Hawaii 2019 (page 8 of 11)

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Day 8

Dive Day! We got up early, had breakfast and headed to the marina. We got there about 20 minutes early so we just wandered about a bit. This time, our dive master was Patrice (owner of the company) and Heidi was the boat captain. WE first anchored out at Crescent Beach, which is at the mouth of the harbor. Strange, it seemed, but there was supposed to be a good reef there. From all the storm surges they’ve had in the past few days (stronger than anything they’ve seen a few years), a lot of the coral had been broken off. We didn’t notice it as much but everyone else diving with us that day was people who’d been diving at Kona for years and they said a lot of the bottom looked like rubble. We did see plenty of fish – much better than our first dive. We also had a pod of dolphins swim up above us for a while – that was really cool but then didn’t stop down and visit. The other divers were excited to dive there in the winter because apparently, this time of year, the waves tend to be too much within the harbor. After the week of weather we’ve had, that was amazing to hear.

The area was teeming with fish and a few eels and it was a great dive, although it took a bit to get used to hearing the boats zooming overhead. Between the first and second dive, we saw a big military plane doing a lot of “touch and go” (landing and taking off again). Later, we saw two Osprey helicopters fly overhead as well. We also got to watch the pod of dolphins show off and jump & flip high in the air. But of course, they only did that when Mike had his camera put away. They definitely put on a great show though.

The second dive was at Turtle Heaven, just on the outside of the harbor, per special request from one of the other divers. Unfortunately, we saw no turtles, but the reef here was a bit more protected, there was a white sand bottom in spots and a large ledge that seemed to drop off for a long ways. At one spot, we saw at least 4 eels all together in a spot – 3 green moray eels entwined together and one tiger (spotted) eel that was slithering along the bottom. Not quite as many fish as the first dive but it was a beautiful dive nonetheless.

Greta “blew out a flip flop” (but avoided the pop top) as we first arrived at the dive boat. She figured she’d just walk back to the car barefoot, but Heidi noticed when she was handing out everyone’s “slippahs” and we were able to fix it with some painter’s tape. On the bright side, that will be one less thing to pack on the way home. On the way back, we stopped at Kona Basik Café for a light lunch where they offered acai bowls & smoothies. Greta had a smoothie and Mike got a bowl. A quick lunch after long morning but we wanted to save room for dinner (oh, it’s Valentine’s Day too..) but Greta was tired of bread & cheese in the room in place of a meal.

Valentine’s Day dinner was at the Beach Tree Restaurant up the island a bit, at the Four Seasons restaurant. We got there early and walked around part of the resort near the ocean for a while. It was very nice there but the surf was crashing huge waves – we definitely won’t be seeing any whales. We stopped at the beachside bar and had a couple of cocktails – they were VERY expensive but good. One drink “Nahi Wai” had chili-infused tequila in it and it definitely was spicy! The other drink was called a “Three Hour Tour” and it had both pineapple & tequila – it was very light & refreshing. We also got “bar snacks” – one little bowl of assorted olives, and one little bowl of glazed mixed nuts.

At 6, we moved to the restaurant (still outside) for dinner. There was a light rain starting, so it was nice to be in a covered area. We opted to get the Valentine’s Day tasting menu with the wine pairing – which was something we’ve never done before. We got to watch the sunset from our table – there was a band of clouds at the horizon, but it still was pretty and we had a HUGE expanse of ocean view (one of the main reasons we chose this place for Valentine’s Day).

The first course was “Hualalai Prawn Tartare” served with little shrimp chips – it was quite tasty. The wine was a 2016 Jermann Pinot Grigio – not exactly what we usually like but it worked well with the tartare. The 2nd course was a “Paccheri” which was bread fruit pasta in a sea urchin broth, a crisp fried uli (?) on top, with crème fresh & caviar topping it; it was very fancy and also very good. This was paired with another white wine, a “2017 Feudi Di San Gregorio”, and we both really liked it. It was very crisp & light, without being so sweet. The third course was a “Local Beef Duo”. There was a very flavorful piece of brisket to share, two slices of NY Strip, and a place on a marrow bone, made from Hearts of Palm – all complemented with black garlic & a sorrel salsa verde sauce “swiped” on the plate itself. This was paired with a 2015 “Il bruciato”, a red wine that got better as you ate the beef. Dessert was a “Koa Kona Coffee Tiramisu with Luxardo Cherries”. It was very pretty and very decadent. This was one of the fanciest Valentine’s Day dinners we’ve ever had, and was very enjoyable.

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