Hanauma Bay

(more and higher resolution photos here)

On Monday we went around the corner from our airbnb to a Korean hole-in-the-wall that our host had recommended. The place was called Me’s Korean and our host was right, the food was cheap (for Hawaii) and delicious. After eating we boarded the #19 bus to the airport and rode for an hour and a half to cover only nine miles. There was a very peculiar proliferation of senior citizens jamming themselves on the bus. One would think retired folks with gold watches and union hats travelling to Hawaii could afford a rental car, but instead they all jammed aboard and one by one realized there weren’t enough seats on the entire bus for every senior to be offered a seat. When we finally got to the airport we picked up our rental car and headed to Snorkel Bob’s to rent equipment. On the way there, two blocks away, we passed Leonard’s Malasadas and swerved into the parking lot. Leonard’s had already been recommended as a “must do” from a co-worker.

They were right, the malasadas (Portuguese donuts) are just like creme filled “american” donuts but they have powdered sugar on the outside. I ordered pineapple ice cream to top each one with.

Half an hour later with our snorkels in the back seat we went to diamond head. The rain that had started pouring the moment our plane touched down in Oahu two days ago would not let up all day.

We had considered skipping our outdoor activities, but then realized that with the rain it would actually be less taxing in the heat.

However, it wouldn’t have mattered for our first hike as diamond head is surprisingly easy and surprisingly “safe” (lots of rails everywhere, etc.) compared to the more “raw” hiking experience back at home.

Unfortunately the experience would get more “raw” than we ever could have hoped for. At the very top of the volcano crest there is a small viewing area which would be great for photos, however, the entire place was swarming with perhaps millions of flies. There were flies everywhere, on every surface, in the air, on your face, under your clothes, in your ear, in your eyes, in your mouth and up your nose. It was impossible to even focus on taking a photo as you couldn’t keep your eyes open long enough. We basically closed our eyes and clicked the shutter a few times and then hurried the hell out of there.

We both had hundreds of little black flies caked into our sunscreen covered flesh all over. It was disgusting, but now we were looking forward even more to our next destination; snorkeling in hanauma bay.

We got to Hanauma bay around 3:30 in the afternoon and were dismayed to see signs saying the bay closed at 6pm. We hurriedly got our clothes changed and paid for entry, only to find we had to wait until 3:45 to watch a ten minute “introductory” film that’s mandatory. By 4 we were finally at the bay. The sky was churning with rain clouds, but the water had actually stopped falling when we got to Diamond Head earlier, and it was still holding off for us now.

We got in the water and instantly started having a better time snorkeling than we had the day before on the expensive “dolphin snorkel.”

However, after forty-five minutes I was getting perturbed that there were no turtles. It was then, drifting towards the north that I saw a turtle hiding from the current in a little “cave” in the coral. For ten or fifteen minutes I drifted along with the sea turtle until another snorkeler started crowding me into it. By that time the lifeguards had started barking about the beach closing. The lifeguards started demanding we leave the water around 5pm, but by that time I’d seen more interesting fish than we ever saw on any other snorkel (including Thailand).