Na Pali Sunset & Sightsee Tour

We took a catamaran boat trip Wednesday night and had a fabulous time. We left from the South Shore and the Na Pali Coast is on the North Shore of Kauai - good thing we were on the fastest touring vessel to Na Pali on Kauai. And boy did they prove it. Captain Dave said it was a calm day so we could go super fast to get as much time at the coast as possible. I would hate to see what a not so calm day was like. The swells were massive and even after they warned us that the ride was rollercoasteresque in front Todd and I headed straight to the bow - for about one minute. The boat would get what seemed like almost vertical and then drop as we went over the wave - you'd lose your stomach with every drop. We ran to the back and cowered together and held on for dear life. Much smoother back there, plus they had opened the bar.

Once we got to the coast it was obvious we endured this torture for a very good reason - absolutely gorgeous.

We would even get really close to the cliffs so we could see inside some of the caves - pretty neat. At one point we pulled in close and some people (including Todd) got drenched by a waterfall.

They served dinner as we headed back to port but on the way back the captain saw something and we came to a screeching halt - it was a set of humpack whales - mom and baby. The captain said it appeared that the mother was in distress because she was not going under like normal - the captain was really concerned and we slowly pulled away - he did not sound hopeful for the mom, but saying he did see a lot of humpback babies this year. so sad.

I wasn't expecting to see any whales on this trip - the season for them in Hawaii is almost up, they are all heading back to Alaska - we saw lots of the humpbacks jumping out of the water and making huge splashes off in the distance the whole trip - it was a nice surprise, everytime it happened seems like my camera was a little too slow each time. We paid almost twice as much for whale watching in Alaska and this was way better, go figure. Here is the only shot you can kinda see the end of the splash.

The ride back to port was even faster and rockier than the ride up - again, nice calm day according to the captain. We made it back just as the sun was setting and they passed around champagne. Amazing day.