Reef Shark at Keoneele Cove

June 13, Wednesday morning we went to our "manta ray place" in Kahauloa Bay, but the water was too rough, again.  So we headed back to the Keoneele Cove (Two Step).  We parked across the street from the cove on the Catholic church grounds and carefully read their signs to make sure we could have animals with us.  We happily put our $3 in the self-pay box (easily the best bargain on the island but not always available).*  We sat our things up at a table there, and took turns snorkeling and holding the dog's leashes.  Yea, a place with fish, an easy entrance, and we could sit with the dogs leashed but out of the car.

Bill and I followed a turtle from the shallows beside the boat ramp.  We were staying a distance from it, so that it wouldn’t feel harassed.  The turtle had a different plan, and it swam to us.  We decided it was used to people.  Then we swam out to the deeper corals where the tour boats had been bringing snorkelers there all morning.  Bill was going to show me a small bridge of choral he’d dove through earlier that morning.  As he was about to dive, out glided a white-tipped, reef shark towards us and then it swam under a ledge.  I felt amazingly calm.  Quickly we were surrounded by a group of very excited snorkelers.  Bill dove down to see where the shark had disappeared and said the shark was still there.  Not long after the shark swam out again and went back under the coral bridge.  It was beautiful and exciting.  Bill only captured a small amount of video of the shark. 

Bill commented while we were still in the water, “When you thought you saw a shark,  you made Rachel and me get out of the water.  The second time, when there was an actual shark, you said nothing.”

I laughed and told him, “The first time, you had our daughter with you, and it looked like there were sharks were feeding.  This time our daughter is safely on land, and there are lots of people in the water with us.  The odds are our side that we aren’t the first course.” 

We drove away excited about the day and the snorkeling location. 

* Note:  We've found that on weekends, this place often has church group campers and isn't available to park.  Parking isn't the problem, because we can block about a block away and walk when the few spots aren't available.  The problem only comes when we already have the dogs with us, and then we find out that the church parking isn't available.