One touristy thing that I wanted to do in Kauai was go SCUBA diving in the tropics. I checked the "Ultimate Kauai Guide" book and called up one of their recomendations. It turned out to be a small mom-and-pop operation that only takes small groups out. I made a reservation to go on Wednesday morning, when the waves were predicted to calm down and allow the water to clear up. They were willing to pick me up on the way to Tunnels Beach, so I didn't even need a car to go on this dive. The dive guide turned out to be a real card, telling us jokes between dives. He had a special hand sign for "indigenous species" and used it to point out Hawaiian native animals in the water. He also knew all the local white tipped reef sharks by name. We met four of these sharks on two 60 foot dives! "Spot" was the first one, later our guide swam into a crack and petted "Slash" on the tail before she got upset and swam away. "Slash is not named for her disposition" he told us earlier on the beach, "but is named after the white scar on her side". If Slash had been in a better mood, he would have invited us one at a time to come over and pet her.
We dove in the Tunnels Reef, the large reef that Jamie and I had to paddle way around two days earlier. I had also paddled around it a few days before that because I was tired of dragging my kayak through the shallow water behind reefs. The water behind this reef was very deep where we entered the water for our shore dives, and I am sorry I did not paddle over it when I had the chance. The reef is named after all the caves and arches in the reef under water. We swam through a half a dozen of these caves in the reef, a thrill I had not expected.
The dives were over and I was dropped back at the Anini Beach bungalow before Jamie and Jana were organized for their outing of the day. Jamie wanted to hike the first three kilometers of the Na Pali Trail and see what it looked like from the land. I came along with him. Jana wanted to snorkel and sit out on Kee beach, so Jamie took his six month old daughter with him in a pack that carried her facing out on Jamie's chest. This gave her a ringside view of the trail and kept her engrossed and happy. I could not even see her over Jamie's shoulder, but I could tell that she was happy because I saw her smile reflected in the faces of everyone who passed us going the other way. Hiking the trail was a lot more work than paddling the same distance, and I got hot and sweaty. But I soon reached that point of equilibrium-of-discomfort and learned to see past it. The trail wound and zig-zagged through dense jungle with occasional streams roaring under it. At every turn we caught views of the ocean below us, the reef under the water in front of Kee Beach. Then we paused for a few minutes at the Hanakapiai Beach before reversing our trip back out again. We passed several groups of people hiking back out from camping trips. I figured these people would side with me against the Merriot people on the Kalapaki Beach. A little discomfort is worth the sights that you get to see.
