May 9, 2019

I had heard that Hanauma (adding the word “Bay” is redundant as the translation means curved (uma) bay (hana)) gets crowded after 9 best to get there early. I decide to begin at 6:30 for the 1 1/2 hour drive from Makaha. Slow going past Honolulu on the H1 (does NOT! mean “highway” or “Hawaii” or whatever other H designation you might think, around here it’s just “H”1 or 2 or 3), there really are no short cuts to getting around O’ahu or the Big Island, just one main road going from here to there.

The Hanauma snorkling experience was my second water distress and near disaster. Someone who had lived here suggested I protect my credit cards and cash by using a zip lock bag (maybe not the type I used?) and keep that on me when swimming. I zip it all up: my license, cash, health insurance card and a credit card, and shove those in the bag then into my pocket. It’s a low tide and that means swimming about the coral and underwater rocks could be a bit tricky. You can’t swim over you have to go around and through. At some point I get an aggressive charge from a reef trigger fish (humuhumunukunukuapua’s – “fish with a nose of a pig”) https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/hawaii/state-fish-aquatic-life/humuhumunukunukuapuaa, swimming right up to my mask and then it gives me a nip on my thigh trying to chase me out of her territory where, I’m later told, she was protecting her young. Ok, had enough of this! I’m out and on shore taking it all in when I realize I no longer had my “safely tucked away” zip locked bag! Immediate panic! I know where I had been swimming and wade out with hopes of finding a floating bag. Not in the water long I hear someone ask “are you looking for something?” another snorkeler is standing holding my bag! Whew! Thank you, thank you! Also, zip lock bags like the one I used are not water proof! Stopping at the gift shop I buy a t-shirt with that Humuhumu fish stamped on the front, damn it! I will win!

From Hanauma it’s downtown Honolulu and a walkabout of famous tourist places. I’m impressed! Starting my walk through a fancy shopping district and a multi-level open air mall I can just browse store fronts or sit in a wicker chair and take a nap! Then crossing Kalakaua Avenue out to Waikiki Beach to the iconic view of Diamond Head! Uh, yes? Looks like a sidewalk runs along the ocean side so walk it along the beach, through hotel patios, past first floor shops and cafes. Stop at one and order a cappuccino and biscotti and have both while people watching. The Royal Hawaiian is a beautiful hotel built in the 1920’s. With very high ceilings, elaborate wood work and polished marble floors! I would stay here (if I had lots of money of course!) just for the whole Waikiki experience.