snorkeling questions - Oahu
 

We want to try to get in a good amount of snorkeling but are on a short trip. My daughter (11) has never been so I'd like to take her somewhere in Waikiki to practice a lil b4 we go to Hanauma Bay. Are any of the beaches near Waikiki decent snorkeling? The book "Driving and Discovering Oahu" says San Souci (or Dig Me) beach has pretty good snorkeling. Anyone familiar with this? I guess this beach is past the Waikiki Aquarium and the Natatorium.

Also, would like to get a decent but cheap underwater camera with a flash. I've seen a few reusable 35mm ones about the $20-30 range. Has anyone used one of these. We used a disposable one without a flash last time and the pictures came out pretty good, but a lil dark.

Thanks for any info you can give.

IMO, Hanauma Bay would be the best place to experience snorkeling for the first time. You can see a lot in water that is pretty shallow, clear and calm. I never snorkeled off Waikiki but can't imagine that it would be "easier" or as good as Hanauma Bay.

Hi, we went to ohau over spring break with my 12 and 13 year old. we stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and right at our beach was a great little reef area for snorkeling. very safe and you could just walk out to it. we went to hanauma bay also and found it to be the safest and easiest location not to mention beautiful to snorkel. so hopefully this will help with some questions...have fun

Great, thanks for the info. I agree Hanauma Bay is probably the best place. I guess I was just hoping to get a headstart, since we are only there 5 full days and won't be able to go to Hanuama until the 3rd day. We would probably like to take the kiddies to check out the grounds at Hilton Hawaiian Village anyway and have heard their beach area is more isolated, which we prefer to the busier parts of Waikiki, so maybe we'll try it there.

More years ago than I would like to count, I had my very first snorkeling experience at Hanauma Bay and was a little scared. True, there were no waves to speak of but I never felt like I could stop, stick my head up, take out the snorkle and take a breath. I was in bare feet and there were a lot of sharp rocks below me.

I would recommend trying it out in a pool first. Get comfortable there and then, get some of those surf shoes. I don't know how delicate Hunauma Bay is but there are some delicate spots in the islands that you don't want to put your feet on with those shoes.

Ask the place where your rent your snorkle gear from where you can go to get some practice. Then, when you are safe and relaxed you can visit some of the most beautiful places you can imagine. You just don't want to do any harm to them while you are there.

Just be safe, don't harm the sea life and have a good time. It is one of the most memorable experiences you will ever have. Enjoy!

ggrtist,

Our family of 6 was on Oahu for 10 days last December and January. We went to Hanauma Bay for snorkelling and have a couple of observations:

1. The coral is all dead or destroyed. The pressure of so many people for so many years has accomplished that. So set your expectations accordingy.

2. There are still lots of fish to see in the clear, calm waters so that is great!

3. Figure out what the tide schedule is as if it is high tide there is a comfortable clearance between floating above the coral heads. As the morning progressed and the tide went out, the snorkelling got very difficult as there was so little clearance to navigate through the coral.

4. Go early, not just to avoid crowds (which are overwhelming!) but as the water gets more crowded the visibility drops to nothing with so much activity.

5. Pay extra to rent "dry" snorkels. This has made so much difference to us and our kids as there is nothing like a mouthful of salt water to discourage novices. When we went we had 3 dry and 3 normal snorkels and ended up just taking turns using the dry ones as the whole experience was so much better with dry snorkels.

Good luck! Maria

Thanks for the additional info. Though I have been fortunate to go snorkeling in Hanauma Bay once b4 (and I loved it, fairly easy to pick up) I was mainly concerned at how it would be for my 11yr old who has never been. I didn't even think about her practicing in the pool, that's a great idea.

oh..Maria, I definitely agree with the dry snorkels. We did the same thing last year, tried to save money with 1 dry and 1 regular..we ended up fighting over who got to use the dry one. This time we bought a couple of quality dry snorkel sets from costco, came up to about the same as cost for a few days rental.

I would recommend bringing your own inexpensive snorkeling gear along with swim shoes. picked some up at target before our trip. my kids used their gear at our hotel, (Hilton Hawaiian Village), other beaches and hanauma bay. we took their gear with us whenever we got in the car. they used it everywhere.