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Published: October 8th 2008
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Hanuama Bay, Oahu, hawaii
Beautiful bay but it costs $5 per head to go on the beach. Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii Monday 6th October 2008
Hanauma is very scenic, as our photos show, however the marine life isn’t as colourful or abundant as the travel guides indicate, or at least wasn’t yesterday. The coral is dull and the green turtles and parrotfish were elsewhere. We saw some nice fish though and John spotted a sea snake. The weather was glorious and despite being a Sunday the bay wasn’t crowded so it was a good day out. One annoying thing was that we were unable to rent fins (or flippers as we Brits like to call them); we took our own masks and snorkels so we just managed without the flippers. This meant that we didn’t venture too far out on the reef, in case of strong currents, but according to others we didn’t miss much. The reason that we couldn’t rent them was that, despite the fact they were pretty old and well-used, as well as $4 each they wanted a deposit of $40 or to take possession of a credit card, passport, official ID or car keys. Amazingly, people were handing over credit cards etc to these people in a hut on the beach!!! I don’t
A bit murky!
Saw a sea snake and some fish but the water was murky. Not the fantastic snorkelling spot it is hyped up to be! let mine out of my sight to pay in restaurants let alone let someone have it for several hours while I’m swimming. Apart from this, we didn’t have any credit cards or passports with us and we got there by bus. John politely explained that we were not accustomed to taking these sorts of items to the beach (safely locked away back at the hostel) so had nothing to give as a deposit and we didn’t have that much cash on us either for the beach. The woman pointed to his gold wedding ring and said that it would be ok if he left that as a deposit for two pair of tatty flippers. His reply was “You must be joking!” We had to pay $5 each to get on the beach at Hanauma and were made to watch an 8 minute video before being allowed to walk down the one and only cliff path. The video was basically reinforcing all the notices everywhere telling you the rules, like no alcohol, no cigarettes, no littering and no walking on the coral and showing you great video of turtles swimming over multi-coloured coral. Fair enough, it is certainly wrong (and painful)
Polecat
More wildlife! Polecat crossing a car park to get at the rubbish - Hanuama Bay. to walk on coral although this reef looked pretty dead to me. We didn’t walk on it and our picnic included orange juice so we were ok!
Tomorrow we leave Oahu early to fly to Hawaii Big Island. We haven’t been impressed with Oahu. It is over-developed, tatty around the edges and overpriced. On Waikiki the homeless sleep on the beach and raid the rubbish bins like in the back-streets of San Francisco. We are down the Diamond Head end of the beach were a policeman was stabbed the other night. Alongside this faded glamour there is the Hilton, the Hyatt, stretch limos, Gucci and Chanel and lots of Japanese tourists shopping. There are big notices as one approaches the beach down the side streets saying “No alcohol beyond this point”. Along the front there are no bars. We haven’t found anywhere where one can sit on or even near the beach and enjoy a beer in the whole island of Oahu. No drinking, no smoking. I visited Moscow on business earlier in the year and found it oppressive and restrictive. Moscow is a fun city compared to this. We haven’t found it welcoming and nobody looks particularly cheerful. As for the Hawaiian food….where is it? We haven’t found a restaurant that serves it yet. Mostly the restaurants are Chinese. We had the worst Mexican meal ever a few nights ago (well John did, I left mine) at a place that claims to be the best Mexican in Hawaii. I got two soggy enchiladas stuffed with processed chicken and rancho beans that were pale pink and really looked like a dog had regurgitated them. Tonight we are getting a pizza it’s safer. So, thumbs down for Oahu, let’s hope that on Big Island we’ll find the real Hawaii and the spirit of “Aloha”; it is sadly lacking here.
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