Kahalu'u Snorkeling

This post is going to be mostly pictures, because that is what I want to share with you. Kahalu'u County Beach is one of my favorite snorkeling spots along the Kona Coast. It is quite sheltered by an ancient Hawaiian breakwater and the reef there teems with fish, several kinds of sea urchins and surprisingly healthy corals. If you enjoy this post, you can check out some of my other snorkeling photos here, here and here.

The first one is what I call the "money shot". It is of a fantastic sea urchin that I have never encountered at this beach even though I snorkel here quite often.

Fresh Catch!

Wasabi Hoisin Mahi Mahi

Along the side of the road an old white pickup truck was parked. A cardboard sign, read "Fresh Mahi Mahi and Mangoes." I really should have a bumper sticker on my car, "Caution, I stop for roadside produce." It is a common place thing here in Hawaii, for a fisherman or farmer to just park his truck at an advantageous spot and let the people come. I made an instant decision to pull over and went from 45 to a full stop in about 10 seconds. My friend Maria and I were really interested in the Mangoes... and bought some beautiful big juicy ones. And then I said, "Let me see your fish." He complied. I bought.

I sent out a shout on FB asking for suggestions on how to prepare the beautiful fresh filets. I immediately got over 25 replies. My original thoughts were to either simply grill the filets or to grind up some mac nuts and crust them, but I asked for ideas and I got lots of them. I chose to combine a couple of ideas. My friend Gail shared a method she learned at Taylor Camp in the '60's: Slather with wasabi, splash on soy sauce and bake.

In the end, I gave the filets a little bath of olive oil, then put them on the grill along with some hot chiles I was roasting and some gently smashed Yukon Gold Potatoes from a local farm. After the first side had grilled, I flipped the filets and added a light coating of wasabi paste, then a drizzle of Hoisin Sauce. I let it cook about 3 minutes and removed it from the grill. I served it with a cabbage salad, AMAZING corn on the cob from another truck farmer emergency stop on the side of Highway 19 and the smashed grilled Yukon Golds. It was a fine dinner. 99.9% local, only the Wasabi, olive oil and Hoisin were imported. This recipe is so simple and so delicious, you must try it even if you do not have a truck on the side of your highway selling fresh catch. It would also be a good treatment for salmon, ono, ahi and many other fish.

Whole Fresh Grilled Ahi Tacos

Straight off the boat for $2 a pound... how could I resist this fish? I asked my Facebook friends for cooking ideas, but went back to my original plan... to very simply cook the fish over a fire as a whole fish, then to shred it and serve with home made tortillas, avocado, onions, cilantro, salsa and crema. On the side was an Espiau's Salad and Cuban Black Beans. Simple is best sometimes.

After the fish was gutted, I stuffed the cavity with lemon slices, lemon grass, olive oil, garlic, smoked sea salt and kaffir lime leaves. Then it was placed on the grill, slathered with olive oil and sea salt, then grilled for about 12 minutes on each side. After it was cooked, I served it whole on the table and I shredded the meat from the bone for the tacos. Ed ate a good bit of the meat before making tacos. It was really delicious.

My friend Brenda tackles the cleaning of the fish... 

Using two baking racks one on top of the other, you have a "fish cage" that makes it easy to flip the fish. 

Served with wedges of lime and lemon

And Brenda made her first tortillas after a brief lesson!
You can go to my other blog for a lesson in making tortillas. It is very easy to do and so delicious too!

Several bottles of wine later, we concluded that we had consumed yet another wonderful meal together. 

More of the Octopuses Garden...

Yesterday I went over to Kona for a mini-vacation. It is fun how driving just two hours puts you in another state of mind. That is one of the great things about living on the big island of Hawai'i, it is large, you really do not get island fever here. It is so diverse and has so many great things to do with various scenery, weather and opportunities. Yesterday it was rainy and cool (76 degrees instead of the usual 80) in Hilo, so driving across the island to the dry (also warmer and sunnier) side was a "no brainer". We have lots of great snorkeling places in and around Hilo, but I must admit, my favorite places to snorkel are on the other side of the island.

This post is going to be mostly photos from my dive, but first let me tell you about one of my favorite snorkeling locations. I have snorkeled all over the world, Fiji, Bonaire, Belize, Cozumel and many other locales. I have also snorkeled all around the big island. But consistently, some of the best snorkeling adventures have been at Kahalu'u Beach Park, just south of downtown Kona. The thing about Kahalu'u is that it has an easy entry, places for people of all levels to snorkel, the water is protected by a sea wall supposedly built by the Menehune.  Though it was built in ancient times and has deteriorated somewhat, it still provides protection and makes an excellent home for corals and reef fish. I see more variety of both of those here.

There are an abundance of parrot fish, convict tang, a few types of butterfly fish, porcupine fish, needle fish, puffers, needle fish, wrasses, hawk fish, Moorish idols, several kinds of angel fish, occasional interesting box fish and a few eels. I did see a small "Nemo" (clown fish) yesterday, but that is rather rare there. Yesterday, I encountered a Honu, a sea turtle. She was a juvenile and swam with me for about 100 feet. The corals here are in good shape considering the amount of people that visit this location. On some occasions that I have been there, volunteers educate visitors about how to navigate the bay without damaging the coral.

The really good snorkeling is about 100 feet off shore and beyond. There are some freshwater springs that make the water a little murky at the shore line. This is not a white sand beach, but a salt and pepper beach. There is quite a lot of natural shade on the south point of the beach. It is also close enough to the surfing side of the bay to get quite a show from shore. If the surf is not high, you can also venture out to the other side of the breakfront and find some larger fish.

The beach has good parking (especially if you get there early in the day or mid-day when the first round of people are leaving. Avoid it on Wednesdays that is when the regular cruise ship is in town. There are a full range of facilities here. Showers, restrooms, picnic tables with grills, a lunch truck with shave ice and rentals of all kinds of equipment. There is even a locker service for you to check your valuables and keys, though I have found this beach to be extremely safe.  The water is calm enough for children and beginners. This is where I usually take people who have never snorkeled because you do not face the surf issues that usually instill fear in first timers and yet they are guaranteed a great show of fish.

Here is another post I made about snorkeling at Mauna Lani and Richardson's Beach.  This one was from a previous trip to Kahalu'u. And this one is about our dive club which meets on the first sunday of every month at Richardson's.

In the picture below, see the honu (turtle resting on the bottom by the rock) In the next picture you will see her swimming along with me. It was great fun. 

Are you planning a visit to the big island? If so, drop me an e-mail and I would be glad to give you some other suggestions for what to see and do and where to dine!

The Octopus's Garden

Yesterday I headed over to Kona for the day. I felt like I had become complacent living here in paradise and that I was not taking full advantage of where we are. It's true that when you love someplace this beautiful and you look out at the ocean every day the amazing beauty of this place does become routine. I want to continue to explore and enjoy the island as much as I can.

We had lunch at the Fish Hopper . Then visited the newly opened Huliehe'e Palace and the old Moku'aikaua Church. The palace which was the Hawaiian Royal Family's Summer home had been damaged in an earthquake 3 years ago and had to undergo extensive renovations. It recently re-opened. 

Then we went to Kahalu'u Beach County Park for some snorkeling an reading on the beach under the trees. This beach is one of my favorite for snorkeling because there is always an abundance of fish and coral, easy ocean entry, lifeguards, a protected area for snorkeling because of a large reef and there is lots of shade as well as restrooms, lockers to rent and even shaded parking. However, because it is a very popular place, I only visit it on weekdays and not on days when there is a cruise ship in town. There are plenty of great snorkeling beaches all over the island to choose from. So here are some pictures I took when snorkeling yesterday:

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