Hawaii Day 3: Hanauma Bay

Bus route #22 takes me to Hanauma Bay, a marine reserve park. I'm really excited about this trip because Elvis shot his movie Blue Hawaii in this location. The bus stops and we are treated to a sweeping panorama of snorkel ready waters and a pristine white beach lined by palm trees.

10 minutes of orientation video later, we walk down a hill for 10 minutes to the beach. The sand and weather are absolutely spectacular.

P.S. There's a Telugu couple selling Coke, Pepsi at the Bay saying Aloha Aloha to tourists!! Andhra folks, take this as a compliment, but I must say here that you have penetrated every corner of the civilised world!!

My first round of snorkeling in the middle of the bay finds me only the standard fish species and I take a few underwater photos of fish and Ocean Cucumbers. The volcanic rock is less than a foot below the waters surface and I end up scraping my hands and legs several times.

The second round of snorkeling is at the right end of the beach and this also only reaps views of spanning volcanic rock below the waters surface.

The third round is near the left side of the beach (as advised by the lifeguard) where the water lashes itself loudly on rocky outcrops. Have to be careful near these places as the chances of having an accident are very high but the water is very nice and clear.

Turtle sighting!!

This third round proves to be the best. Another snorkeler gestures me over to where he is and points out a majestic adult green turtle feeding on the moss that grows on underwater rocks and corals. Turtles are very shy creatures and tend to stay away from larger human populations.

This kind of sighting is very rare and I feel very fortunate to be this close to an animal this beautiful. We are very careful about harassing the turtle as per Hanauma Bay's preservation laws and try to keep an acceptable distance from it. The turtles swimming motion consists of only its two front fins flapping like an eagles. It occasionally pops its head up from the water to manifest its surroundings.

We take turns photographing each other with the turtle and this shot alongside is of me and the turtle about 12 feet underwater.

After some time swimming with the turtle, Ive already gotten two more serious scrapes on coral and decide to swim back to the shore and back to the hotel in Honolulu.

The front desk has upgraded my room to the penthouse on the 14th floor; to my left I can see the Ala Wai Golf course and to the right is the Waikiki Beach (albeit plastered by soaring scyscraper condos).