Have you ever wanted to experience the surreal sensation of having a real seahorse wrap itself around your finger? Yeah, me too. I’ve long been fascinated with the tiny ocean steed but had only observed their adorableness through 4″ thick aquarium glass until I visited the Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm on the Big Island of Hawaii, located in Kailua Kona just a hop, skip and gallop south of the Kona Airport.
The informative tour of the seahorse farm will walk you through the mating process (an all-ages explanation) and the birth of many baby seahorses, the relentless servitude of the male seahorse, the work the farm does to increase the population of these special, highly delicate creatures, let you feed them a cup full of miniature shrimp, and then for the big finale, you’ll get to meet a seahorse up and close personal as they wrap themselves around your fingers.
This. Is. So. Rad!
To see the look on my youngest daughter’s face as she made her hands into faux coral beneath the water and had a seahorse come to wrap itself around her fingers was breathtaking. She might never get to do that again and I was so happy to be able to witness it…and to get to do it myself. Squeal!!
Like much of everything in Hawaii, tickets to the Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm don’t come cheap but this is, quite literally, a once in a lifetime opportunity to see, learn and hold a real live seahorse. Ticket info to the Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm can be had here.
