Hawai'i: Part 6

Our last full day in Hawai'i was another busy day because we had to fit in anything that we had our hearts set on doing. First thing on the list was snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. We wanted to go the day before but they are closed on Tuesday's so we had to reschedule this particular outing.

We took the advice of our guidebook and got their before 9am. We had to watch a short conservation video before we were allowed to walk down to the Bay.

A view of the Bay on our way down to snorkel.
After getting in the water we immediately started seeing all kinds of different fish including Convict Tangs, Reef Triggerfish, Christmas Wrasse, and more that I can't remember. At one point we saw an eel. It apparently scared a couple of girls because they began pointing at the guy and started stomping on the reef (which according to the conservation video we just got done watching you should definitely NOT be doing). It was fairly entertaining to watch though and we had a mighty good laugh over it.

Our waterproof camera came in handy once again.
We tried to capture some of the fish (those are convict tang fish by the way).
Can you see the fish in this photo? Hint: He is in the sand.

We had been snorkeling for over an hour but I started to get really really cold. We decided that we had seen enough fish for the day and were ready to head back to shore. On the way we did spot an octopus hidden in between a couple of rocks. We watched it stick it's head out a little bit and got to see one of it's tentacles. I was glad we spotted it!

After getting back to our hotel we headed straight to Waikiki Beach to get in our surf lessons. We decided to splurge and have them get pictures of us surfing. What do you think?

We actually don't have any pictures of us surfing but I can tell you that we both managed to catch a few waves. They were fairly small waves but it was exhilarating either way. I did get yelled at by our surf instructor for not standing up on my first try. I was told that I 'wasted the wave' and that 'I can do everything for you but I can't stand up for you'. (What a jerk right?) Well I did stand after that and it was a blast. Our shoulders were super tired afterward though. Riding the wave itself wasn't as exhausting as getting back in position after riding a wave toward the shore.

For our last night in O'ahu we decided to go to a Luau. We read about one done by Paradise Cove and went for it. We got picked up in Waikiki and took a bus ride toward the northeastern part of the island. Before the dinner began there were all sorts of activities to take part in.

I got to make an orchid lei to wear on my wrist (smelled wonderful by the way).

Kevin took a shot at the spear throwing and managed to hit in the target after his second try. (Mine hit and bounced off)
We watched a guy climb a palm tree and scatter orchids down on the crowd and they did a presentation of how they used to fish with nets. Then it was time to present the royal court and take the pig out of the roasting pit.
There was a tasty buffet dinner with pork, mahi mahi, etc and we filled up while waiting for the polynesian show to begin. It was a pretty good show...much better than the one at the Hilton the week before.
The fire portion of the show was very entertaining as well.
We had a great time at the Luau except for this really really drunk obnoxious guy that we had the privilege of sitting next to on the bus and at dinner. He found out it was our anniversary and managed to talk our guide into getting Kevin called up on stage for something.

Keep in mind that is a very much sober Kevin.
He had to dance with a couple of hula dancers. One of the ladies kept telling Kevin..."Little circles with your hips...now big circles with your hips" He said all the circles felt the same. I was cracking up the entire time and I actually have a video of the dance so if you are lucky I will show it to you sometime. When Kevin went to put his shirt back on one of the hula dancers said to him "Don't hide your light under a basket".

Kevin did put his shirt back on though and we got one last picture before heading back to our bus.

The Luau was a lot of fun (would have been better without the drunk guy continuing to run his smelly mouth all the way back to Waikiki) but I was glad that we went.

The entire trip to O'ahu was incredible and Kevin and I had the most wonderful time. It is a trip that we will remember and cherish for years to come.