Hawaii, North Shore of Oahu 2009

Snorkeling on the North Shore

So the goal of coming to such an island would be for relaxation and surfing. Let's not forget that there is beautiful places to snorkel, swim, drive and eat.  We decided to purchase our own snorkel gear so that we can just have it in the car when we see a place to jump in water and play. We drove about 15 minutes down Kamehameha to a quaint little town called Haleiwa. Haleiwa has a small strip of souvenir shops, restaurants, sporting gear stores, and the only pharmacy within an hour of our resort. The pharmacy will come into play in a few moments. Snorkel gear - check. Now headed to the beach. We find a small beach area right outside of Haleiwa. It looked like a great place to snorkel and get use to the gear. As we approached the beach, we noticed hundreds of sea turtle everywhere.  The seemed so carefree, just riding the waves in and out. We decided not to snorkel here because the water was a little murky. Plus the sea turtles were cute and all but I really didn't feel like having one attack me because I'm all up in his personal space.  We drive a little farther down the road and find and great little place to snorkel. The water was shallow and the waters didn't seem deep so it would be perfect to get comfortable in.  We climbed down a small cliff and leaped from rock to rock to get down there. The water was a bit chilly but not alarmingly cold.  The gear worked great and I felt like a fish in the ocean.  It is an incredible amount to fish and ocean life to discover in the shallow water. I was quite surprised. The rocks were sharp and the waves were beginning to be a little forceful.  I proceeded with caution.  I could have just swam in the ocean till dark. But we needed to head back to the resort and grab a quick bite before we passed out. Once again, we drove along the luscious coastline in aww of all the beauty. When we arrived back at the resort, our hunger had subsided and we decided to just go back to the beach and snorkel some more. We headed down to the beach on the resort to check it out. Certainly there is a place to snorkel. Well, we found another great spot. The water here was a little deeper but still crystal clear all the way to the bottom.