Hawaii Day 2 - Coffee Tour and Snorkeling

We set an alarm for 6:30am so we could have some time to slowly get ready in the morning before our 9:15am coffee tour. Jet lag had different plans for us. Since Hawaii is 4 hours behind WI, Ross and I were both awake around 3am. I think we both managed to fall back asleep for a few hours, but by 6am we were both fully awake and ready to start our day. Jet lag was a big part of that, but it might also have been because of all the Jungle Roosters crowing incessantly that morning. Sounds like it’s a daily occurrence here. 

Ross brewed himself a cup of coffee and we enjoyed the cock-a-doodle doo’s from all the nearby chickens before taking showers, packing up, and hitting the road. We had some time before our tour, so we headed closer to the water to see if we could spot a few birds.

By 8am we found a spot to wander. We had about 30-45 minutes to mill about. And it paid off! Almost immediately we spotted a bunch of Warbling White-eyes and the very common Spotted doves. We also saw a family of Saffron Finches, including a young baby; some Yellow-billed Cardinals (whose more notable feature is a bright red head), and then some Western Cattle Egrets on our drive to the coffee farm. What a good start to the day!

We drove the 15 minutes to Heavenly Hawaiian Coffee farm, received a quick intro from one of the staff and started to sample a few of the coffees before the tour began. We had our Lake Effect Coffee hats on and while we were standing around, a couple came up to us asking if we were from Milwaukee. They were from Tosa and knew of Lake Effect! Small world. Our tour started shortly after that and we all gathered around to listen to some fun facts about the land we were visiting. We also were given some candy samples which were divine. Some Macadamia Nut treats and Peaberry treats. We learned that pea berries are actually just coffee beans that never grew into two halves of a seed/bean. It’s just one little compact pea shape instead. We bought the chocolate covered peaberries. Not sure if they are going to survive the trip home. 

After the samples, we took a short, but informative walk around some of the property. Heavenly Hawaiian produces about 30,000lbs of beans each year, which contributes to the approximately 2 million lbs of coffee grown on the island annually. It’s a cute operation, with 6 rescue cats, and a work-stay program.  You commit to at least 3 months of time and 28 hours of work per week and they cover your lodging. Seems like a pretty nice time! Maybe in retirement? After the tour, we sampled more coffee and determined which we each liked best. Ross liked the dark roast and I liked the Blanca which is fermented in champagne yeast. Surprisingly, I enjoyed all the coffee I tasted, black. I’m usually a creamer person, but maybe I just don’t drink the right coffee. 

Once the tour was done we had to start heading towards town for a bite to eat. All this coffee and no food was starting to get to me. We contacted the Novy’s to see where they were located. We snagged a parking spot and finally met up with our friends! Always good to see them!

We realized we didn’t have a ton of time before we needed to scoot to our snorkel tour, so we found a Mexican restaurant that was just opening up and sat down for a quick lunch. Ross and I shared a burrito, some rice and beans, along with the standard chips and salsa. We all scarfed our food down within 20 minutes and were off again to get to our 12:45 snorkel tour.

We all happen to book the same snorkel tour with Sea Quest, which worked out wonderfully. Ross and I were going to book an earlier tour with a different company, but by the time we went to book it, it was already sold out. Guess it was meant to be! 

Despite being in Hawaii, I was preparing myself for cold water. Turns out…it was quite cold! We had a nice boat ride out to the snorkeling point and were on the lookout for whales, but didn’t really see any on the way. Once we got to our spot, we geared up and jumped off the side of the boat. BRRRRRR!!!! The water was definitely colder than I hoped for. I even had a long sleeve swim shirt on. The snorkeling was pretty alright. There were plenty of fish, including a large school of Yellow Tang and some pretty Parrotfish, but I’ve had better snorkeling experiences elsewhere. I’m still quite happy for the experience! We were allotted about an hour of swim time, but after 30 minutes, I had had enough of the chilly water and was the first one back on the boat. The two-person crew had prepared us some small plates of fruit and had some other snacks available for us. 

As I tried to dry off and warm up, I kept an eye out for some birds. I did bring the binoculars with just in case. I couldn’t officially spot anything while waiting for the rest of our 12 person group to come back in, but I believe I saw a Night Heron on the shore. I did also see two goats on the mountainside. 

Eventually everyone climbed back in and we headed back from whence we came. Shortly after departing, we spotted some Humpback Whales. We tried to follow for a bit, at a very safe distance, and saw a few spurts of water, a small whale, and eventually a tail! As a bonus, we also had a pod of small Spinner Dolphins fairly close to the boat. Such wildlife! But to top it off, we saw two White-tailed Tropicbirds and a Brown Booby! The Tropicbird’s tail is quite majestic and I suggest you look it up. The Brown Booby was just bobbing along in the water, so our Captain stopped for us to get a closer look. Eventually it took off, flying really close to our boat. It was so cool to get such a close view. Our first Booby sighting! We made a few more stops to look at some land formations and lava tubes before returning to shore. It felt nice to get on land and into the warm sun. 

We decided to all go out to dinner together and landed on Black Rock Pizza back in Kona. Ross and I shared a white-sauced veggie pizza which was very good. Everyone enjoyed their meals. With that, it was time we parted ways for the night. Richard and company were headed along the north route back to Hilo and Ross and I were headed south to get to our next lodging, Kilauea Military Camp, with a slight detour to the Secret Banana Bread stand. We found our bread, with bonus avocados, and then made the 2 hour drive to the KMC. It rained off and on during the drive and the roads where very winding, but Ross did a great job navigating all the twists and turns. I may have nodded off a few times during the drive. 

By 8:30pm, we pulled into Volcanoes National Park and found Kilauea Military Camp. Cabin 30 is our home for two nights. Tomorrow we plan to explore the National Park with the Novy clan!

Stats for the Day:

Steps: 13,805

Birds added to the Life List: 7

Elevation Change from Kona to KMC: 4,000’