Oahuhanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay is a remote stretch of land, about 2000-feet in length, which rivals Waikiki Beach in popularity and number of visitors per year. Hanauma Bay is excellent for sun-bathing, people-watching and bathing in the clear blue waters. It is also a particularly great spot for snorkeling, as it is teeming with marine wildlife such as the Green sea turtles for which Hanuama Bay is famous for. Marine life is highly protected in this area, however, so you must take extra care to not touch any of the animals or coral formations.

Hanauma Bay is really a marine bay area that was formed within a volcanic crater. It’s not a very large area but is used by hundreds of thousands of visitors yearly. In the 1950s, the problem of Hanauma’s popularity in the face of its small total area was addressed by blowing up parts of the reef in order to expand swimming area. Today, this problem is regulated by laws that try to preserve the natural life is found on Hanauma Bay. Hanauma Bay is a Nature Preserve district as well as a Marine Life Conservation District. These laws are meant to protect the endangered animals and coral reef of Hanauma, preventing visitors to the beach from touching, walking or having any other sort of contact with the coral heads. The city of Honolulu wants to create the image of Hanauma Bay as being more of a nature preserve than a tourist beach. Their website states that Hanauma Bay is not “a beach park for beach sport, but a Nature Preserve dedicated to safeguarding the fragile marine life in the Bay.” Still, its unique geological makeup and beautiful scenery brings people to it in hoards. If you choose to make the trip out to Hanauma Bay, however, please be aware of the fragile nature of its ecology and respect it.

The crater that creates Hanauma Bay is thought to be a part of the latest burst of volcanic activity to take place on the island of Oahu. It is believed that the island of Oahu was created by violent explosions from the volcanic vents on the sea floor. This magma vaporized the Pacific Ocean water and created the fine ash that later solidified into tuff (a type of rock created from volcanic ash). It is this kind of geological and ecological history that creates such a unique and other-worldly experience while you are in Hawaii and on the island of Oahu.

To get to Hanauma Bay you can take the Hanauma Bay Shuttle that runs every half hour between 8:45AM and 1PM from Waikiki. On top of offering excellent swimming and sun-bathing opportunities, guests also have the choice of snorkeling or scuba diving. Snorkeling and diving in the bay is interesting because the floor of the bay is actually the crater of one of the ancient volcanoes that created Oahu. You can also walk down several hiking trails that take you up to the peaks of Hanauma. There is plenty to do on this fantastic and well-known area of Oahu.