Kona, Hawaii
“Wake up! Wake Up!”
I pry open my jet lagged eyes. It’s seven AM and my brother is standing over me with a cup of coffee.
“It’s time to go fishing!”
We hop in the jeep and drive about thirty minutes down windy roads to my brother’s favorite fishing spot. He’s brought his speargun with him and is determined to catch us lunch. The whole shore is a sort-of shallow cliff made of volcanic rock with some craggy spots where you can get down close to the water.
We walk to the water with hands full of supplies; fins, snorkels, a float, and my brother’s spear gun. The lava rock kind of looks like charcoal, or burnt brownies I think to myself as I try not to scrape my bare feet.
We reach the water and sit precariously on the jaggy ledge of the rocks, waves crashing up all around us and carefully, forcefully, we push off into the water, kicking with all our might to escape from being smashed into the lava rock behind us.
Both of us wear fins and snorkels and my brother dives down like a predator every time he sees a juicy fish that is recommended for eating. I am preoccupied with marveling at tropical fish and trying to see how far I can dive without smashing my ear canals.
After twenty minutes or so of snorkeling, a huge tumultuous wave smashes into me and pushes me underwater. A mass of disorienting bubbles and water swirls around me and panic envelopes me. I can’t tell which way is up and I can’t see anything but a mass of air bubbles. The water is so forceful and rips off one of my fins, thrusting me toward the sharp rocks. With my heart pounding in my chest, I am horrified and completely out of control.
As the water mauls me and tosses me like an insignificant rag doll, I think to myself that it’s quite possible that I could die this way. This could be the end. Tumbling into the sharp rocks I push off of them as hard as I can, gashing my feet. I catch the surface of the waves for a moment and take a huge gasp of air before I am pummeled down by water again. The force rips off my other fin. My kicks do nothing against the power of the waves and the rocks are always seconds away. I pray that the waves won’t smash my head into them.
Another massive surge comes in, shooting me toward the cliffs and without sight I try to imagine where the rocks will be. I brace myself and crash into the shore and with pure adrenaline mixed with pain, I push off with all my strength and kick away from the unforgiving cliffs as hard as I possibly can. I kick to save my life and swim down through a million bubbles to the coral below where the waves have less power. With my last bits of oxygen, I make it out of the danger zone.
Heaving for air I swim to my brother. Relief floods my body and laughing and choking we swim quickly to shore.
Be careful people the waters around hawaii are no joke! Much respect.
On the bright side, we had fish for lunch, and it was delicious. I am so glad I am alive.
Next up, we visit the observatory on the top of the Mauna Kea Volcano, a dormant volcano towering 13,803 ft above sea level. Its peak is the highest point in the state of Hawaii.