Rainbow at Waimea Bay

This is a photo I took over on Oahu on our last trip there.  Today we had a nice rainbow over on the Pali here on Maui!  It stayed around for quite a while, but too bad I didn’t have a camera today.  Rainbows have always amazed me and we are so fortunate in Hawaii to get so many of them!  Today, the conditions were surprisingly nice, considering I could see major white caps out on the ocean from my house.  It was definitely windy out there and at some point I knew it would be coming in, but that was the big question…….WHEN!  Just as I paddled out, a turtle was waiting for me so I stopped to visit.  It popped its head up a couple of times and then dove away.  The wind out there was creating some bumpy rollers so I got to practice my balance today!  It was bumpy all the way down to the boat ramp and I wasn’t sure how long I should stay.  The turtles made me wait again, but finally I spotted one out farther so I paddled out.  It was “Spot”!  Then another turtle surfaced to the side of me.  Suddenly a big turtle popped up so close to my board and it swam really slow by me, so I laid back with my arms in the water.  The turtle swam right under my wrist and hand and its back rubbed up against my hand!  It was pretty neat to feel that shell gliding under my hand!  Next there was a lull and I thought about paddling back, but suddenly three turtles popped up around me in a triangle and I sat in the middle of them!  One of the turtles disappeared but two of them remained for quite a while.  I figured that was the turtle grand finale…and given the unpredictability of the wind lately….I headed back.  This time I was paddling against the rollers!  Just about the time I was making my way past Kam II, the wind backed off and the water got calmer. It stayed that way all the way through my swim.  Finally the water is getting clearer and I was able to hang around down at the reef with my fish!   It was still nice when I left, but the white caps were visible from the beach and still threatening to come in.  I hope it’s a nice day tomorrow!!