Returning to the beach after nearly an hour exploring the reef with the aid of snorkel (allowing me to fake like a sea mammal), I was ready for a rest in the sun. Hawaii! I could not believe how clear the water was! It made me wonder how the dive shops rate water clarity around the world. Having snorkeled in the Yucatan, southern mainland Mexico, and Baja, this seemed to be just as clear if not more so.




One of my good friends, who is now bravely serving as head of security at the US Embassy in Rwanda (yes, weblog fans, I am hoping to get out there sometime to bring you some serious exotic travel), knows quite a bit about water clarity and scuba. He spent time as a Divemaster on the Big Island a few years back. I remember him saying that behind the Red Sea, and the Yucatecan peninsula, the Big Island has some of the clearest waters to snorkel in the entire world!

Well, I was living that dream, and I was determined to start each of my next several days with a plunge into these world-famous clear waters. I found sea caves that you could literally submerge, dive into, and pop up in a different place than where you entered. With the swell so mild, I could lounge upon the reef, literally floating inches from the sharp coral, without fear that I would get tossed into the urchins and colorful rocks.

ER Harris