Hanauma Bay Marine Preserve

My cousin and I stayed down town and a local guy told us to take the bus local 22 to Hanauama Bay.. It only cost us two dollars usd for the bus and $7.50 usd to enter the park. It was great we wished we had spend more time... Amazing and unforgetable. :) Mahalo

This picture does NOT do this beautiful place justice. Hanauma Bay is one of the most beautiful places. When you first see it from up above it is breathtaking.

we bought a fish chart when we arrived and then saw most of them while snorkling. you should rent a life jacket. this makes snorkling much easier because you dont have to worry about holding your self up. several times we found ourselves out deeper than we intended. the water wasn't very clear but you could see plenty. we took an underwater camera with us and have several good pictures. snorkling equipment rental right on the beach was very handy and the bus to take you back up the hill was a lifesaver.

Lines were long even though we got there early. The water is not very clear, and we saw less fish at the bay than we did on the North Shore at Shark's Cove. Crowded, restrooms were out of order ... not alot to like.

This place has been loved to death. We got there around 9:00am and found a long line at the ticket window, then had to wait again to watch the "be kind to the reef" video (which, in my opinion, is too nice, and not strongly worded enough). We couldn't believe how many people were there when we got down to the beach! Then, we were incredibly disappointed to get in the water and find it totally cloudy from all the sand being kicked up from the hundreds of people there. Some of them were even standing on the coral, even after watching the video! Unbelievable. We didn't see any fish there at all. Really was a waste of time and money. Nice beach though.

This is a great place to go snorkeling, it's just too bad there are so many people crowding the place and scaring off the fish. It's free for Hawaii residents which is a bonus, but residents make sure to sign the repeat visitors list so you don't have to sit through the intro video again. Also, the current gets pretty strong once you get a ways out so inexperienced swimmers should stick closer to shore.

Like all other popular tourist destinations it pays to get here early. They open at 6 a.m. We got there around 6:30 a.m. avoided the movie altogether (just got a 5 minute oral intro), got free parking (convenient), and shared the whole bay with only a score of snorkelers. Being novice snorkelers we had a great time and saw many, many species of fish. This was one of the best elements of our Oahu vacation. I would highly recommend this to anyone who would like the sensation of swimming in a stocked marine aquarium. Take a waterproof watch as time will get away from you.

The people of Hawaii have decided the Bay is theirs and theirs alone. Visitors are now required to sit through a tortourous video before entering the park. The number of fish in the park appeared to be down about 80% in part due to the ban on feeding them. Considering the traffic, drive, video, and declining number of fish go to the north shore and find your own free spot or go to Black Rock on Maui (it's free and better without the local snobbery). I think I would like to require visitors from Hawaii to watch a video before they can go to the Grand Canyon.

We got there at around 8:30AM on a Thursday. There were a few people there but no huge crowds. You have to watch a quick video, you can put your name down on a clipboard if you plan on coming back in the next year so that you don't have to watch the video again. Parking is $1, admission is $5. They have quite a bit available to rent: lockers ($5), vests ($5), snorkel sets (the dry set was $9 and it includes fins), they have waterproof cameras that you can buy but they are pricey so buy it before you get there. The water really is clear and pretty calm in the morning. The waves start coming in the later it gets. We saw so many beautiful fish. No turtle but I did hear that people were seeing them, we just weren't that lucky I guess. They do have a restaurant that serves burgers, fries, etc...but it is pricey. We plan on going back, it is so worth it.

What an amazing experience! Saw all kinds of fish and creatures including turtles. Kids loved it as well! Well worth the drive out and even sitting through the video about not disturbing the corral or sea life. I guess you can't assume people would know not to do that.