Day 6: Does my face look big in this?

Another adventure today that needs TheBus- only this time the service only runs every hour which means super dooper organisation and timing.

Up early for breakfast leftovers- still eating the pancake stack and combined it with one of the apples that set us back $2.50 a piece!

We were packed and out the door at 9 am ready to walk and then catch the L1 line bus to Hanauma Bay. @Mac had prepared the schedule and bus route the night before but we wanted to check with the Concierge before taking off! 

Coffee - a long time between drinks

That seemed a sensible move because according to the Concierge, TheBus we really needed was the 23 and it stopped right outside our building. Saved us a 35 minute walk to the L1 AND bonus of all bonus, meant we had time to kill and we could join the coffee line. Win, win all round

What? Stop! Who said that was a sensible move? Definitely turned out to be a real furphy. Naively, we boarded the 23 with confidence only to be told after an hour that we had reached the end of the line and the old route direct to Hanauma had been cancelled last year. Had to disembark with our new best friends (a mature couple from Switzerland) and the Carter family who are part of the #Squad. The young guns took off on shanks pony for the last 4.5 km and the mature travellers opted to swap to the L1 (the original bus @Mac said we should be on), with a wait of 20 minutes, to get us another 2 km closer.

Swiped our Holo for the second time and after just a short ride were off the bus again  and hot footed it over the footbridge and zigged when we should have zagged.  Instead of following @Mac’s directions we were sucked into following a young woman who had her mobile phone out following a map – she was dressed for the part as well as a beach goer. Hmm, looks can be deceiving.  Finally came to our senses and asked a “real” local for directions only to find we were heading in totally the wrong direction. Obviously our very perky guide was heading somewhere else. Even with our local’s help, didn’t really believe it was the correct way because we were scaling a hill, walking on the side of the road ... no footpath and no signage.

They didn't say anything about "resting" or "hanging"

As usual, calm and collected, @Mindy to the rescue with location services turned on, we confirmed we were AOK and found the entrance. Just a teeny little stumbling block at the gate – the Security Guard wouldn’t let us in because we didn’t have proof of ticket purchase. ANOTHER call to @Mindy and the guards took pity on us and let us through. Arrived at 12 o’clock after leaving on the bus at 10.08. The Carter family who walked the whole way, arrived at 11.30 ... hmm, not quite 10 out of 10 for public transport this morning.

The numbers in this snorkelling mecca are strictly controlled – pre-purchase of entry tickets control the number of people per hour who are admitted. The entry requires photo ID for the purchaser and then a 30  minute staging process to get you through the booths and then into the information centre, through a compulsory safety briefing and then a trolley ride to the beach.

Perfect setup - these guys are pro!

@Mac and I were travelling light but the #Squad had their own gear and food plus beach chairs, umbrellas, floating tubes and @Melissa had taken on the responsibility of hiring everyone’s scuba gear in town. Apparently when all 12 sets of snorkel gear were dropped as she alighted from the Uber at the top gate this also was a morning highlight for the Security Guards.

And just saying. The gear was half the price, we didn’t have to queue to get it and it was great.

The young ones were in by 12.35. @Mac surveyed the scene and hit the water about 1. I was a little slower – needed to find myself a private little corner to have a crack at getting the gear on and after a little floundering and flailing I had parked myself in the shallows until @Mindy and @Mac sidled up to me like a life raft and a tug boat and we were away.

Tentative, but determined

Water was crystal clear, as blue as blue, calm and refreshing, literally teeming with fish and probably averaged a metre in depth. The rocky bottom of the crater formed the foundation of the reef, with hard coral covering the uneven surfaces to make the perfect home for the fish. All colours, all sizes, all shapes – some little lone souls going about their feeding, others dashing around and changing directions in colourful schools. The stiller you were hovering over one of the depressions the more fish that found their way to you.

And, best of all, you just stepped off the sand into the water and within a metre you were sucking your tummy in to skim your way over the reef. I had loads of fun right in close to shore – others were much more confident and skimmed their way out to the depths where the waves were breaking over the reef.

Actually saw lots of the fish

My fav

My favourite fish by far were the massive big blue Parrot fish that endlessly sucked their way around the rocky tops but the bright colours of the butterfly fish were dazzling in the way they lit up the little underwater caves. @Mindy is confident she saw all the fish named on the educational poster and I’d believe it because other than for a refresh of the sunscreen she was in the water snorkelling the whole time.

We were warned to make way for the Monk Seals who use the shores as their resting place. They rope off the area for safety when one comes ashore. I was a little relieved the volunteers didn't bring out the pegs and rope and cordon me off by mistake while I was recovering from my ocean float.

Strict timing provisions here meant the loudspeaker was blaring at 2.45 warning everyone they had to be out of the water by 3.00 and off the beach by 3.30. The carpark gates closed on the dot of 4 pm and if your car wasn’t out – too bad too sad.

Uber ready at end of the day.

After our protracted bus experience of the morning @Mindy convinced us to join her group of 4 and take the last 2 seats in their Uber. Yep a totally different experience without having to worry about directions, hiking or missed connections.

But we did want to finish on a positive note with the buses and found ourselves a 42 to deliver us right to our door. We detoured to the ABC Shop on the corner ostensibly to pick up a cake of soap (don’t even ask) and came out with a chicken salad, a fruit salad, a bottle of wine and some premixed MaiTais ... oh, and the soap. But best of all @Mac got one of the ubiquitous ABC bags that he has been hankering for since we arrived. Dawdled (had to check it @Julie) over to the next corner and ordered dinner as a “take out” from Red Lobster – and @Mac was in heaven – he’d scored the coveted pair in a single afternoon.

Double bagged!

We were back at the Ilikai, with dinner and drinks on the balcony, ready for a spectacular sunset. And it did deliver!

Dinner on the balcony

We have noted lots of signs on public transport and in venues about “leaving the sand in the bay.” It hadn’t quite resonated until tonight’s shower.

WARNING WARNING – please do not use visualisation here.

As I stripped off, I noted how rough my skin was on my bottom. We have heard a lot about tuberculosis here in the retelling of the history of Hawaii and have been reading at home about the spread of Monkeypox – can you catch these from toilet seats and what are the symptoms? Phew, no, not either of those.

After sitting in the trolley bus to get up from the beach, then the 40  minute Uber ride, followed by 20 minutes in the bus and a couple of hours on the deck – the not so fine sand had embedded itself in my butt cheeks! Had to give myself a spa treatment to get those “pebbles” back – feel that now my cheeks are as smooth as my feet and I have about a bucket of sand to return to the Bay.

Fresh to you from Hanauma Bay, via my bottom.

Might try my thongs tomorrow. (Oh Uncle @Gary, that one is for you.)

Step count: 12746

Weather: 30 - 25 ... noooo, seriously

PS I wonder if this is what @Tanya and @Glen meant about hiring a car?