Friday, May 26, 2017 | Oahu, Honolulu, Hawaii

On our ride home from the Nature Preserve, our taxi driver insisted we stop to see Hanauma Bay and H?lona Blowhole. Quite an insistence since he spoke Hawaiian and his English was poor, plus we were still wet and tired from snorkeling. But I sensed a photography opportunity and Mark had just enough patience left to give me my way.

The H?lona Blowhole is one of Hawaii’s natural wonders, created thousands of years ago when molten lava tubes were formed from volcanic eruptions. The blowhole overlooks some of the most violent waters in Hawaii, and when the channel is churning in the winter months, strong currents and big waves send water rushing into the molten lava tubes sending geysers as high as 30 feet through the blowhole. During whale season, late December to early April, you are apt to see whales breaching or spouting at the surface.

Alas, the weather was clear and calm and we did not see neither geysers nor whales, but still enjoyed watching the graceful paragliders sailing over rugged coastline.