telerib | Snorkeling!

I have found my Favorite Thing this trip: snorkeling in Hanauma Bay (or Hana'uma Bay, as it's alternately called). Wow. Fish. Beautiful fish a foot from your face. So many kinds of them! I saw several of Hawai'i's state fish, the Humuhumukununukuapua, which is really cute. I saw varieties of surgeonfish, tang, and parrotfish. Some looked as big as a serving platter, or bigger, and some were small enough to look at home in an aquarium.

The water was a bit wind-blown and the waves could be powerful. I'm a decent swimmer, and they were at least driving to shore instead of away from it, but I didn't feel to safe being knocked about a foot and a half above a coral reef. So I eventually hauled it in. (The reef is mostly dead, but I did see some colorful live corals making a return.)

And there are surfing pictures!

It starts out looking pretty darn good.

If you look down, you fall down. Happily, all the times I fell down were because of balance issues, not because of violating this primary rule.

I like this picture. Know why? Good angle. I've saved you all from the ones that show large expanses of my rear end and upper thighs.

Okay, I can spare a sideways look for the photographer.

Going for standing.

About as close to standing as I got. There's one where I get a little higher up, but Moe has classed that as 'never show this picture to anyone and burn the negatives.' (It's a bad angle and I've thrown my arms up in joy that I managed to stand, and it looks like I'm about to go all Karate Kid on someone.)