My draw to Hawaii's Big Island for a winter vacation was the colorful coral reefs and boggling beautiful fish. The drawback is I could spend the entire week underwater snorkeling and never explore above-water activities. A solution surfaced: Snorkel before breakfast and try stand-up paddleboarding and outrigger canoeing afterward.

There's no shortage of snorkeling sites on the dry side of the island, and I opted for my morning excursion in two protected bays, Makaiwa Bay, a half-mile south of the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, and Kahuwai Bay at the Kona Village resort.

I snorkel alone, and both bays are sheltered from currents and ideal to view the abundant array of tropical fish. Ten strokes from Makaiwa's crescent-shaped shore and I was snorkeling amid a spectacular court of colorful fish, each sashaying through forests of fan and cauliflower coral.

Schools of daffodil-yellow tangs arrive en masse, not to be outdone by the princely pennant fish. Pennants are a standout with wispy antennae crowning their heads. I was gawking at a gaggle of blue-hued yellow-tail wrasse when the water momentarily blurred. I thought my contacts had come out. But island marine ecologist, David Chai, director of natural resources at Hualalai Resort, later told me that "blur eye" occurs where natural spring water merges with salty ocean water.

Butterflyfish, with their conspicuous, distinct markings congregate at Kahuwai Bay. The longnose has a snout like Pinocchio, and its cousin the raccoon is easy to recognize by the purple circle ringing the eyes. The ornate and bluestripe varieties win prizes for interesting stripes.

After leaving my underwater sanctuary, I decided to try my hand at paddleboarding (see more complete story on Page 16) and outrigger canoeing, two distinctively Hawaiian sports.Put a board in the water and Hawaiians will find a dozen ways to use it. The latest rage is stand-up paddling. Given that this was my first attempt at standing on a board, I began with a 12-foot, wide-bellied board -- big and wide equates better balance.

Stand-up paddling is shockingly easy -- if you have balance. This Zen-like sport required a brief lesson before I was let loose on my own. I began on my belly in shallow water and graduated to my knees in minutes. The single paddle motion mimics kayaking, alternating sides and hands. Standing up on the board is the tricky part if balance isn't in your favor. However, it was in mine -- I'm a yoga instructor -- so I eased up, legs wide apart, knees bent, and made it on the first try.

Keeping my knees flexible, I paddled out feeling like the Hawaiian god of the ocean. I could see how my upper body, thighs and belly would benefit from paddling, particularly when riding the waves in, which was out of my league for the moment. What I love about this sport is the sound of the sea lapping against the board and the visibility all the way to the ocean floor.

Midway into the week, I ambled over to the Fairmont Orchid hotel to pay a visit to one of the beach boys I met a year ago on the Big Island. Beach boys spice up their activities with local lore."Come into my office," invited Kalani, pointing to the ocean. "Not a bad place to work, hey?"

Kalani is the outrigger instructor on the six-person boat, but before I could set foot in the canoe he gave me the preboarding rundown.sitting or leaning on the support floats, or outrigger, or the connecting spars -- only in the designated seat. Never step over the canoe; it's impolite, so go around. Get in and out on the right side, never the left, or outrigger, side.

The more you take care of the outrigger canoe, he continued, the more it will take care of you, just like one big family. Hawaiians have a saying, "Happy to be in a canoe with you," which translates as good teamwork. And "outriggers are not happy unless they face the ocean," said Kalani, signaling for help to lift the canoe into the water.

Each person is responsible for one paddle. Kalani sat in the rear and on every 14th stroke shouted "hup ho" -- the signal to switch the paddle to the other hand, and shift our weight and feet to the new paddling side. While our outrigger canoe was fiberglass, the Hawaiians race in canoes carved from koa wood with much larger outriggers.

We paddled for four miles in search of big waves and wild-wet rides, but on this calm morning we were greeted with slim swells and a smooth ride. Very relaxing."Does anyone ever tip over?" I asked, imagining the outrigger mounting 10-foot waves.

"Yup. When it gets rough, novices love to lean too far to the right and -- plop -- over they go. Never lost anyone though," Kalani answered with a laugh.On my last day on the island, I went on a whale-watching excursion. The onboard naturalist, Jonathan, told us to focus on the water for the "blows" when whales surface for air. As we scanned the horizon, he regaled us with humpback insights, most notably that they don't have a hump but a fused vertebra.

Acrobatic by nature, humpbacks like to breach and slap the water. Males sing; females listen. These whales feed in the summer in polar waters and migrate to tropical waters to breed and give birth. These prodigious swimmers migrate 37,000 miles a year."Two o'clock," screeched a voice on the starboard side. "No, nine o'clock, there she blows," yelped another voice from the port side.

I darted from side to side, eyeing a few puffs of mist. The humpbacks were shy about emerging, but when they did it was an astonishing sight. Whales leaped and dove a hundred yards from the craft, lifting their tail flukes, which Jonathan noted have unique patterns that are studied by the National Marine Lab in Seattle.