Last Day in Hawaii

On Sunday we were up for a coffee on the beach. The Honolulu half-half-marathon was underway and there were lots of runners.

We got back for a quick breakfast and boarded our bus to Hanauma Bay to go snorkeling. It was pretty sunny and decently warm so we were excited when we got there and through our mandatory video and down to the beach.

We got changed and found a decent piece of sand to put our bags then worked our way into the water. It is very shallow and you are not supposed to touch any rocks or coral, only sand, so there is a fairly lengthy swim from shore out in just over knee deep water.

We got out to the deeper parts and saw lots of fish. Maybe not in the quantities at one spot as when we were on the north shore, but more in total. It was nice getting to some deep spots and seeing the much larger fish.

We went to the outer portion of the rocks through the centre channel, and got to some of the deeper sections, again providing bigger fish to see.

We were having a bit of issues with our masks so worked our way back in through the channel to get back to shore. The strong current signs were very accurate as we were swimming hard to stay in place as the pull went out and then powered forward in between. During the time the current was pulling our the fish just went along for the ride. One big fish came really close and avoided Anne at the last second.

We ended up renting  new masks and taking a break before heading out on our second tour out. This time we stayed inside the main rock and found a deep hole with a bunch of parrot fish. It was crazy to hear how loud their beaks were when they were eating off the rocks.

We headed back in, and after our second warm up and rest break the camera stopped working for our third and last time in the water. We again went out through the channel, but getting cold, tired, and somewhat unmotivated we didn't stay too long before heading back in to shower, change, and make it to our van to the hotel.

We were thinking that mid-afternoon would be the best time to get into Duke's, a legendary restaurant in Hawaii. However, even then they weren't seating for dinner and the bar was absolutely packed. I ended up picking up a Hawaiian shirt on our way back towards the hotel and went out to Lulu's for a late lunch of fish-tacos. After looking and looking through Waikiki for them, we finally found some, and they were delicious.

That evening we went to another luau (I know, two in two nights). This was one of the premium attractions on our Go Oahu card, so we went just for cocktails and the show. It was up on a hill overlooking Honolulu and had a fabulous view.

Amazingly we had the same announcer as the night before, but the sound system and seating was better. And we had a drink in a pineapple.

The show started off quite differently than the last luau. The costumes seemed authentic, they started with the history of Kamehameha and his conquest of Oahu, and lighting and sound was different and exciting. After our hopes were raised, it returned to the Hollywood style of neon-green grass skirts and little to no explanation of the dances, other than what island in Polynesia they came from. Again the fire dancer was exceptional, and overall the show was good.

We had a much more engaging and fun bus ride back to the hotel than the night previous, then got everything all packed up before heading to bed.