Hawaiian holiday, Post 6: Hanauma Bay

On Friday, we went to Hanauma Bay. The bay is formed within a volcanic rim on the southeast coast of O'ahu, and is a very popular area for swimming and snorkelling.

In a classic example of the negative impacts of mass tourism, Hanauma Bay was once almost loved to death. In the 1950s, dynamite was used to clear parts of the reef to expand the area available for swimming, and at one time the bay accommodated over 3 million visitors per year. A fish feeding ban was instituted only 10 years ago, before which "a half-ton of bread was being dumped in the marine preserve's waters every day by snorkellers hoping to whip up a feeding frenzy" (see article).

These days Hanauma Bay is a designated Nature Park and Marine Life Conservation District. It cost us $7.50 each to get in, and before being allowed to head down to the beach, we were required to watch a 20 minute video that talked about the bay's history and how to look after it during our visit (not walking on the reef, respecting the marine life, etc).

This is the view of Hanauma Bay from the Visitor Centre above it...





On the beach, we hired flippers and snorkelling gear ($19 for both of us for the day), but ended up only using it for half an hour or less. We saw a few interesting fish, but it was not the best day for snorkelling as the surf was up, which stirred up the sand and reduced underwater visibility. There was a jellyfish warning that day too. There were also enough other snorkellers that we bumped into other people a couple of times - hard to imagine how it would have been back when up to 12 000 people visited per day!! So my first time snorkelling was a bit of an anti-climax, but we ended up spending our time soaking up the sunshine and reading instead... no complaints about that!













Check out the size of the massive waves that were breaking around the right side of the bay!



And this was the pretty view on the way back to Honolulu... I loved how the clouds were always hanging so low over the mountain tops!



To be continued (one day to go!)...

Click here for lots more photos.