North Shore

Away from the tourist nightmare of Honolulu & Waikiki, there is actually a good part of Oahu. We did the island circuit bus trip that runs up through the centre of the island (past the pineapple plantations) up to the North shore town of Haleiwa, along the water front and big name surf breaks such as Waimea bay, Three Tables, the Banzi Pipeline & Sunset Beach. (Three Tables pictured below). The bus continues along the shoreline to Windward. The final leg cuts straight over the mountain range to Honolulu. It's a really pretty journey & well worth the 4 hours on the bus. Unfortunately we didn't get much chance to hop off the bus & take photos. (Mental note: Next time hire a car to sight see.)

We broke up the 4 hr bus trip with a snorkel at Sharks Cove and Three Tables near Waimea Bay. Not a good place to snorkel in winter when the swell is running at 5m plus, but in summer, it's like a mill pond. Sharks Cove is a marine park and the fish life is therefore excellent. There are similar species to those I have seen on the Barrier Reef back in Oz. Many are slightly different and pretty variants. The only down side was the large number of people snorkeling. I think we arrived early enough to beat the main crowds.

I took about 35 photos with a disposable underwater camera while I was snorkeling at Sharks Cove. The results aren't brilliant because of the low resolution and the fact that colour disappears the deeper you get under water. Red goes first and Green last.

This is one of my better shots. It is a member of the Surgeonfish family, but I don't know which one exactly.

Most of the Trevally in Australia are pretty much silver with little other colour other than black spots, or the odd bit of yellow. In the true Hawaiian style of flashy colours, the Blue Finned Trevally found around the Hawaiian islands are covered in iridescent Blue markings & a spattering of yellow strips. I saw a few while I was snorkeling at Sharks Cove & Three Tables (not little ones either).

Windward

Across the range from Honolulu is the town of Windward. It has a much better feel to it than the tourist strip on the other side of the island. The scenery is such a contrast to that of Waikiki. The mountains are high & shear, and the vegetation is incredibly green. They seem to get heaps more rain on the eastern side of the island due to the prevailing wind & the steepness of the range. Unfortunately the Windward shopping centre got in the road of a great photo, but it was the best I could do.