Snorkel Day

This was the view as we approached the exposed part of the reef out in the bay. When we got closer, the coral got so close, we had to turn around in fear of the waves crashing us into the jagged coral. Sorry, added this picture late so it's out of order, read on....


We started off the day at Hanauma Bay State Park. It is an old volcano caldera that is now underwater due to a rise in ocean levels following the ice age. It was a very nice place, clean, easy to get in and out. There was even a tram if you could not make the walk in and out of the volcano cone ($0.50 to go down, $1.00 to go up). Jennifer does not like to submerge her face, so this was a real challenge for her. She looked terrified at first, but she gave it a try. She had the typical "why am I breathing underwater" response. I had it too for just a moment, but I had done this before. She finally relaxed and forgot all about her fears when the first fish arrived.



The picture does not do it justice. I am not a professional underwater photographer and the camera was a throw away. But, at least we captured a few under water pictures. The fish were amazing. We even saw a few fish that are considered rare in the bay. One was three feet long and about one inch in diameter. We followed him for a minute, but then he darted off into the ocean. We saw very small fish that had a body that was angular. They were brightly colored with little stabilizing fins that fluttered like a hummingbird's wings in the water. They were my favorite. There were some rather large light gray fish that would circle and follow us. They would stay on the edge of visibility. They looked like ghost fish. There was a fish colored like the Jamaican flag. Tons of other fish. It was just plain "neat".

This is a view of the whole bay we took while walking back out of the caldera. Truth be told, I stopped to take this picture so I could catch my breath. It was really steep.

This was the "Spitting Cave". It was truly hidden. We drove about 2 miles through a neighborhood and parked in a cul-de-sac. There was a vandalized sign hidden behind a bush marking the narrow public access corridor to the rocks. This was a very high end neighborhood. The lot next to the path recently had the house demolished. The lot only is listed for $3,700,000.00. Great view. The corridor leading to the water was covered (and I mean every surface available) with gang graffiti. Seemed weird considering we were far from the urban element.

When we got to the water, it was all worth it. The water had eroded eons of volcanic rock. You could see all the individual eruption lava flows in colorful bands of rock. The ocean was angry today and the surf was crashing hard against the rock. The spitting cave takes in water then spits it out when the pressure builds up. The waves were coming from the wrong side today, so no spitting.

This is a view looking back southwest towards the east side of Diamond Head. The walk out of this place was very steep. It turns out everything in Oahu is very steep. Somehow they found a way to build roads through it all.

After our adventures, we went back to the hotel and had a moment of reason. We had planned to go shark fishing tonight. There is a storm approaching from the south and rough seas. The boats are more than willing to take our money and drive us 20 miles out to sea, but we were not. So no shark fishing at night. We are researching a couple of alternative plans. We'll let you know tomorrow.

We ate dinner at Duke's Canoe Club. Very nice, reasonably priced (cheaper than most nice places in Bricktown). Live Hawaiian music. We had a table by the pool overlooking the ocean. Prime Rib for me, Steak and Shrimp for Jennifer.

We returned to the hotel and checked the weather. It looks like rain tomorrow. Might be a good day to ATV in the mud up in the mountains!