Our plan for Sunday morning was to go to
Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, which is a sort of natural aquarium of a state park where you can go snorkeling and see a TON of tropical fish. All the guidebooks and trip reports tell you to get there
early, because the parking lot fills up quickly, and when that happens you have to sit in your car waiting for somebody to come out before theyll let you in. Although the books say youll be OK as long as you get there before 9am, we were trying to squeeze in a visit before a 10am site tour Id scheduled with our Disneys Fairy Tale Weddings coordinator (in case I absolutely hated the Jacuzzi location for our vow renewal and wanted to see what the other options were).
So Sunday was our second day in a row of getting up early, but after our exhausting Saturday, we wanted to sleep in a tiny bit. Although Hanauma Bay opened at 6am, we aimed for 6:30am. Except it took us longer to eat breakfast and slather on sunscreen than wed expected, so we got on the road late. And then I realized Id left all the cash we needed to pay for admission back in the room, so we had to turn around and go back to Aulani! Fortunately there were still very few people awake at that hour to witness me sprinting through the lobby in my swimsuit and water shoes, swearing like a sailor.
At that hour on a Sunday the drive from Aulani to Hanauma Bay took less than 40 minutes. We rolled up at 7am, convinced thered be a line, and... we were the only ones there! It was still dark out, and the shack where they take your parking fee ($1/car) was closed, so we just parked and headed toward the interpretive center.
(Apologies for the cell phone photos in this installmentwe didnt want to leave our camera on the beach or in the car so we didnt bring it.)
The lights were on, but there was only one guy around, plus a HERD of feral cats! They were everywhere, darting in and out of the center and poking around the path down to the beach.
A HERD, I tells ya!
Normally youre supposed to pay a fee of $7.50/person (cash or credit card) and watch a 20-minute orientation film before you walk or take the tram down to the beach (the tram is cash-only and costs $1 down/$1.50 up or $2 all day). But since nobody else was there to take our money or run the film, the fellow just waved us in the direction of some safety signs and told us not to step on the reef (which makes snorkeling in the bay something like a game of Hot Lava where theres NO place you can stand when you really want to!).
Thats right: Children are not waterproof! Which is why you should be sure to Scotchguard the H outta them before you let them wander off!
The path down to the beach is pretty dang steep, but not too-too long.
The guide in the interpretive center told us which bench to sit on for the best view of the sunrise.
This one!
We waited just a little bit for the snorkel equipment rental stand to open so we could rent a locker for our cell phones and wallets. I think it cost about $7, and credit cards are accepted. Wed bought our own snorkels and fins in L.A. and shipped them ahead to Aulani cuz I didnt fancy sucking on a snorkel thatd been in somebody elses mouth! (Tip from a fellow DISer: Look for dry-top snorkels that prevent water from going down the pipe and into your gullet!) One thing I wish Id sprung for was the mask defogging spray. The old spit trick didnt really work for us. And it kinda grossed us out.
We straggled across the sand, looking for a good place to leave the towels wed brought with us from Aulani (oh, yeah! Get a wristband for the pool using your room key and grab some towels to take with you to Hanauma Bay).
Were so used to being Disney experts that it was a bit disconcerting to be doing something wed no experience with. I mean, we snorkeled in pool at Typhoon Lagoon on our honeymoon, but as that had been a
particularly traumatic experience for me, Id sorta blocked it out.
So we strapped on our fins and snapped on our masks and chomped on our snorkels and staggered down to the water backward like a couple of Creature from the Black Lagoon rejects. I wasnt even halfway there before my fins were filled with sand and my eyes were bugging out from an improperly adjusted mask. The water was cold-ish, but we eventually got used to it like you always do.
Our next challenge was figuring out how to use the waterproof disposable camera Id brought. How long have digital cameras been around? Thats how long it took us to completely forget how to use a disposable camera. There we were, masks askew, stooped and shivering in the surf as we pawed at this confounding plastic case like a couple of monkeys.
I cant see anything to wind.
Do we open the case?
The shutter wont click!
Maybe if you hit it?
"OOO-ooo-ooo-ooo-EEEE-eee-eee-eee!"
Eventually Patrick got it to work, but not before accidentally firing off some, uh, artistic shots like this.
I got a lot of use out of my Crocs water shoes in Hawaii
There we go!!!
Once we finally got our masks on and put our faces in the water to look down, there were FISH! Right at our feet! The water was not as clear as I'd expected, but you can still see plenty.
The photos we got with the waterproof camera were not great, but now that were all so used to Instagram, all I had to do was slap on some Photobucket filters and they look just as good as any grainy, overprocessed shot of some hipsters tacos!
Whenever Chauncey and I finally make it to your neck of the woods we need to have you work your magic and help plan something like that for us.
I gotta admit, I was never really very interested in Hawaii before I went there either. Just not a tropical-destination kind of gal. But now that I've had malasadas..... 
Oh good! The Botox is working! 
