Rainbow at Waimea Bay

On our recent trip to Oahu, we were treated to many rainbows, but this was one of my favorites!  Now for Maui…..another nice day for paddling with just a hint of a breeze coming from the south.  I wanted to paddle right down to the boat ramp so I would have more time with the turtles before the boats started coming in, but just as I was entering the Kam III area, I saw something big jump out of the water and splash down!  I thought it was too big to be a fish, but I wondered if it could be a dolphin?  I decided to paddle straight out and head in the direction of the splash.  All of a sudden, some dolphins passed by me!  I turned in their direction and started paddling but then they stopped and were just hanging around playing!  I sat down on my board near them…..and pretty soon they were around me!  Then I spotted one of the dolphins swimming right towards me…I gasped…and when it got to my board, it dove under me and then came out of the water on the other side of me!  It was so close!  They were definitely Bottle Nose Dolphins and not Spinners like the last dolphin encounter I had.  The Bottle Nose Dolphins are bigger…..at least these dolphins were, and I got such a close look at the one to note the differences!  I was ecstatic and started paddling like crazy to keep up with the dolphins.  I chased them almost all the way back to Kam I, where I had started out, and then I decided to turn around and continue to the boat ramp.  It was so exciting!  I paddled down to the boat ramp while the conditions were still nice, but once I got there I didn’t see a single turtle.  I sat down on my board to wait,  and I waited!  Finally I spotted my first turtle and I paddled over to it.  It was a really friendly turtle too!  The turtle swam right up to my board and just floated there, then a second turtle appeared too.  Both turtles were really friendly and they hung around until two more turtles joined us too!  I was happily hanging with the four turtles….until a dive boat came roaring in and making his spins to show off for his passengers.  Then he brought his boat in right by me since he could see me with the turtles.  Before I knew it, the pontoon tour boat was also roaring in, and it stopped on the other side of me to anchor.  Being surrounded by boats is not how I like to be, so I headed back.  The ocean conditions were still nice with some smooth bumps to paddle over.  Just as I was coming into Kam I, I ran into a paddling friend who wanted to tell me about the dolphins she saw farther north.  Little did she know, I had an even more exciting dolphin story to tell her!!!!  We chatted for a few minutes and then paddled towards Kam I.  We both decided to head in to go swimming before the wind came in.  By the time I went for my swim, the wind had already come in!  Like yesterday, I just accepted the conditions and swam north against the wind.  Then, like yesterday, a turtle appeared beneath me and I swam with it!  The turtle was so friendly and it swam right next to me and then would dive down and come up right under me.  It got so close to me,  I couldn’t resist patting its shell!  It did this a few more times and I was looking right into its left eye….it was THAT close!  I don’t think I have ever had a turtle stay so close to me before, and I was loving it.  Then the turtle headed out to sea, and I swam back.  I never know what kind of adventure I will have, but today’s adventures were definitely fantastic!!!!!