So anyway, after our terrible experience at Hanauma Bay, Jon and I started researching other places to snorkel on Oahu and we found Shark's Cove. Many argue that it is actually much better snorkeling than Hanauma Bay because it is free and a lot loss crowded, and therefore there are more fishies swimming around. We had actually already been to Shark's Cove without realizing it. It was the area which I thought was Waimea Bay and where we climbed around on lots of rocks (not to be confused with my favorite place in the world, Lana'i Lookout). We came prepared with our swim shoes and our sunscreen so our backs wouldn't get burnt.
At Shark's Cove there's not much of a beach and you have to climb down some rocks to get down there. It's very rocky, so you just kind of put your stuff down on a rock and start wading in. We thought since it was getting towards to end of April that it would be calm enough to go snorkeling, and there were already several people out in the water. In the winter it is impossible to go snorkeling here because of 40-50 ft. waves. Well, I didn't do so great. Just trying to get out into the deeper water was impossible because it was windy and there was a pretty strong current. At one point when I was under water I saw a GIANT school of fish right under the surface so I started freaking out because I was going to have to swim right through them to get anywhere. Then the waves started picking up, I couldn't touch the bottom so I kept going under without my goggles on, and eventually I started getting slammed up against the big rocks. I got a cut on my ankle and several scrapes on my legs. I was so panicky, but I knew I just had to put my goggles and snorkel on and swim out of there. I eventually made it out of the water, and Jon was proud of me that I got out of panic mode long enough to get myself out of the water without getting too badly injured. I felt really bad because I really wanted to get out into the deeper water so we could see bigger fish and hopefully some sea turtles. It was just going to be impossible for me.
So after I escaped in my life we figured we'd better go over to where the actual cove is where the water was much calmer because it was protected by large rocks. We still managed to see a lot of cool fish, much more than we saw at Hanauma Bay. The water here went from knee deep to like 15-20 ft deep really quick, and there was an area where the tide came in where lots of fish hung out. It was fun to swim around the underwater rock caves and see all the fish. At one point we were completely surrounded by trumpet fish and some other kind of fish I don't know. We just kind of hung out in the same spot for about 10 minutes because we were surrounded. It was so crazy, but so awesome.
We also climbed up on the big rocks that separated the ocean from the cove because we saw a waterfall trickling down and wanted to know where it was coming from. There were little tide pools trapped up there which was really neat to see. We also felt like we were kind of standing at the edge of the world. Then I was terrified to climb back down. Rocks are not smooth. I found that out when I slipped and landed on my butt. It hurt :-(
Jon ended up getting really sun burnt too :-(
So this is part of Shark's Cove. This is the more open part where we wanted to end up snorkeling but I couldn't make it out that far.
If you look in the middle of this picture you can see where we entered the water to go out to the open area. There are some pretty big rocks there and those are the ones I got smashed up against.
Towards the top of this picture you can see the big rocks that block the ocean and create the coves. Where the big pools of water are is where we went snorkeling and saw tons of awesome fish.
I highly, highly recommend snorkeling whenever possible. It is such an awesome experience.
After snorkeling we wanted to stop in the North Shore town of Hale'iwa for a Shaved Ice from the famous Motsumoto's Grocery Store. This is like a world famous place to get Shaved Ice and there's always a long line. You kind of need the long line though to decide what flavors you want! It's super cheap too. We each got a large shaved ice with 3 flavors and ice cream for only $2.50 each! I got cotton candy, strawberry, and green apple. Jon got raspberry, coconut, and pineapple. I liked Jon's better than my own.
The famous Matsumoto's! Waiting in line.
Yummy Shaved Ice!!
The line was much longer after we already got ours. There was a school group from Cleveland, OH. Jon just can't escape Ohioans.
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