Hanauma Bay

History:

The Hanauma Bay lies on the southeast shore of O’ahu, on an old crater which formed tens of thousand of years ago, through a volcanic eruption. In time, the waves and wind erosion forced one wall of the crated to fall and the crater was invaded by the ocean’s water. The current bay formed on top of the cooled lava, and today, at 10 mile from Honolulu, Hanauma is housing various types of marine life.

Formed from two Hawaiians words hana which means “bay”, and uma which means “curved”, Hanauma Bay attracts some 1 million visitors per year. They come there for the clear waters, for the large variety of tropical fish, for the beauty of the reef, and for the opportunity of encountering a sea turtle.

According to the official website of the city of Honolulu, the first time when Hanauma came into the public eye was in 1918, when a magazine presented the bay as an indicated place to stop for people traveling in those parts of the island. In 1929, the City and County of Honolulu start the long management of the area, after it bought it for one dollar from the Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

Through the years the management took some good and bad decisions which affected the bay indefinitely. In the 1950s the Hawaiian Telephone Company who was in charge of installing the trans-Pacific undersea telephone cable, blasted a wide swath through the reef, destroying the central portion forever. Unfortunately this was not seen as an ecological disaster at the time, but as a sacrifice for progress. In the 1960s Hanauma declared a Marine Life Conservation District. Fishing and any removal of any coral, rock, or sand was prohibited. In 1970s surfing activity was stopped in the bay. And the place became tourist oriented. In the 1980s the management enlarged the parking lot, thus the number of visitors reached 10,000/day. Those visitors, in order to make their activities in the bay more exciting started to feed the fish bread, peas, and snack. This attracted more and more fish into the area – fish that normally wouldn’t live there, that would endanger other species existence. The beach and water became overcrowded, because the commercial tours were monopolizing the area. The bay was suffocating.

Today, the bay is managed by the City and County of Honolulu on the part of Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve lying above the high tide line, and the State of Hawaii Dept. of Land and Natural Resources manages the underwater portion. And what they decided, after realizing the imminent danger of loosing one valuable natural resource, was to rebuild the ecosystem and to minimize the human impact for the future.

What we have learned so far:

• Hanauma Bay is a natural preserved park, with spectacular natural resources.
• Since 1929 it has been managed by the City and County of Honolulu.
• During the 1980s the bay was heavily abuse by tourists and commercial operators’ supra exploitation – the number of visitors reached 3 millions/year.
• In the 1990s the authorities started the environmental restoration of the bay.
• From 1999 to 2002 Hanauma Bay was closed down for public, in order to leave the reef to come back to life in a natural way.
• Today, the management takes serious measures towards protecting the natural habitat of the marine life in the bay: reduction of visitors number – every Tuesdays visitors access is closed, educational programs and one mandatory video which are teaching the tourists conservation, supportive restrictions – most commercial activities are banned, protection and preservation of the bay, tourists safety warnings, and volunteers who can attend in any moment to visitors.
• Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is about 10 miles east of Waikiki just off the main coastal road (Kalaniana'ole Highway, Route 72, Hawaii, USA)

The park is closed on Tuesdays.
Every second Saturday of the month tourists have the chance to snorkel at night.