Hawaii - Hanauma Bay

 We went to Hawaii. Never been, but with the pandemic decided it was going to be an easier option that trying to go overseas. There's just too much uncertainty with everything. It's easy to get around if you are vaccinated. You just have to show your vaccine card and wear a mask everywhere you go. And I mean everywhere. But that doesn't bother me. I don't want to get sick or spread it around.

We spent a week on the island of Oahu. As much as I would have loved to see the other islands as well, we just didn't have enough time. And I don't want to have to go to an airport every other day. Instead, we just enjoyed a lovely time seeing everything we wanted to on this island.

We decided to try to do the famous Hanauma Bay that everyone raves about. They have now put limitations on visiting the bay to help prevent over tourism and all the damaging effects on the ecosystem. It's only open Wednesday through Sunday, and you have to have a reservation to get in. They open up reservation times 48 hours before, and they sell out quickly. I wasn't sure we'd get in, but I watched the clock online and grabbed the first spot I saw, which was 7am. 10 minutes later the day was sold out. 

It was busy. Lots of people, but the beautiful sun coming up was lovely. Even though it was early, it was still warm outside and the water was warm as well. I've never been snorkeling or swimming in the ocean before, so this was a first for me. I have been to the ocean many times, and I've waded in the ocean. But actually swimming in the ocean water? Never. While I can swim, I'm a very basic swimmer. Definitely not strong or advanced or comfortable with crazy swimming feats. I like to think I know enough to keep my head about water. 

Snorkeling took me a bit to get used to. I did have a few panic attacks in the beginning - because breathing underwater is totally weird and unnatural and freaked me out more than once. But eventually I got the hang of it. The whole goggles fogging up constantly is a big pain though. And when you wear contacts it's just a balancing mess. But I saw coral, and fish, and it was really really cool. Glad we did it, and glad I got to learn in a pretty calm environment. We only stuck around for a few hours. By 9am it was getting really crowded with people, which makes snorkeling not as fun when people keep running into you. 

But the beach is well organized, the sand is beautiful, and they even have showers and lockers. You can rent snorkeling equipment, but we bought some before the trip to take along with us. So glad we did. Made things easier. After getting off what sand we could (even with the showers sand still gets in shocking places that are impossible to get out) we moved onto our next stop.