So this third and final Hawaii vacation is coming at ya a week late, but I figure that it’s better late than never! It’s been a hectic last few days for me, hence the post tardiness. Let’s pick up where we left off: swimming with manta rays!
After coming back to the condo from the Farmer’s Market, we all relaxed a bit before heading out to our nighttime swim. We signed a little paperwork and were given wetsuits to squeeze into and learned a bit more about manta rays, including that the species we were going to swim with can reach 15 feet wide (!!). We learned a million more interesting facts, but my brain is dead from the ochem final I just took a few hours ago and I waited too long to type this post up so I forgot most of them 😯 . Whoops.
A typical picture. Me and Amanda unabashedly rocking out, Kyle amused, and Adam having none of it.
We ended up only being able to see one manta (they are HUGE) because of the fire worms present in the water. First off, you should know that they’re disgusting. They’re twisty little squiggly thing that move in an unnatural motion and are attracted to the lights we use to bring plankton for the mantas to eat. They get allll up in your face and it gets hard to concentrate on the massive rays with all the worminess in front of you. They only come out a few times a year to breed on a full moon, but their mating time was all mixed up from the hurricane that hit Hawaii, so the tour guides weren’t expecting them. Apparently their stings are pretty unpleasant, so I didn’t mind too much getting out of the water and cutting our excursion short. I spent a good amount of time trying to wave them away from me towards Adam. Survival of the fittest 😯 .
After getting back, we all slept in a bit before heading off to the beach. It was Amanda’s last day, so we went back to Lava Lava to eat dinner and watch the sunset. You guys… ALL THE FOOD.
The next day I left for the airport to get to my flight at noon and was back en route to my home in California. I spent the night at my parent’s house before driving up the next morning to get to my lab. Womp womp womp.
And there ya have it! My short Hawaii vacation in a nutshell. If you want, you can catch up with my other recaps here:
Take. Me. Back.