Cruise of a lifetime with Ocean Joy

On a perfect Saturday afternoon in September, Ocean Joy Cruises sponsored a group cruise for HLWSF. We chose to bring some teens from Waianae’s Ke Ala for Youth Program. Even though a snorkeling cruise is an every day event in Hawaii, these kids had never been on one.

Coming out of the harbor at Koolina on the catamaran Ka Oli Oli, it was easy to see the kids were thrilled. They took great joy in the ocean spray hitting them and the feeling of freedom as we moved across the ocean was evident by their constant smiles.

Our destination was a spot off of Makaha. It wasn’t long after we started that we saw the pods of spinner dolphins everywhere. I was amazed at how many there were and they were just a few hundred yards off the Nanakuli shores. The kids were thrilled as the dolphins raced along in front and beside the vessel. The crew was exceptional on this cruise. Patrick explained that we would not be swimming with these dolphins as too many snorkelers in the water could stress them out.

We cruised on up the coast getting a nice narration about the coastline and some of its history from Captain Maureen. When we arrive at our snorkeling destination we were given some snorkeling safety rules and told what to expect in the water. Of course Ocean Joy provided all of our equipment including vests to help us float easier.

The water was deep and at first I thought “where’s the fish”, but as we calmed down in the water the fish started swimming closer. The highlight was a family of sea turtles swimming below us.

There were at least five of them. The kids had already been told not to try touching them as it can lead to the turtles getting a disease. This snorkeling was excellent! After the snorkeling we were all given an enjoyable lunch and we ate all we could.

The crew allowed the kids to go up and visit the Captain in turns. Not one person turned that opportunity down. It was very cool that they allowed the kids to see things from the driver’s point of view and learn a little about operating the vessel.

Our cruise lasted three hours and when it was over the kids all said it was the best time ever. Events like this can make such a difference in a teen’s life. It can change the way they think about themselves, their future and how they feel about the environment around them. HLWSF would like to thank Shane at Ocean Joy Cruises and his most excellent crew for this “Cruise of a lifetime” experience they gave these teens from Ke Ala for Youth.