Adventures of Beth and Dan: The Eve of Christmas 🌲

After four cool and breezy days at sea we finally docked at Honolulu on Christmas Eve day. We had decided that having been here several times we would try snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. We read all the reviews and folks said if you present your Medicare card to the city bus driver you can ride the bus for $2 so with a long day here we decided to give it a go. We walked quite a ways with our gear for the day and finally found the correct bus to board. People we met were helpful about switching buses and what to do. But in reality the bus was overcrowded and a fight broke out between a native couple and tourists! This was a first for us. We felt the driver let things go on too long and he should have stepped in sooner. He gave them both a stern warning saying he wouldn't tolerate the language or behavior but atceach stop he continued to let folks pile in and push passengers back. Finally the fight erupted again and he threw them off the bus!!!

It took about an hour by bus to get to the bay. With it being Monday and most folks off work or out of school it was packed! We stood in line a long time and after paying admission you have to wait in line again to watch a video about protecting the reef and the area. Finally making our way down a long steep path to the beach area we stake out our claim to a spot where we can place our towels and packs. The reef was difficult to enter and having not brought swim shoes I couldn’t make it into the water or past the reef area without crashing. Dan decided to give it a go first and see if we could actually see fish! Another thing we overlooked was who would watch our belongings which included wallets, phones, binoculars etc. So I stayed back and spread out on a towel taking in the view. Shortly after Dan entered the bay he signaled that the snorkeling wasn’t good. The reefs were bleached and the waters were murky. Too many people and too much use. He stayed a bit longer but both of us were disappointed. More tourists kept pouring in to the bay. We enjoyed the warmth and the views but after an hour or more decided to pack up and head back to the port. We decided to take an Uber as the bus ride was long, crowded and not returning to the stop for another hour. We got a neat college senior who had a basket of drinks and snacks in the back seat for passengers! We had never seen that before. The ride was fun and enjoyable andxwe gave him a good tip. Back at the ship we showered up and had a bite of lunch then headed back out to see a few lights and walk to Walmart for a few supplies. Everything was hectic as shoppers tried to eek out the last remaining minutes of the shopping day for last minute bargains. When we finally returned to the ship we had well over 10,000 steps and were ready for a nice Christmas Eve dinner, a little entertainment and off to bed!