This hub will address our last 2 days of vacation in Hawaii sharing many pictures of such things as our ride in a submarine and much, much more.

On our second last day in Hawaii we once again had breakfast at The Cafe...the absolutely beautiful open aired location at our Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani resort where we were invited to start each day complimentary from our hosts.

The huge buffet breakfast had so much from which to choose that one could have been kept busy sampling assorted dishes from various cuisines and it would have taken many days to try it all.

We met up with some friends with whom we had decided to spend the day and do more exploring on our own.

They rented a car and the four of us went back into Kona where we did some last minute shopping and decided to take a submarine ride.

..........................................................................................................................

These Atlantis Submarines had been televised (according to their literature) on National Geographic.

They are 65 feet and weigh 80 tons.  Carrying a maximum of 46 passengers they are approved to dive to a depth of 150 feet and are certified by the U.S. Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping.  The cabin is air-conditioned at normal atmospheric pressure and the submarine is propelled with DC battery powered electric thrusters.

The literature states that all systems are duplicated and for safety reasons a surface vessel stays in constant radio contact with the submarine.

We embarked upon our adventure at 10 AM in the morning.  These hourly dives take place each day from 9 AM to 3 PM.

A vessel takes the arriving passengers to the submarine dive site (after a short boat tour of the Kona Coast) where one climbs on board and descends into the cabin portion of the sub.  26 large circular over-sized view-ports are located...13 on each side of the sub from which one can view the fish and reef.

Seating is arranged down the center portion of the sub and passengers sit back to back facing out towards the view-ports. 

When first descending, the viewports (windows) are covered with tiny bubbles but once those clear the beauty under the surface of the ocean comes into view.

Never having scuba dived, this is the closest experience that this author has ever had of getting to see the marine life and coral formations of the reef that exist under the ocean depths.

We gradually descended to a depth of 109 feet.  The captain of the submarine sits up front with a large view-port and (as can be seen in the upper left of the photo that I took) one can keep track of the depth of the dive.

A scuba diver swam past at one point and fed fish.  Obviously this makes for some very happy fish in this area! 

The colors of the fish were varied and brilliant.  Obviously I had the wrong kind of film for underwater photography.  So don't judge from my photos.  I have included one photo of the fish that more accurately portrays what we were getting to see.  It was included in the brochure with the sub photo and the picture taken of my hubby and me.

At deeper depths the coral was not brightly colored, however.  Must have something to do with the refraction of light at those depths.

The submarine ride was quite an experience!  Apparently the waters around Kona have some fish species of which 30% are seen no where else in the world.  Being no fish expert, all I know is that we got to see some beautifully shaped and brightly colored specimens.

After enjoying our submarine ride and taking a last look at the town of Kona, we decided that we would like to become acquainted with another resort along the coast near the hotel where we were staying just to compare the differences.

Some people in our group had already been there and we had heard some good things about the Hyatt Regency Waikoloa Resort and Spa, so we decided to have lunch at that location and check it out for ourselves.

My oh my! Whoever created this wondrous place must have been inspired by Disneyland.

The Hyatt is also situated along the western Kohala coastline so one has perennial views of the Pacific Ocean. But what the landscape architects did in creating this wondrous place was to extend all that water inland and great big salt water lagoons make up a huge portion of the acerage in this resort.

Salt water fish can be seen swimming in these waters and we even saw a giant sea turtle.

Many people were snorkeling in the lagoon.

There is a dolphin learning center located there and a few people at a time are allowed to swim with these friendly looking creatures.

Sandy beaches line the lagoon and plenty of sunbathers and swimmers take advantage of this safe playground.

There is a flamingo sanctuary.

Of course there are multiple fresh water swimming pools...some with waterfalls...some with slides and naturally there are also pool bars.

This place is like Disneyland in its scope. The Hyatt Regency Waikoloa is huge and one can be taken to the portion of the resort wherein one can find one's room...or be transported to different areas within the resort by either walking; taking a boat or taking a tram.

The grounds are landscaped beautifully and Oriental statuary adds a touch of grace to the ambiance of the property as one wanders through the place.

Restaurants abound. We enjoyed lunch at the open aired Orchid Cafe. Thatch covered umbrellas covered many of the tables. The food was delicious and the views sublime.

Walking through the grounds we saw many of the appealing outdoor areas of this delightful and inviting resort. It looked like it would be a great place to bring families with children.

When we returned to our hotel we walked along the Petroglyph Park and beach area.

While these rocks that were strewn throughout the area were (obviously) not real ancient petroglyphs, it gave us an idea of what this area would have been like during earlier times.

Hawaiians would have carved messages of everyday events in cooled lava rock in days gone by.

All along the Kohala Coast, original petroglyphs were found mingled amongst the coral and lava rock which abounds in this area.

That night at 7:00 PM was to be our final pre-arranged gathering in The Courtyard of the Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani resort.  Suggested dress was formal.  A cocktail reception period with the sounds of a Hawaiian trio accompanied much talk and laughter amidst old friends and new ones we had met on this trip.  A buffet banquet followed and a dance band furnished the music for those that chose to wine, dine and dance the evening away. 

The last morning after a wonderful breakfast in what had become our "usual" spot, we took one last look around our hotel and grounds.

There was a self guided tour that one could take with a listing of much of the museum quality art that graced the walls of the Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani resort. We decided to avail ourselves of this opportunity and while the majority of the memorable pieces will have to reside in our minds, I did take a few photos of some of the things that we got to see.

Fine art paintings graced walls and antiques and rare porcelain pieces blended well with the overall aesthetics of this most comfortable of resorts.

Readers of this hub can take a last look along with us as to how it looked back then. New ownership of the hotel has changed the feel of this place from what I read. It is probably much more casual. Probably very pretty...just different.

We caught a shuttle bus to the airport at 1:30 PM and we said a final Aloha to Hawaii with our minds and hearts filled with new experiences to cherish.

Hope you enjoyed this grand finale hub which shared many pictures as well as experiences of our vacation in Hawaii including the submarine ride and so much more.  If you missed the other day's experiences, you are welcome to click on the links below to see things like a helicopter ride over the Kilauea volcano; golfing on a top notch golf course; an all day ground tour of the Big Island and more.  You are also welcome to leave comments.