Passion (fruit) for swimming

  In Kona, people go for swimming strolls. Instead of a walk in the park, they put on goggles, maybe fins, and swim from the town pier. There's a swimming course set up there, often referred to as The Ironman Course, where the first leg of the famed race is held every year. I've come to realize it's so much more than that. While swimming there this morning with guide Heather as a warmup for our week, I loved seeing small clusters of swimmers, a half mile out to sea, just talking. There was a woman swimming with her dog. It all seemed so normal and routine for everyone. I love that. As we climed out of the water, we saw our guests Jeff and Amy. We last saw them on our BVI trip in 2010. They look younger. How can that be?

Leslie was our first guest to arrive today. Our system on SwimVacation Hawaii is to present each gust with a lei (locally grown and harvested), put a cold bottle of water or Perrier in their hands, and whisk them away in air conditioned comfort. It worked!

  

We gathered the rest of our guests over the next few hours; Jeff and Amy, Jenny, Hugh and his son Hugh Jr. We fed them a sashimi platter prepared and served by our amazing chefs Clare and Dan. We gave them a welcome talk, which included the genesis of the trip and what to expect for the week (unbridled aquatic awesomeness).

  

Dinner started with a delightful salad with a dressing made with lemons from Clare and Dan's backyard. with Uku (local deep water grey snapper) with sauce provencal over pesto mashed potatoes, and sauteed baby vegetables. All simply delightful. Dessert was a yummy passionfruit affair.

Tomorrow morning we head north to Beach 69. I can't wait to get this group in the water.

- Hopper