Book it Early

We opted not to rent a car in Kona. What Mark really wanted to see was the memorial to Captain Cook but our research told us that this was virtually inaccessible by land - especially for someone (like me) with an injured knee. The best way to see it was going to be by boat.

The day before we arrived in Kona we decided we'd take the Land and Sea tour offered by the cruise line. It included a bus trip through the town and then a short cruise out to where we could see the memorial. The shore excursion folks were out when I filled in the request and dropped it in their box. I assumed they'd get to it. But when I hadn't received anything by dinner time, I decided to go check. (It wasn't out of the realm of possibilities that the tickets had been delivered to the wrong stateroom. Someone else's tickets had been delivered to us on the first day of the cruise.)

That's when I found out that it had sold out. We were on a waiting list. Number three on the waiting list, to be precise. The odds of getting on this excursion were slim and none. If we wanted the land part only, that was still available. But the very helpful gal at the shore excursion desk told me that everything was in easy walking distance and easy to find. (Code for "you don't need to waste your money on this tour.") While it was a bit disappointing, it did provide us with a reason to go back one of these days.

So we just kicked back and relaxed. Had a leisurely lunch and went looking for a fish plate. Here are some of the photos we took in Kona.