Mike in the Wild

A cruise from Seattle to Honolulu sounded like a great idea.  I liked the line, Princess; the ship, the Royal, had the best running track at sea; and the price was cheap.  Plus with five days at sea, I was bound to encounter some pelagic birds like albatrosses and shearwaters.  But rain showers while boarding should have reminded me that good weather wasn't a guarantee. In Puget Sound shortly after our sail away, I witnessed a tight flock of birds flying close to the water's surface.  Unfortunately they were so distant it was hard to identify them as surf scoters or harlequin ducks or any specific coastal bird.  The only seabird I could clearly make out in the area was a type of gull, most likely a glaucous-winged.  I wasn't prepared for the next day at sea when high swells and constant, unpredictable motion caused me seasickness.  It was difficult to focus on the shipboard naturalist's lectures, let alone indulge in the 24-hour dining options.  F...

I've been to crowded Honolulu several times, even staying a night near the airport on my very first visit to Hawaii.  It happened over thirty years ago when I connected through on my way to the neighboring island of Kauai.  I later took a couple of vacations to Waikiki, Honolulu's most famous beach.  On one of those visits I rented a car for a few hours and drove around the entire island, witnessing the quieter and more rugged North Shore along with the picturesque East Shore with its exclusive coastal communities.   On my recent return to Oahu, I stayed for only thirty-six hours after disembarking in Honolulu in the morning off a cruise ship that had left Seattle five days before.  While I planned to overnight in a hotel at the quieter east end of Waikiki, it was the North Shore that was the main subject of my itinerary.  After picking up my rental car at the airport, I planned two days of snorkeling the coastline's most popular reefs, from Kulim...

I had never been to Hawaii during the winter until my trip to the Big Island last month.  Of course the Aloha State lies in the tropics so exactly when you visit doesn't matter too much; there's always a pleasant day at the beach guaranteed somewhere on one of the islands.  However since humpback whales only choose the winter season to make their three thousand mile voyage there, you might want to book a February trip if these cetaceans are your must-see. Humpback whales range all over the world and feed mostly during the summer closer to the poles.  They birth their young and mate in tropical and semitropical waters like those near Hawaii.  This specific North Pacific population travels from Alaska and may number as many as ten thousand in any given season.  Maui claims to be the best island for seeing them, where almost any pull-off along the coastline-hugging highway between Maalaea and Lahaina guarantees a sighting.  I was destined not to be disappointe...

You're not on the Big Island of Hawaii long before you hear about the reef manta rays.  In fact based on all the promotions you might think these gigantic fish are a bigger tourism draw than the hot lava a couple hours drive away in Volcanoes National Park.  When night falls shortly after your late afternoon arrival in Kailua, you can don a thermal wetsuit, board a charter boat, and dive or snorkel in floodlit water to see the rays feeding.  Afterwards hot soup is available to take the non-tropical chill off.   Hot soup to warm up in Hawaii?  That doesn't sound like my dream trip to the Aloha State. Fortunately there's another option for seeing rays of a different sort and during the hotter, sunnier daytime.  Simply keep your eyes peeled for spotted eagle rays whenever you're near or in the ocean.  In fact on the first morning of my visit last week I saw one passing from a small bay into the manmade lagoon at my resort in Waikoloa.  With the ...