road ends. So of course we rented kayaks! My wife and 3 children are not paddlers (kids are 20, 17, & 12) but everybody was eager to give it a shot. You can't rent kayaks right at the bay, so you have to rent them in a town a few miles from the bay and haul them on your vehicle to the launch po int. We have a Ford mini-van we rented, but I did not know how the outfitter would be able to get 3 kayaks on the car for 5 people with no rack system (two doubles and a single). No problem mon! The outfitter uses a hi-tech method that probably costs about $10. You take a swimming pool noodle (one of those long plastic things you use to float on in the pool), cut it into two pieces of equal length, overlap the 2 pieces in the middle and tape it together with duct tape, set one taped noodle on the car roof at the back of the van, and one taped noodle at the front of the car roof. Then, you lift the "single" kayak onto the noodles upside down, then the 1st double on top of the single...also upside down, then the second double goes on top of the 1st 2 boats! Then you tie the pile down by using 2 long kayak straps that go over the kayaks and thru the inside of the van. It worked great! Obviously, these are plastic boats, and were "Ocean Kayak" brand which stack on top of each other very nicely. So, down to the Bay we went. At the launch site, there are lots of "locals" that are eager to help you unload your boats and get launched for tips. I said I did not need any help since I have myself and 2 older kids, but that does not stop the helpers, and I got help anyway from an amazingly thin but incredibly strong guy that looked almost 60 yrs old. You launch from a cement dock, which is about 4 feet above the water level, but that is no problem for the launch guy. He slides the boats down into the water and helps everyone get loaded. So, off we went across the very calm bay to the Captain Cook Monument, enjoying the awesome sights and looking for the "spinner" dolphins which hang out in the Bay. The guide book says these dolphins are the only species which leap from the water and spin in the air as a natural behavior (not trained). Landing at Captain Cook Monument is a bit tricky as there are no sandy landing sites, and you need to pull your boats up onto the lava at the water's edge, but the snorkeling was outstanding after we landed the boats and got into the water. Beautiful corral formations, thousands of colorful fish, water depths ranging from a few inches to what appeared to be hundreds of feet, all within a hundred yards from shore. This was a terrific adventure, so don't miss it if you visit the Big Island.

Aloha,

Mike Kory