Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve

ABSOLUTELY DO THIS!!! If you are a tourist it will take a little planning in advance put it will be completely worth it. Planning: Booking through a tourist group is the best and stress free way to do it. They can book up to 60 days in advance so your spot is guaranteed. We booked about 3 weeks in advance. They are more expensive but it guarantees you spot. Otherwise passes are released 48 hours in advance every for each day and are gone in 5 minutes and/or the website completely freezes up. Not worth taking the chance in my opinion. Park is CLOSED every Monday & Tuesday. Cost: Tour groups will run between $50-70 per person. Regardless if you go with a tour group or on your own, it will cost $25 per person to enter which isn't included in any of the tour costs I could find. Entering: The beach is down in a protected cove type area. One can either walk up and down or they offer a shuttle that goes every 5-10 minutes. I recommend at least walking down if you're able as it gives you some great prospective of the area and great picture taking opportunities. Equipment: This was provided by the tour company but if you did it yourself they offer it there as well. I believe it was $15ish for a snorkel and mask. I don't remember the price of fins but I highly recommend you get them. Beach: Very nice and sandy with an easy gradual slope. People of any age and ability will be able to enter the water here. Snorkeling: We went in mid-February. This is what it's all about and it delivered and then some. Fish are abundant even in the super windy day we had. Water is not overly warm, about 78 deg or so. But it felt comfortable once you got it. Best places to snorkel are to the middle to the middle and left as you look out towards the ocean. I snorkeled up and down the entire beach for 5-6 hours and this was my experience. Deeper isn't better as it is shallow and the waves make it nearly impossible to see anything, plus getting slammed again the coral isn't much fun. Facilities: There are rest rooms, showers, and lockers down at the beach but no food. Food: This is food served up top that is pretty basic. It was our first food sticker shock in Hawaii with a meal for three kids cost $85. I thought it was nuts but was on par for food here on the island. Overall I could not recommend this experience enough. If you are here do it. You will have memories that will last a lifetime.

Highly recommended! Stunning views, sandy beach, excellent facilities, snack shop. Not for "just swimming" because there is very little sandy underwater portions. It's mostly coral reefs. Tickets required. We got 8:40 tickets and had no trouble finding parking and renting one of the approximately dozen umbrella/chair installations. (Friday, March 2025). Saw one monk seal, no turtles, lots of fish and coral.

This is a must do if you’re in Oahu and can afford it. The tickets can be placed two days in advance and sell out quickly. Occasionally you can get walk in tickets but I wouldn’t chance it. NOTE: you need the ID of the person who books it to get in AND it’s $3 CASH to park. There is a gift shop and small informational center at the top. Once you are through the entrance, you walk through the information center, watch an informational video and then walk or shuttle (FREE) to the beach. It’s a gorgeous view. There are several spots to take nice photos. The beach itself is gorgeous, there’s bathrooms and showers. There is a lifeguard on duty. There is also a place to rent snorkel equipment. We saw so many cool fish and creatures in the water. We recommend packing a lunch (NO GLASS OR ALCOHOL) as there is a “snack shop” but not a restaurant on site. There is a ton of coral reef that you can NOT touch or stand on so consider bringing a bogey board or flotation device.

One of my favorites in Oahu. Snorkeling with so many types of fish. The kids really enjoyed it. Only reason not a 5 star, they had us waiting in line under the sun for over an hour (both those who booked online and those purchasing the tickets at the site). It would make a sense to have a separate lines.

I watched all the online material before I came, which helps setup the right expectation. As a tourist with just 5 days in Oahu, the ability to join a tour with transportation, and all the equipment rental available is a big plus. This does cost more but we can focus on enjoying the beach and snorkeling there with less crowd as the first group in the morning. There are good amount of fishes and be sure to stay on the left side of the bay. They only take credit card for rental (locker, life jacket etc) so you can skip bringing cash here.

If you are going for snorkeling and are a good swimmer, tell a lifeguard you are going past the buoys and do a lap around in the deep. You will see much more that way. The shallows are ok early on, but tourists kick up sand and sunscreen, making visibility low.

There is a process when you get there where you watch a video to be a good steward of the natural habitat and safety which was much appreciated. It’s very well staffed like an amusement park more than your typical Hawaiian beach and it’s $1 for locals. They have a snack shop, a shuttle up and down to the beach and gift shop. Shallow swimming with live coral and big fish around but not a ton of them. A good family spot but listen to instructions as some areas are quite dangerous.

Residents don’t need a reservation, but our visiting relatives needed one. So 48 hours before our intended visit, I got online at 7 am precisely and booked the tickets ($25 each) without much fanfare. Apparently the tickets could be sold out within 5 minutes of 7 am each day. When we arrived, the sky was cloudy, which made snorkeling a tad disappointing. We did see a lot of fish, big and small, some were even medium. Next time we will come by ourselves when it’s sunny. Once arrived, you do have to wait up to 15 minutes for a group large enough to see the educational video about the Bay and conservation.