Kona, HI

We arrived in Kona but the area is so shallow that we had to anchor outside. this would be the last time Carnival ships come here because our ship, the Miracle, is being moved to another mainland port and the ship replacing it is even larger. The crew dropped several life boats into the water to act as tenders to get us all to the pier. They also dropped a speed boat to get the boat crews to and from them. Several crew members were also in line to go into town for a much needed day off. The lifeboats are much bigger than I imagined and far superior to the ones on the Titanic. It looks like they also have rafts on board in pods but I imagine those too are enclosed to keep out the weather. At least I hope so! Tendering in to the dock didn’t take long at all and was rather a pleasant adventure addition.

The last time I was in a moving submarine, it ran on rails in a pond at Disneyland. Bernie wanted to do the real thing so we went for it on the Atlantis sub in the bay off Kona, HI. A small boat took us out to it. The crew showed us how to go down the stairs backward to get in. Inside there were two long rows of butt-fitted seats back to back. The seats are small so of course I got seated next to a football player size man who took up one and a half seats and behind a woman who kept hitting my back every time she turned around. We each got our own window but the football player kept leaning forward in front of me to look out my window. Aargh! Despite the aggravation, I managed to see quite a bit as we descended to the bottom and sailed around shipwrecks. Fishies came swimming by to say hi. We saw a stingray and a shark. I snapped a gazillion pictures through the window. The temperature in the sub was fine and the crew informative.

Back in town, we stopped in at a local restaurant we had heard had good fish dinners. They are on the second floor of the building and have a funky little outside elevator they have to run manually after you ring their bell. They have outside stairs too if you are up for it. The fish dinner is just as good as we were told. YUM! Would love to get some more right now.

After lunch we went looking for a geocache so we could get the Hawaii souvenir online. We walked up a steep hill and looked all around in the little shopping mall parking lot. Phone navigation isn’t nearly as exact as a good GPS for geocaches. We kept following it around until we finally found it next door. Woohoo!

Shopping next. Lots more goodies to be found. I found the coconut monkey banks I wanted for my grandkids. I know it sounds silly but when my grandparents went to Hawaii many years ago when I was a kid, that is what they brought us and we loved them. I wanted to share that with my grandkids and from what I hear, they love them too. I found a “Hang Loose” tie for my son to match the t-shirts I bought his sons. LOL

Getting back on a tender to go back to the ship didn’t take long. We went up on deck and watched them bringing the boats back on board. That was interesting. When it was the speed boat’s turn, its engine died. Poor guy kept trying and trying to get it started as it drifted. It finally roared to life and they were able to retrieve it. We cheered.

For more pics click here.