Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

Midway through the trip we got to experience something pretty incredible.  

We all went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.

The day started really early with a shuttle pick-up at 7:30 with a very chatty driver.  He told us more than we needed to know about how he and his wife (who is the mother of his 15 children) had their first date at Hanauma Bay.  He also managed to get in a little info about snorkeling protocol and our equipment.  That was a nice bonus.

None of us had ever been snorkeling before, so we were all pretty excited.

Here we are before the walk down to the Bay.

Even if you don't go in the water, Hanauma Bay is absolutely breathtaking spot to visit.  The water is clear and beautiful and the waves crashing up against the volcanic rock around the bay is spectacular.

There is a lot of coral in the bay, and that's what attracts all of the fish and sea-creatures.  You have to be careful not to step on it too much, but sometimes it's nearly impossible.  There were some areas were there were coral structures that were 8 feet tall that felt like you were in a cave.

Once we had the glitches of the snorkel gear ironed out (and my gag reflex settled down) we were ready to go exploring.  It was one of the most awesome experiences I've ever had.  Sadly, we didn't have an underwater camera to take any picture of what we saw down below.  It felt a little like being in a dream. We saw eels, sea urchins, and hundreds of the most colorful and stunning fish we could have ever imagined.

Mike said one of the coolest experiences of his life was looking back as we were all behind him and seeing his gaggle of girls all following one after the other kicking our flippered feet.

As we left, we took another picture from above.  

We wished we'd have had more time to go back down to do it all over again.

It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.