Day 8 in Hawaii

We had to get up super early this day. I was up by 6:00, got myself ready and got everyone else up shortly thereafter. We were packed and in the car by 7:30, as planned. We were on our way to Hanauma Bay!

Tyler said we had to get there early as the parking lot, which is small, fills up early and there is no place close to park so if you don't get in the parking lot you have quite a hike, with all your stuff. Once we got to the visitor's center they have you watch a short film about how to treat the reef before you head down to the Bay.

As soon as we got down to the beach we staked out our spot and everyone but me got ready to start snorkeling.

I decided to wait with our stuff. When everyone came back Tyler and Amber went back out with me.

It was just amazing how many fish we saw! We saw parrot fish, a baby puffer, a unicorn fish and many others I didn't know the names of. The water wasn't very deep in the whole bay and the reef was huge. Tyler and I found this one rock where fish would come in and have another fish clean them. The larger fish would just go in and out like a car wash! We ate our lunch there at the beach, took a little rest, got a little sun and everyone went out again.

The last time I went out with Tyler and Anaki and we were out quite a while. When we got back to our spot on the beach Amber and Howard and Scott told us about a whale they had seen breaching at the edge of the Bay!

Exciting stuff! Everyone agreed this was a really great day. The snorkeling was amazing! At one point Tyler took Scott out past the buoys where it was a little deeper and the current was strong. Scott said he saw really big fish out there. The ones I saw were big enough! It was amazing how close they came to you but they had no interest or fear of you at all.
By 2:00 we decided it was time to get going as the beach was really getting crowded.



Tyler suggested we hike Manoa Falls as we still had lots of afternoon and light left. Manoa Falls is just north of Waikiki, up in the mountain. As soon as we got to the parking lot a light rain started falling. The sign said the hike was only 0.8 of a mile but it got tougher and tougher as we went up.

The trail became muddy and slippery with all the rain. Without Howard and Tyler and Andy helping me I probably wouldn't have made it as some spots were hard to climb up. There were some amazing sights along the way like huge ferns and a bamboo forest.



We saw a few flowers and one little bird but not much else. It was hard to look around too much as you had to watch where you were placing your feet!


When we got to the top the waterfall was pretty.



Tyler said the falls was bigger than he had ever seen it, probably due to all the rain we had.

After the hike we headed back to the house as everyone was tired and dirty from the hike. Our shoes will never be the same. Now we know why Tyler's shoes were orange! We cooked chicken on the grill and just relaxed around the house for the rest of the evening. It was a really good day thanks to our great tour guide, Tyler and his knowledge about where to go and when to get there.