Where the dreams come true
Ever since my childhood, I have been daydreaming about the magical Hawaiian Islands. I would watch every movie and a documentary about these far away islands, their crystal clear waters, volcanoes, giant mountains and of course their dolphins.
In 2017, I received an invitation from a very good friend of mine who had recently moved to Honolulu so I couldn’t resist any longer.
After my arrival, we spent a couple of days exploring Oahu’s mind-blowing mountain peaks and beaches.
If you ever visit Oahu, make sure you don’t miss out on visiting many of its breathtaking hikes like Kuliouou Ridge, Makapuu, Pali Puka, Diamond Head, Koko Head, Kaneana Cave, and Pillbox Hike just to mention a few. The view from the tops is worth every drop of sweat but if you prefer less active relaxation then the crystal clear water around the island will provide you with plenty of opportunity to say hello to the friendly turtles and colourful fish.
After a few days, we flew over to the Big Island which amazed me whit its wilderness. Driving around the island you can literally find magic in every corner. Moon-like places, lava fields, active volcanos, green, white, black sand beaches, waterfalls… you can enjoy the tropical heat at the beach and then drive for two hours and you will find yourself shivering above the clouds’ below zero degrees at the top of Manua Kea.
I couldn’t imagine anything that could outshine all this beauty until we arrived at a place, called Captain Cook, which is located on the west side in the Kealakekua Bay. This location, popular for its snorkelling, got its name after Captain James Cook, who in 1779 anchored his ships in the sheltered water of the bay. First, the Hawaiians thought Cook might be Lono god (the fertility god of the Hawaiians) himself so they welcomed him with a great feast. A few weeks later, a storm damaged one of the Captain’s ships so he was forced to return to this location but this time the Hawaiians discovered that Cook wasn’t a god so they ended up killing him.
Getting to the beach was a real challenge. We walked for about 2 hrs on a scorching hot day through a 3m tall grass and on a volcanic rock until we reached the bay. But what we saw and later experienced, was worth every drop of our sweat. We jumped into the water and stayed there for about 3 hours surrounded by all the colours of tropical fish you can imagine. Thousands of them dancing around the corals in a fantasy-like scene.
We decided to wrap up for the day with a swim out to the open ocean. After a few hundreds of meters of swimming, all of a sudden, I noticed the magical sounds of dolphins approaching us. I looked around but I didn’t see anything just the dark blue colour of the bottomless ocean. I looked up after a few minutes of staring into the nothingness when I realized that my friends had disappeared and left me there all by myself.
Far from the shore, the solitude of this scene had hit me as everything around me became silent.
I looked down into the deep and all of a sudden small gray shadows appeared right underneath me. My heart started pounding heavily as the dolphins’ magical calls reached me again.
More and more shadows appeared and the dolphins started approaching me quickly. A pod of about 20-25 dolphins surrounded me and started swimming with me. They stayed with me for about 20 minutes until they were off to a new adventure.
This experience with wild dolphins swimming around me made my day. It was one of the best days of my life.
