Black Sand, Turtles and Snorkeling, Oh My!

After leaving Wailuku River State Park, we headed to Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine Restaurant in Hilo. We absolutely loved eating here, we returned two more times. The teriyaki pineapple burger was amazing! The drinks were good, the service was fast and the servers funny. They have retractable walls so the restaurant is very open to the outside. If I am ever in Hilo again, I would 100% make a return visit.

Yummy Drinks at Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine

Following dinner we headed back to the hotel for my husband and son to get into their swimsuits for their first snorkeling adventure. My daughter and I were content to take pictures on shore and look for turtles. We were driving back towards Richardson Beach Park and I told my husband to pick a beach where we could see snorkelers in the water, so they would be assured of being in a good spot. Well, he pulled into the first parking lot at Richardson, where there were no snorkelers or even swimmers. I said, “What are you doing? No one is here?” He said, “I want to go here.” I said, “Why? The beach is better farther down. Why would you pick a place with no one around?” He said, “I just like it here.” I continued with my litany of reasons about why this was not even close to the best spot he could pick while getting out of the car. As we were walking towards the rocky shoreline, that I was pointing out was not a great place for them to get into and out of the water easily, I saw them. “TURTLES!” I yelled. I looked at my kids and said, “Remember you have to stay 10 feet away,” then took off running towards the turtles. (All sea turtles are protected by federal and state law in Hawaii) As I was running towards the completely not moving turtles as if they were going to disappear at any second I heard my son say, “I can’t believe it took her so long to see them.”

Turtles at Richardson’s Beach, Hilo, Hawaii

As my daughter and I sat on the rocks, trying to avoid those painful pine needles scattered everywhere, taking pictures of the turtles, my husband and son carefully made their way out and around the turtles to an open spot.

Turtles and Snorkeling at Richardson Beach, Hilo, Hawaii

One of the interesting things they noticed, besides fish, was the ocean was cold on the top and warm underneath. We later found out that the ocean here is spring fed by freshwater, which is much colder than the ocean water. They snorkeled for about 30 minutes before the cold water sent them back to shore.

My daughter was having a bit of jet lag, so we drove back to the hotel so she could go to sleep, while we walked over to Liliuokalani Park to explore the Japanese gardens. If asked her favorite part of the vacation I am sure she would say having my mom give me a 5 minute demonstration on the proper way to lock a hotel door even though I am an adult. The whole ‘my kids are adults’ is a concept I have yet to adapt to….still working on it.

As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.

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Turtles resting onshore at Richardson’s Beach Park in Hilo, Hawaii