hanauma bay

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is an amazing place to go snorkling in Oahu. It is the first Marine Life Conservation District in the State. You have to pay to get in, but it is worth it.

Jimmy was more interested in the sand than the ocean and just wanted to dump buckets of water down this ditch the entire time.

It was my first time snorkeling and I thought it was super fun. I only made it into the water for one trip around and I kind of wish I had done a little more. I think I could have stayed out longer if I wasn't so pregnant and also swimming over coral reefs with a big basketball under your swimsuit is a little tricky.

Marty recently bought an underwater camera so we got some fun photos of the fish.

I am bummed we didn't get any real pictures of the Hawaiian State Fish, the humuhumunukunukuapua'a, but Jimmy did take a picture with this statue of one. Zach taught him to say the same and he was so proud of himself he wanted to show it off to the world (I think I have a video of him saying it somewhere, so I will try to post that later). However, he thought that was just the name of this statue and not an actual fish. He would say, "No, mom, it's not a fish. It's a statue of a fish with his mouth open." I had to find pictures of the real fish to convince him otherwise.

Right near Hanauma Bay is this Halona Blowhole. Apparently, it is a natural occurrence formed by molten lave tubes thousands of years ago. The tubes run to the ocean and when the surf is right, the blowhole shoots water up to 30 feet in the air. I guess it really depends when you go, whether or not it is worth the stop. Marty said last time he brought someone there it was not that exciting, but that with us, it was pretty good. This is the best picture I could get of the spray.

And Jimmy thought it was cool, so that was enough reason to stop for me.