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The first thing you will notice as you approach the
steps of the pond are all the beautiful fish swimming over to greet
you! These numerous fish of all shapes, sizes and colors make
swimming in our large private "snorkeling aquarium" a
wonderfully unique experience!! There are literally hundreds of
exotic and friendly reef fish for you to observe, photograph, feed and swim
along side. We believe it is the only one of it's kind in the world.
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The second
thing you will notice is the water is delightfully warm and welcoming. In this
calm clear water, families can relax, float and
frolic without concerns of rough waves, strong currents or getting chilled. The
ocean tides come in and out twice daily gently flushing the lagoon
and raising and lowering the temperature, volume and depth of the water
about 2 ft. There is a stainless steel grate at the ocean end, to keep
our fish in and beach debris out. |
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The lagoon
is quite large-- 115 ft. long by 105 ft.
wide filled with over 500,000 gallons of geothermally heated
water. It ranges from about 2-14 ft deep. Volcanically heated fresh
water bubbles up and mixes with the cool tidal ocean water, so the
pond is heated to about 87 degrees at the surface, cooler if you dive
along the bottom. Because of this constant infusion of heated fresh
water, it is only about half as salty as the open ocean. No stinging
eyes and dried out hair here! |
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There are currently
45 species of Hawaiian reef fish in our lagoon and many of the tangs, parrotfish,
wrasses, etc. are actively breeding-- approximately 800 fish total.
All the fish are extremely healthy with deep vibrant colors. These beautiful
fish are accustomed to being fed daily, so rather than swim away from you
in fear as in other snorkeling locations, many are very tame and curious
and will approach YOU. We provide food for you to feed them and it is
totally fascinating watching them feed--
either while you are in the water with a mask on, or from
the upper or lower decks. If you've ever had an aquarium you know that some
fish have very amusing personalities and interesting interactions and
we have lots of those! They love bread crusts, cooked rice and
other leftovers and will give you much entertaining pleasure watching them
in action. They are just beautiful! Bring an underwater camera for
photo memories of your snorkeling experiences at Lagoon house. |
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Snorkeling
in our lagoon is a fun, easy and enjoyable way to explore
Hawaii's underwater wonders for family members all ages.
Even young children who could never swim out into the rough ocean
with it's strong currents, love learning to swim and snorkel in our calm,
clear, warm water. Parents tell us that their children's swimming skills
improve daily. We have many fish identification books so you can have fun
learning the names of the many fish you will see.
Scuba divers love the opportunity to introduce their children
to the joys of the underwater world. Moms happily report that
it is the first
true vacation they have had in years, relaxing on the lanai overlooking
the water, while the kids happily spend hours playing in the lagoon.
We provide a large selection of noodles,
floaties, boogie boards, etc. for
your swimming fun.
As always, parents need to be very watchful
about their young ones near the water as neither our pond or our adjacent
neighbors are fenced, and of course being a private home, there is
no life guard but you. These are natural ponds of lava rock walls so use common sense and caution.
No jumping or diving from balcony into pond. |
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On
the upper deck, we have a large handpainted mural depicting
many of the fish in the pond, to help with identification.
SWIM
AND SNORKEL WITH THE TURTLES
From the Lagoon house walkway, there are
steps that lead you into the well known public Champagne pond. Also
warm and calm, it is frequented by Hawaiian green sea turtles that
come in and out on the tides, mostly morning and late afternoons.
The turtles are gentle and rather accustomed to people so you can
easily approach for some good underwater photos. It is against the
law to touch them. To the left of the Champagne pond, on state
land is a long beautiful coastal walk, with hidden coves, crashing
waves, wild beaches and shore fishing. At the end of the coastal
walk, is the Kapoho lighthouse, where there is a federal Air
Quality monitoring station. The air blowing into Kapoho comes
in over 2,500 of open ocean and is reported to be the cleanest in
all the United States. Breathe deep! |
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View a list of the fish that live in the
Lagoon
Common, Latin and Hawaiian names.
Inside our gated community
is also nice walking--explore different ocean accesses, check out local
architecture and landscaping, greet neighbors walking friendly dogs, etc.
It is so beautiful and safe, many folks even walk at night, moon guiding
their way, glistening off the water...
In addition, there are other swimming/snorkeling/fishing
opportunities in this oceanfront neighborhood with a map at the house to
direct you there. While there is obviously NO fishing in our private lagoon
(these are pets, not dinner!), there is lots of good fishing in Kapoho Bay,
where local anglers catch snapper, jacks, chub, etc. We have even added some
of our pond fish that way... |
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OUR THANKS to Lagoon House guests Gwen Boger,
Ron Knox, Mary Van de Ven,
Ingrid & Paige Ingham, Goodin family, Thompson family and
friends
for allowing us to use their beautiful photos for this website.
No photos from this website are to be used without permission.
Web content and development by Ann Rickard Thompson.
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