Swimming with a sea turtle
I’ve seen a lot of green sea turtles since we’ve lived here, but always from the shore. Today I got lucky and swam up close with a big male sea turtle in the reef at Palauea Beach! It was close to 4 feet long from nose to tail, which is kind of intimidating at first, but he didn’t mind sharing the water with me.
The footage is a bit disappointing because I had literally just stuck my head underwater when all of a sudden a big turtle appeared right in front of me, less than 10 feet away. Unfortunately, while fumbling to get my camera I took a big snorkel-full of water into my mouth. The combination of excitement, choppy water, lack of preparation, trying to avoid the coral and trying not to drown, resulted in sub-par footage… BUT I am still thrilled I finally got to swim with one of these incredible, gentle animals.
I know I will have many opportunities to swim with the beautiful sea turtles of Hawaii, but this will always be memorable.
There are a handful of experiences thus far that have changed my life in unexpected ways — swimming in close proximity to a Sea Turtle for the first time was one of them.
Good stuff.
Agreed, there’s something pretty special about it that I can’t seem to put into words. I was so shocked when I put my face into the water and there he was, right in front of me. I hate my footage, but I’m so glad I at least have a record of it.
My friend Cheya (the dive instructor) seems to swim with them every time he goes down, so I know he has some great spots for you guys when you are here.
When I was riding home today, a squirrel ran alongside me on a fence. It was only for a couple of seconds, and I know it’ll happen again, but I consider myself really lucky, and look forward to another winter in the Midwest.
I don’t think we have squirrels in Hawaii but we did see two mongooses scurry across the street today. They almost slither, it looks weird.
My friend had a Mongoose when we were kids. It was purple and had white mags and pegs, and the coveted dealibob that allowed you to swivel the front wheel around until the street lights came on.
I wanted a BMX bike SO BAD when I was a kid, but for some reason my parents decided my Schwinn Stingray already was a BMX bike. WHAT?