Hawaii Day 3

October 11, 2013 Day 3 - I woke up at 2:30 a.m. (6:30 a.m. in Idaho) and just could not get back to sleep. After laying in bed for a few hours I just got up. I guess everyone else was having the same problem. Although Jeremy slept better than most. After a quick breakfast we were out the door and on our way to Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. I was shocked at how bad the traffic was that early in the morning. It took us way longer than we had thought to get there. The good news is we still made it before seven, so we did not have to pay for parking and we got in free. After a quick talk on the Nature Preserve and having us read the rules we headed down to the bay to try snorkeling. Something that I found funny was how many cats were there. I guess they like their cats because there were at many of the places we went, as well as chickens. 

This is us before we tried snorkeling. I was a little nervous that I would not be able to do it, but Jeremy and I had no problems. The snorkel gear that Jeremy's sister Mandi let us borrow worked great and the water was warm. We saw fish right away and the salt water made it so easy to just float around and see everything. I loved being right over all the coral and the many different kinds of fish. Jeremy even saw some kind of ray. I could have done this forever. I loved it! 

This is us just before we left. We only had about an hour to snorkel before we had to leave for our next excursion. Good think we had other opportunity's to snorkel through out our trip, but this was probably my favorite time snorkeling. I don't know if it was because it was my first time, or the water was so clear and you were so close to the fish, or the water was so warm and only soft waves. I just loved it! 

Our next stop for the day was only a few minutes away at the Koko Marina Shopping Center to check in for The B.O.B. (Breathing Observation Bubble) Underwater Adventure. On this tour we were able to ride in an underwater scooter. You sit on a seat while your head is in a clear acrylic bubble. The bubble is not sealed off. Water does not come in for the same reason that water does not fill a glass when you tip it upside down in the sink.The bubble  is then filled with air from a tank. They take you down about 15 - 20 feet. 

We got there a little before 8:15 a.m. when we were to check in. We signed our lives away, (In other words if something happens we can't hold them responsible.), Were instructed on how to use the B.O.B. It is funny to see the differences in how laid back they are. It says to be there no later than 8:15 a.m. After all the papers were signed and instructions given, most of the people on the tour were still not there, so we just hung out in the harbor.

These are the B.O.B.s. They had four, but only three scuba divers. They send each person in a B.O.B. down with a scuba diver, so they only had three in the water at a time. 

Once everyone was on the boat we sailed out to Maunalua Bay were we saw this sea turtle right away. 

As soon as they asked who wanted to go first we volunteered. I am so glad we did. Wendy went first, and then me. It is kind of a funny feeling as they put the B.O.B. in the water and it starts to go over your head. You have to pop your ears a lot on the way down.  I know Jeremy was really worried that his ears would not pop, but I was worried that he would not fit in the B.O.B. One of the things we read was that you could not be taller than 6 feet. He had no problems at all. He fit just fine and his ears popped. I am so glad because I know he really enjoyed it and so did I. I am glad we did not miss out just because they said he would be too tall. 

It was cool to be down so far under the water. The first thing I saw was a sea turtle. I watched him for quite a long time then they started to feed the fish right in front of us so the fish would come close to us. I kept wanting to move my B.O.B. around, but I guess it is not made that way. The divers move you to things they think you would like to see. That is the only thing I did not like. I wanted to be able to move myself around. It is funny how your sense of distance is distorted. I felt like I could put my foot down and touch the ground, but every time I tried I could not. At first I thought I was seeing these really little fish below me then I realized they were just really far away. By the end I was getting a little cold, but not to bad. 

One of the benefits of going first is that we had lots of time to snorkel . This was fun. Most of the fish were over by the B.O.B.s, but we did see some and a few more turtles. They said visibility was really good that morning, and we could see a long way. We did this for quite a while, but just sitting and bobbing in the water made me feel a little nauseous or it could have just been from coming up from down so deep under water. I did not feel anything like David though. I guess he did not feel good most of the time under water. When he came up he just stood on the boat and focused on land. He said he started to feel better and went in snorkeling as we were getting out. Then when he got back on the boat he puked and was sick until we got back. I felt really bad for him. 

Back on the boat I got some water and something to snack on. The caption let us go out on the bow of the boat. It was so nice to just lay out and feel the sun. (Don't worry the whole trip we slathered on the sun screen. We are like the only people to come back from Hawaii with out a tan.)

After the The B.O.B. Underwater Adventure we ate our sandwiches and tried to check into our next excursion early. They were really busy, so that was not going to happen. While we waited we drove up the coast to see Halona Blowhole. This is a place that has a lava tube that is open on both sides. When a wave enters one end of the tub the pressure inside makes the water shoot up in the air out of the other side. It was pretty, but most of the time it looked like this first picture. Only two or three times did it really shoot up like the second picture.

 

By the time we were done looking around it was time to check into H2O Sports powered by Seabreeze. We got this package deal there that let us do parasailing, banana boat and the bumper tube. This was actually over the bridge from the B.O.B., so all our activity's were in in the same bay, the Maunalua Bay. We watched a safety video then were able to sit on their deck while we waited for a water taxi to take us out to their floating dock.

One of the nice things about doing three activity's instead of just parasailing was we did not have to wait like everyone else. As soon as we got there they put us on the banana boat. I have heard people really like this, but it was not that exciting for us. I guess we are just use to being pulled and wiped around more when riding on tubes. Also, I did not think about how bad it would be to have salt water spraying in your face. Man does it burn the eyes and taste nasty if you get it in your mouth. It was okay, just not my favorite thing we did.

I liked the bumper tube more. This was more like a tube ride I was use to. It felt like we were going faster and more turns that whipped you around. Maybe that has to do with all four of us being on that tube. It is a good thing Jeremy was strong enough to hold on and pull himself back on after he would slide half way off. Still the salt water in your face is not nice.

This was the floating dock that people would wait to go out and do their different activity's. They had a jet pack that looked interesting, jet ski, banana, boat, bumper tube, parasail. They offered other activity's, but I don't think they came out to this floating dock for them.

Parasailing was fun, but different than I thought. David and Wendy went first and being on the speed boat it felt like we were going fast. Then when it was our turn and we got up there you really could not tell. It was just like riding a kite. You just felt like you were floating except when they would dunk us in the water. 

We had to hurry back to our beach house on the other side of Honolulu to get ready for that nights show we were going to. By this time I could rub my hand on my face and you could see the salt on my hand. I think it is from being blasted in the face with salt water on the bumper tube and banana boat. It felt good to get cleaned up. Then we hurried back to the Outrigger on the Beach for the Society of Seven show we were seeing that night. We had asked where to park, but it was tricky to find. Jeremy ended up going in to get our tickets, but left the confirmation paper with me. We did make it, but it was crazy. I was a little worried about the show. We had heard good things about it, but it was not looking like what I expected. Most of the people there were on a cruise. (A senior citizen cruise from the way it looked.) We were definitely some of the youngest people there. The show was really good. I am glad we went. The performers were all very talented. It is kind of like a variety show. They tell jokes, sing and do impersonations. They even had David come up to take their one minute Elvis impersonator course. I wish I had better picture, but we did tap it. So funny!  

We grabbed dinner on the way back to the beach house at Zippy's. We had liked the Katsu Chicken that David had gotten earlier in the day from another place, so Jeremy and I both ordered the Katsu Chicken with rice and Macaroni Salad. It was not as good here, but okay.

When we got back to the beach house David's sister Andrea and her husband Peter were there. They had just flown in that night. This is really the first time I had met them. (I think I met them when Jeremy and I were engaged at his nieces baby blessing.) We were so tired, so after eating we just crawled in to bed.