July 22 – 26, 2012
We headed into Oponohu Bay to wait out the coming winds. All around us the hills and mountains were lush and green; it was truly one of the most beautiful places we have seen. We practically had it to ourselves as most other boaters tend to prefer the “blue water” just outside the mouth of the bay.
There is nothing wrong with the “blue water” area – blue because it has 15 to 30 feet of crystal clear water over sand and coral plus it’s next to the reef loaded with tropical fish. But boats tend to bunch up there and anchor a bit too close to each other for our liking, especially when the wind picks up. We’d rather take the dinghy out there for the day, then sleep well at night tucked into our secure anchorage.
In our bay, the water was brackish with a mud bottom and too murky to swim in. Actually, there’s no reason you can’t swim there, but I think most of us like to have a clear view of what we’re swimming with. But the water is still beautiful to look at, ranging from a deep emerald green to almost black. Where we anchored, the water was strewn with wild yellow hibiscus flowers. Just as we were setting the anchor, it started to rain lightly, making sparkles where a shaft of sunlight hit the water.
We were heading below decks and closing the hatches when the tropical downpour began. We put on some rice for dinner, poured ourselves some wine, and listened to the rain outside. This, to us, is just as much paradise as is being in a spot where you can snorkel right off your boat. Most people don’t feel this way, and many never see the astonishing beauty in some of these deep bays. But it’s all good, and that just means more room for us.
We stayed in this bay for about a week, visiting the blue water by dinghy and one day taking our boat out there to anchor and visit our friends. It was beautiful, but when the afternoon breezes came up, we headed back to our bay. -Cyndi
