Snorkeling In Big Island

What lies in these waters of lagoons and ponds like here? (the Place of Refuge)

Yesterday I went snorkeling with friends at Kapoho. Although the waters in Pahoa and Puna are known to be treacherous, and not fit for even the strongest of swimmers, there are many protected areas, or 'ponds' where people can go in salt water to swim and snorkel.

My first view was like this:

I held hands with my son, who did not have snorkel (too complicated) or flippers (wrong size). I had to watch him because although he is an excellent swimmer, he is not a snorkeler. He refused the protective shoes of mine I had offered him, because they were pink. He did not understand the dangers of coral and sea urchins on his bare feet.

It was the most beautiful reef I have ever seen. There was blue coral that glowed under the water. We saw a moray eel, but it was striped instead of this pattern:

He was all the way out of his 'hide', and we watched him back in.

We also swam past the neck of the lagoon, to the pool that was still protected by the rocks. Then a funny thing happened--we started to get sucked out to sea. (I believe this was when the earthquake struck undersea by Kalapana, not far away). He panicked. I got calm. I talked him down, and we swam to nearby rocks at the edge of the lagoon. We pulled ourselves hand over hand in the shallows until we got to the safest pool. Then we saw this fish, the humuhumunukunukuapua'a, the Trigger Fish, and state fish of Hawaii (but not Diamond Head and Waikiki!):

By that time he was ready to go to the shallows where our friends were resting. I asked for 'one more loop' to explore by myself. I saw the prettiest purple and yellow fish I had ever seen. And an amazing blue one with yellow dots and emerald green markings. I saw a puffer fish:

And a sea cucumber:

I hoped to see this, like I did on Kona side in November:

But it was okay. I saw this:

Now you get to see all of these beautiful inhabitants of the sea, too! It is surprising how much is alive right under the homes and right next to the lava rock walls.

Aloha and Namaste,

Reiki Doc