Captain Zodiac Rafting at Na Pali

Had to wake up at 4:45 am to get to Port Allen by 5:45 am. That was the check-in time for our rafting tour at the Na Pali coast.

By 6;30 am we were on our way in the small rubber boat (same as US Coast Guards use) with our skiper T and his help Cory. At first it was a little bit cold in the wind, we were driving in 40-60 miles per hour, I guess that would be about 35-55 Knots or 64-96 km/h. It was a fun and bumpy ride along the Na Pali coast.

Before we got there though our skipper stopped the boat to watch some dolphins that we passed. At first they were not so playful, probably because it was early in the morning and they were having fly-fish for breakfast hen we popped in. But after a while they started to come closer to the boat and were spin-jumping. Even the kid dolphins tried to spin-jump but with less success than the adult ones. However, the kids really have to learn how to spin-jump – would be an embarrassment to be named Hawaiian spinner dolphins without being able to spin-jump wouldn’t it?

Spinner dolphin

We did small stops like that all the way throughout our raft. Either to watch sea turtles, dolphins, caves, or just to stretch our legs. It was great to be able to come so close to the Na Pali cliffs that you could touch them and to be able to go into the caves with the boat. And great fun to jump on the waves in full (or maybe 75% or so) speed. Although of the 8 people joining the ride only Chie and I seemed to enjoy it.

Cave at Na Pali Na Pali coast

It was even an American couple on their honeymoon that argued afterwards. The wife wanted to sit in the back were it was less bumpy and the husband wanted to keep on sitting in the front. Apparently they disagreed in who was the most selfish one not wanting to be together with the other one during their honeymoon. Kind of making a hen out of a feather to me, but who am I to tell?

Rafting boat Sea turtle

By 11:30 am we were back in Port Allen. Even though it was very nasty to get up so early it felt quite good now because we had been on a 5 hour rafting tour and still had many hours to enjoy left. We went to our favorite beach… Kiahuna.

The waves were big today as well and still fun to play in. Between playing in the waves we were relaxing in the sand. Until one of the waves splashed up all the way to where we were laying. My towel got all wet and we moved to a more secure place. Sounds dramatic? It was not. It happened before and it is just water.

4;30 pm we went back home to take a shower and get ready for dinner. Tonight was our first dinner out. At Roy’s.

We started with grilled shrimps with kim chee amd wasabi souce. Then Chie had a teriyaki grilled salmon on rice and I had a filet mignon on a creamy risotto. For dessert we had a delicious warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Yummy!