Leaving the Na Pali coast in our wake...

Heading back to Port Allen, we leave a huge wake as our Zodiac speeds back along the coast for home.

Sea Turtle

While snorkeling, this sea Turtle swam by below us. I shot this with an underwater film camera (you remember film, right? That's the stuff you clean off your lens, right?).

The beach at Nu`alolo Kai

The beach near the Nu`alolo Kai fishing village is very rocky but very pretty too. The small bay houses a shallow reef that would have made this prime fishing territory but today makes it prime snorkeling territory.

The Mark of Pele

In the cliffs above the fishing village called Nu`alolo Kai are these 2 crossed lava dikes that make an "X" on the cliff wall. This and the shallow reefs made this a good place to live.

Nu`alolo Kai

Nu`alolo Kai was a fishing village inhabited by early Kaua`i residents and has been partly restored as viewed here. The place is only accessible by permitted boat and Captain Andy's is one of the only permitted companies.

Nu`alolo Kai

We pulled into a place called Nu`alolo Kai. Here's the view of the boat parking lot there. Our Zodiac boat is the 2nd from the right. This area is a great spot for snorkeling with the reefs just off shore. We had a picnic here as well after snorkeling for about half an hour.

Blue sky, green coast, blue ocean

More pretty Na Pali coast. Never gets old.

Looking down the Na Pali coast

Seems like every time I blinked, I was saying "Oh Wow! Great view!" This image was taken with an SD850IS with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/8, ISO 80.

Caves and coastline

Here's a view of the waterfall cave as we left the area. Did I say this was really spectacular? Well, it was. This image was taken with an SD850IS with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 80.

Waterfall in a cave

Just when you thought you've seen it all, we went into this cave with a waterfall coming in through an opening. Really cool. Of course, it was dark in here and this was a bit of a long exposure with the boat moving. This image was taken with an SD850IS with an exposure of 1/13 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 80.

Na Pali coast beauty

Pretty views of the Na Pali coast are continuous and spectacular. Except for all the boat traffic, there are many secluded beaches one could enjoy, though the boat tours and helicopters would be a continuous menace.

Waterfall and Na Pali cliffs

This section of beach fronts a waterfall and spectacular overgrown Na Pali cliffs.

Beach arch

This nice little beach comes with its own arch. Too bad we didn't stop here.

Caves and Waterfalls

The view along the coast of a waterfall as we leave the cave. Pictures just can't do it justice. This image was taken with an SD850IS with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/4, ISO 80

Cave wall

Going through the sea caves was fun, but getting a picture was not terribly successful. I had to stretch the contrast and brightness a lot to get this image even with the on camera flash. It would be fun to examine the structure of the cave wall in detail. This image was taken with an SD850IS with flash and an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 250.

Cave entrance

Looking back at a cave entrance as we head inside. It was hard to see the walls very well as we got deeper into the cave. We entered several sea caves and one sea tunnel. Really cool old lava tubes. This image was taken with an SD850IS with an exposure of 1/640 seconds at f/3.5, ISO 80.

Na Pali Waterfall

Another waterfall flows over a Na Pali cliff. I bet all the waterfalls would be running more fully if the island wasn't in a bit of a drought while I was there. This image was taken with an SD850IS with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 80.

A Really Cool Place

Capt'n Ted steered out Zodiac through the entrance just left of center and we entered this cylindrical "theater" with vertical walls that must be at least 100 feet tall. And the water is really that blue. Apparently an episode of Baywatch Hawaii was filmed in here once.

Upcliff

Looking up one of the canyons on the Na Pali cliffs was quite spectacular. Near vertical cliff faces with lots of vegitation was the norm and exposed layering in the lava rocks on the cliffs told a story of island building and destruction all in on. This image was taken with an SD850 IS with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 80.

Caves and cliffs and waterfalls

Captain Ted took us into our first cave of the day just past yesterdays waterfall. You can see our wake coming out of the cave area near center making a great contrast with the blue water and rugged cliffs. This image was taken with an SD850 IS with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 80.

Na Pali waterfall

One of many waterfalls along the Na Pali coast plunges into a debris covered beach at the base of the rugged fractured cliffs. This image was taken at 1/400 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 80.

A pod of Dolphins

A pod of Spinner Dolphins swims past our boat. If you look closely, you can see one below the water as well. This image was taken with an SD850 IS P&S with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/8, ISO 80.

Spinner Dolphin in action

A Spinner Dolphin leaps into the air - spinning as it does - before splashing back into the water. It was hard to get a good picture with the SD850 IS point & shoot camera and this is the best I got. I'd preset the camera, wait for the first sign of a jump and quickly point and shoot, but the lag in the shutter, camera motion, dolphin motion and incorrect focus all conspired against me. This image was taken at 1/500 seconds with an exposure of f/5.6, ISO 80.

Spinner Dolphin

While heading towards the Na Pali coast, we came across several pods of Spinner Dolphins that seemed to enjoy playing with our boat as the captain steered in circles trying to spot them as they'd appear and disappear. This image was taken with an SD850 IS camera with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/8, ISO 80.

Captain Ted

We went on a Zodiac tour of the Na Pali coast on June 7 run by Captain Andy's Zodiac tours out of Port Allen. Our tour guide and skipper was Captain Ted shown in this image. This image was taken with an SD850IS with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/8, ISO 80 at 5.8mm focal length.