Vacation - Day two: Oahu

The highlight of today was the snorkeling trip we took in the morning.  I forgot to mention yesterday that we are currently on the island of Oahu.   This is where we will sail from tomorrow.   I don’t recall the company we went with, but basically we just paid for the transportation and to be able to enter the park.  I think we were at the Hanauma Bay Park.   But I could be wrong.  I just remember it started with an “H”.  (And I googled it).

            The park was crowded, and the officials would not let our van in right away.   Only when a similar number of people (in a tour- not individual cars, which are counted differently) had left were we allowed in.   We first had to watch an informative video about the coral reefs and what we were allowed and not allowed to do.   You can’t feed or touch the fish.  (fish touching you is different).  If you see a turtle, you must try to keep about 5 feet or more away from them.  (Again, if they come up to you and you can’t help it – it’s ok.)   They supposedly had people dressed “normal” out there watching to make sure you didn’t break the rules, but some of us were skeptical of that. 

            We chose to ride a tram down instead of walking as it was very steep.  My mom mentioned brining quarters to pay for the tram – turns out it was 75 cents going down and a full buck going back up!  A bit more then we expected.   Once settled, my brother, SIL and my dad all went into the water.  My mom can’t swim so she just relaxed in a shady area and watched our stuff.   I took longer because I wanted to make sure my underwater camera was secure on my wrist – and on the float thing I bought.   I had a lifeguard help me.   Then I attempted to go into the water.   Side note – I bought my own snorkel mask and breather a few years ago when we went to the Caribbean.  When I was a kid the mask always flooded and due to my horrible eyesight – in order to see anything I HAVE to wear contacts, so I wanted a mask fitted to me instead of getting a generic one.   So I also wanted to make sure the mask was set right. 

            Then I went into the water.  It was colder then I expected.   I got to about 3 feet in and dunked myself.  Then I tried floating in just three feet.   I only had been snorkeling as an Adult once before – on the Caribbean trip (which was also a cruise) mentioned above.   Well I started hyperventilating a bit.   No matter how long I stood their breathing through the snorkel first, as soon as I stuck my face in the water my brain told me I had to hold my breath and I had trouble relaxing.   Then I found out I couldn’t even stand back up.   It was windy and there was a currant and I just couldn’t get my legs under me very well.   After a few tries I realized there was no way I was going to be able to do this without some sort of floatation device.  As I was heading back in I met my brother – who had had the same thought.  He was carrying two devices- one for himself and one for his wife.   He told me that they were 7 bucks to rent!   Well I had money so I rented one, and it was much better.  I was able to feel confident, even when waves caused water to enter my snorkel and I had to clear it.   It was interesting and I took pictures, but the coral was covered with sand and there didn’t seem to be much life other then fish.    I also found out that I had the camera set for “land” instead of “underwater”  and thus it’s possible the pictures I did get weren’t colored correctly (though they looked fine to me).   Still it was fun and a learning experience.   I defiantly want to go again.  After doing this, we pretty much relaxed the rest of the day and prepared to board the cruise ship—tomorrow.