Mike in the Wild

I was more excited about snorkeling at Ke'e Beach than anywhere else on my recent visit to Kauai.  Of the renowned sites on the Hawaiian island's north shore, it was the only one I'd not managed to visit on my two previous trips starting in 2020.  I might have only ever snorkeled there once before, thirty years ago on my very first trip to anywhere in Hawaii, and I remembered almost nothing about it.    Luckily two weeks before my latest arrival, I secured a mandatory reservation for entrance to the site, part of Ha'ena State Park, along with a remote parking spot and a shuttle between the sites, all for forty dollars.  However I was surprised to learn that the other travelers on my shuttle weren't going to the park's famous beach, Ke'e, but instead were setting out for a completely different adventure: a hike along the Kalalau Trail.   The trail hugs Kauai's remote and spectacular Napali coastline, a remote palisade of volcanic cliffs that tower over ...

On my first cruise out of San Juan in nearly a decade, I revisited mostly familiar islands—Barbados, Saint Lucia, Antigua, Saint Kitts—each still delivering its own distinct charms. But it was Tortola, the lone newcomer on the itinerary, that I most anticipated. I’d explored Saint Thomas and Saint John in the U.S. Virgin Islands before, but the British Virgin Islands had always remained just out of reach—lush silhouettes rising beyond turquoise channels, a short ferry ride from shores I already knew. Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, and a scatter of smaller islets sit tightly grouped with their American neighbors in what many call the Caribbean’s most beautiful seascape. Tortola also promised some of the trip’s best snorkeling, so I booked an afternoon excursion to one reef-rich islet. Still, I wanted a feel for the island itself. So first thing after our cruise ship arrived, I hopped into a shared open-air taxi and crossed the island to Cane Garden Bay Beach, several miles from t...

I just traveled over three hundred miles across and around Oahu seeking out its best snorkeling sites.  No place was more renowned on my list of eleven locations than Hanauma Bay.  It was also the most difficult to visit, requiring lots of preparation: a reserved ticket, a specific entry time, long lines, multiple check-ins, a reef-etiquette lecture, and, finally, an educational/safety video.  While its landscape set within a sunken volcanic crater was breathtakingly beautiful and its extensive reef's marine life magnificent, Hanauma Bay turned out to be much less impressive of a snorkeling spot than Shark's Cove, another spot on my list. Hanauma Bay on Oahu. In a snorkeling comparison, another Hawaiian island, Maui, has probably spoiled me.  Its northwestern and southern coastlines contain a multitude of resorts and guest lodgings that front miles of coral reefs laying an easy swim from shore.  Its not uncommon to leave your hotel room with your mask, snorkel, ...

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...

Beautiful Maui.  I'm still pinching myself that I was part of the first wave of tourism when Hawaii reopened their doors to COVID-free visitors on October 15th.  Of course, it didn't take long for me to acclimate to the windward breezes, the tropical sun and, especially, the picturesque beaches with their beckoning coral reefs just an easy swim offshore.  As soon as the surf shop opened on my first morning in the Aloha state, I rented snorkel gear so I'd be ready to dive right in during my seven-day stay.   I only had to walk a hundred feet from my hotel room to find a good site to snorkel: Napili Bay is one of the easiest and most rewarding places for underwater exploration in Maui.  Green sea turtles were feasting on algae at the south end of the cove when I first entered the calm ocean.  While reacquainting myself with these gentle creatures was just what the doctor ordered, it might have been identifying a few new fish that really captured the exci...