On our first day in Hawaii we did what all tourists do: we stopped at the local Walmart to stock up on important supplies. Included with those supplies were two sets of snorkels, masks, and flippers. Up to this point, we did not have much chance to use them: the waters were either too rough or it was too cold (relatively speaking) to go in. We decided that this morning we would get our money’s worth. We stopped in Lydgate Park. Well, we tried to stop. The entrance to the park is a semicircle that leaves the highway and returns to the highway. You have to turn off of it to arrive at the beach. I managed to complete the semicircle and return the highway. After a twenty minute U-turn, we made it to the beach and parked.

The blue book tells us that Lydgate Park is perfect for the beginner snorkeler. It’s an enclosed area of the ocean with (man-placed?) rocks forming a half circle around a large swimming and snorkeling area. Beyond the rocks is the ocean with the scary winter waves crashing but not overtaking the swimming area (unlike Queen’s Bath yesterday where the large waves broke and flooded the Bath). There was a smaller half-circle area to the left of the main one, presumably for the smaller children. The park had as many children playing in the sand and water as chickens and roosters. This is saying a lot in Kauai, which is overrun with poultry (they were released after the last hurricane and seem to do well on their own—like stray dogs but without the animal control). Besides the children and chickens, there were a number of snorkelers who worked their way along the outer rocks looking for the three schools of fish that live off the fish food and bread that snorkelers inevitably bring with them to ensure the schools swarm around them. (I decided we were too cool to steal bread from the yummy breakfast buffet, and had to make do with the fish leftovers from other snorkelers.)

With our recent SNUBA experience in mind, we outfitted ourselves in our regalia, and headed into the water. We dunked ourselves immediately to get over the initial cold shock of the water. We then slipped on our flippers and grabbed hands and swam out toward the fish. We found a few schools and paddled around for a while. It was similar to the SNUBA experience except with less fish and rocks, and no post-swim induced euphoria/memory loss. The fish mostly ignored us and we followed the two or three that we found. We lasted a good fifteen minutes before our leaky masks and the cold wind did us in. We spent the rest of the morning lying on the beach, napping, and snapping photographs.

After our morning snorkel, I made the executive decision to take it easy today. We had spent the previous days adventuring and hiking, and I woke with sore muscles and a deep desire to sit by the pool and read. We returned to the hotel for lunch, continuing with our garden burger and fries theme, and followed our lunch with a quick dip in the oversized (and misshapen) hotel pool, and a delightful soak in the hot tub. We relaxed by the pool and did more napping before returning to the hotel room for even more napping.

Before dark we went to the beach area around the pool and watched a fabulous albeit short hula dance with traditional drum and singing. The two male hula dancers stood around looking Hawaiian, while the two ladies did all the work.

We then headed to Caffe Coco, a restaurant that the blue book could not describe. The food was interesting and strange: a mix of Indian and Thai and perhaps a bit of Jamaican thrown in for good measure. It was the type of place we were glad to have visited but probably would not return. A live band started its performance as we began our dessert. We lasted through a few songs before escaping. They played a strange mix of blues, blue grass, and country. The instruments included a steel guitar, an acoustic guitar, a guitar-shaped bass, an electric ukulele, a banjo, and a wood saw—the type you play with a violin bow.