Swimming With the Fishes

Unfortunately, I don't have ay pictures today.

Today we went to Hanauma Bay (it's pronounced HAN-ah-ma, Ha-NOW-ma, or Hana-Uma, depending on who you talk to, but the Hawaiian guy in the orientation video used the last pronunciation.) The original plan was to go to Hanauma Bay in the morning and then the Dole Plantation in the afternoon. Well, the plan changed and we hit some horrible traffic, and what should have been a little over an hour trip turned into a more than two hour drive in stop-and-go traffic. Since we got in late last night, we got up a little late this morning, then the traffic issue, and by the time we got there, the Dole Plantation wasn't happening. I was kind of bummed, because I just learned this week that pineapples do not grow on trees!

Hanauma Bay is a shallow water bay with a coral reef right next to the beach. It's very easy snorkeling and there are lots of really cool fish around. Lots. Of. Fish. It's really famous for it.

When we got there, we parked and paid the entrance fee and waited for our turn in the orientation video. They have a video reminding you to not step on the coral, not feed the fish, and not leave garbage everywhere. After the video, you can leave your name and zip code and they'll put you in a database and if you come back in the next year, you won't have to watch the video again. We didn't put our names in :(

Anyway, we got right to snorkeling. My last ocean snorkeling adventure was on our honeymoon, wherein I got seasick on the boat ride, then was scared to death in 90 feet of water, and spent most of the time sleeping on the boat. This time, however, I had been practicing at home in the pool to get the hang of how the snorkel works, how to clear water from the mask, and how to dive under the water and clear the snorkel upon surfacing. And even after all that, I still had a mini-panic-ish attack when I first got in the water. I had to just sit there in about a foot and a half of water and just breathe for a couple of minutes. We took it slowly and never did go in water deeper than about 7 feet.

We paddled around for a while, saw a bunch of fish and then sat on the beach and had some lunch. During this time I should have re-applied sunscreen, but I forgot. After lunch we went back in for another snorkel-around. It was really breezy today and I was actually shivering cold and had to get out. I sat on the beach reading for a while, and I noticed that I was looking pink, so I quickly put on some sunscreen. But it was too late.

I'm sunburned. I've been so good this whole trip and so careful. Every day, before I get dressed, I put on sunblock lotion, and then spray-on sunscreen over it for good measure, and then I take the sunscreen with me and reapply, just to be safe. Plus I have an SPF 50 hat and sunglasses. Today, I made two big mistakes: first, I only did the spray-on, which I think may have washed off (lotion stays on better) and second, I didn't reapply during lunch. So, my upper back and shoulders and backs of my arms and the backs of my legs are burnt. And it hurts. We'll see in the morning just how bad it is. Hopefully not too bad, because we have surfing lessons on Oahu's North Shore tomorrow! And you can bet I'll be fully lotioned up AND wearing a long-sleeve rash guard (those are those surfing shirts) AND my surf shorts. The only burned skin that is in danger will be my calves, and I'll make sure they're slathered.

I sat on the beach laying on my back and read a while John snorkeled around some more. It wasn't as crowded as I had expected, and we had a nice little spot on the beach and there weren't any people too close to us. Probably because there were rocks in the water right where we were, and no sand to stand in while you put on your flippers.

Here's a list of the fish we saw. We had an under water camera, but it's a regular film camera and right now the film is at Costco. When we get home, we'll show the pictures to anyone who comes to the house or who lives there (that's right guys, I'm talking to you!!!)

We saw:

Small Octopus (John saw the eyes poking out behind a rock, and a tentacle, but it never came out and I couldn't see it)

Sea Turtle--Honu in Hawaiian*

Snowflake Moray Eel*

Trumpetfish*

Needlefish

Multiple kinds of wrasses

Bullethead parrotfish

Spectacled parrotfish (one of my favorites)

Milletseed Butterflyfish

Ornate Butterflyfish

Bluespine Unicornfish

Whitespotted Surgeonfish

Orangespine Unicornfish (one of my favorites)

Convict Tang

Yellowfin Surgeonfish

Lagoon Triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuapua'a)

Picasso Triggerfish (variation of the humu)--three of these almost ran right over me

Yellowfin goatfish

Gold-ring Surgeonfish

Bluestripe butterflyfish

Raccoon butterflyfish*

Bonefish

Crabs*

Shrimp*

Goby-like fish

Flounder

Spotted pufferfish*

Purple boxfish*

Sea Cucumbers

Sea Urchins

Lots of coral

*seen by John when he was on his own

We're pretty sure there were others we're not thinking of, or didn't recognize (we forgot our laminated fish ID chart, so we had to remember when we got back) but this is a good list. You're welcome to look up any or all of these fish if you want to see what they look like. If I were a thorough blogger, I'd find and post pictures. But I'm sunburned and I just want to go to bed.

Good-night!