- Seeing dolphins
- Snorkeling - esp rainbow fish, angel fish, and eels
- Kayaking to the Captain Cook Memorial and listening to Captain Mike tell the story of Captain Cook
- Warm weather
- Speedy the Gecko
- Playing in the sand
- Practicing tennis
We stayed at the Fairmont Orchid which had a nice pool, great beach and snorkeling lagoon, and daily tennis. It was way fancier than anyplace the kids have ever stayed (the trip cost still gives me stomach pain - 3x our normal Stehekin vacation!). Alex was quite indignant that 5-year-olds got free all-you-can-eat breakfast but 7-year-olds did not and were only allowed to order cereal.
For adventures, we drove around and saw a lot of lava, we went to Kilaeua and Akaka Falls, saw a coffee farm, saw petroglyphs and tide pools, and went to a historical cultural site. Everyone's highlight was getting up really early for a guided kayak trip to the Captain Cook Memorial for amazing snorkeling. On that trip we saw dozens of spinner dolphins jumping out of the water. Alex and Julia both took to snorkeling without too much trepidation. Both would snorkel in 10-20 feet of water, although Julia would occasionally turbo-swim back to shallower water.
