Panoramic view of the volcanic cliffs which stand high above much of Kealakekua Bay. Our favorite guidebook, Hawaii: the Big Island Revealed, notes that "in the past, important chiefs were buried in the small caves on the cliff face...Volunteers were lowered down the face of the cliffs by rope to place the bones in crevices...Once finished with his task, [the person doing the burying] would signal to those above that he was done. The officials on top would promptly cut the rope, sending the burial person, and all knowledge of the location of the bones, crashing to the rocks below." You can see the first tourist boat of the day, a yellow zodiac with an obnoxious pilot, preparing to disgorge its load of snorkelers. The water very quickly drops off to 100+ feet in depth.