Today was Kona, which is on the biggest island of the Hawaiian Chain,
which also happens to be called Hawai'i. Today was also a tender port,
which means again that we had to get off the ship onto a smaller tender to
be taken into the port to see the stop. While there is a line the ship
issues tender tickets. When the line becomes short enough that there is no
delay, open tendering is called and you can walk right up and go
ashore.
Like many cruise ship stops, Kona is built up around the docks where the tenders discharge passengers. Lots of colorfull signs trying to get the tourists to buy souveniers. There are also various tours starting there to show off the island. I took the full run of a Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus and got a chance to see a nice stretch of comericalized property. Major hotels on the beach offer good views of the ocean and beaches to stretch out on. Everything else was like other ports, but it was a nice day and the driver was entertaining. |