Snorkeling and Dolphin Watching in Oahu (#hnlbambina)

My favourite day in Hawaii included swimming with a wild sea turtle.

Chris and I did a tour with Hoku Nai'a that included dolphin watching in the morning, lunch on the boat, and snorkeling in the afternoon. We left Waikiki early in the morning, and boarded the brand new 149-passenger two-deck catamaran, custom built for eco-friendly dolphin watching around 9 a.m.

The dolphin watching was so cool. We saw a pod of at least 15 spinner dolphins, and they lived up to their names. As I remarked to Chris, I had to stay on the top deck of the boat or I would have been too tempted to jump in and swim with them.

Around lunch time, the boat got quite rocky and a lot of people started to get sick. The crew apologized for the rough ride and blamed the winds. I don't know if it was riding the subway while pregnant that made the boat ride a walk in the park for me, or just the fact that I was so excited to get in the water but thankfully I was fine.

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for arrived. I got to enter the water! As soon as we got in, one of the tour guides pointed out a sting ray swimming beneath us. Then a sea turtle was spotted. I tried to take photos with an underwater camera we purchased at the ABC Store, but it was so hard to see through the view finder. At one point Chris wanted to go back to the boat, so I swam back with him and then back out to the group. Those few moments when I was "alone" with the fish were amazing. I swam with a school of fish going the same direction as me and I felt a part of their pack.

When we got to the second snorkeling location, many folks decided to stay on the boat. I was the first tourist in the water and the last out. This time there was another turtle who was quite active. He swam by me, maybe five feet away. I think he was OK with getting closer to us because there were less people in the water. Our tour guide made sure we kept a good enough distance as not to startle him. Of course, by this point, I had no more film left in the underwater camera. A part of me was actually thankful for this - it made me truly experience the moment rather than attempting to capture it on film.

While it was mostly adults on the boat, and at least half only boarded to dolphin watch, one family who had a four-year-old daughter entered the water and she was quite happy to do so. I can't help but hope in a few years Hannah will be interested in joining me and seeing wild sea life up close. Being able to snorkel with my daughter would be the ultimate highlight of any vacation I could ever take.

YYZ Bambina is tagging all Hawaii-related posts #hnlbambina.

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

Sea Life Park - O’ahu (#hnlbambina)

One of the attractions I was most looking forward to on our trip to Hawaii was Sea Life Park.

Anyone recall the movie "50 First Dates" with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler? This is the park Sandler supposedly works at in the film. And I say supposedly, because most of the scenes I remember from the film I did not see at Sea Life Park (as a big fan, I've watched the movie at least 20 times). I should have done a Wikipedia search before I left. Apparently the park featured prominently in the film is Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, in Vallejo, California.

Regardless, a park set on the coast of a Hawaiian island is good enough in itself.

Hannah was free, the adults were all $29.99 for admission. People have complained about this entrance fee on travel websites. With the Honolulu Zoo costing $14 and the Waikiki Aquarium $9, I can understand why they are upset with the steep jump, but as a family with a baby it was well worth the price.

The Wholphin is on the left.

My Mom made a list of all the scheduled shows to ensure we would catch all of them. Hannah LOVED the shows (and I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed them too). She learned to clap shortly before we left for Hawaii and the sea lions and dolphins amused her to no end (and got gasps of glee AND lots of claps). Sea Life Park is also the home to the only know Wolphin - her parents are a whale and a dolphin. 

The park itself is quite small - I'd say you could circle the main path housing exhibits in 2 minutes easily if you didn't stop to watch. With a baby who likes to be carried, I didn't mind the park was so small, just as families with toddlers who like to walk by themselves wouldn't mind either.

We also fed the sea turtles for $4 - the cost included broccoli, celery and a cute "I fed the sea turtles" cup. Hannah also got to touch the shell of a baby sea turtle who was 3.5 months old.

Sea Life Park also offers activities such as swimming with the dolphins, feeding the sea lions, "swimming" with the sharks, etc. Most of the older families we saw the day we went had also signed up for one of these activities.

You can tell these animals are well taken care of. There seemed to be as many staff members attending to the animals as there were visitors in the park. There were a few too many sea turtles for my liking in their exhibit, but the other animals seemed quite happy in their homes. I wish there were more underwater viewing tanks - just the sharks and a few of the dolphins had these.

It's about a 50 minute bus ride on TheBus (O'ahu's public transportation system) from Waikiki which charges $2.50 each way for adults - which is nothing considering the amazing views you get riding to the park (a lot of the journey is along the coast).

If I ever get back to O'ahu (and I hope I will), I would definitely return to Sea Life Park. 

YYZ Bambina is tagging all Hawaii-related posts #hnlbambina.

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

Back to Reality...

Today has been the longest day of my life, at least flight-wise.

We are finally back in Toronto. When I get back on THIS timezone I hope to post many stories about our adventures in Hawaii and travelling with baby.

Strangely enough, I am still suffering vacation withdrawal. Even if being on mat leave means I don't have a 9 to 5 job to return to, just being back in my "normal" setting is somewhat depressing. I wonder if I could be the first Torontonian to successfully grow a palm tree?

Anyway, here's a quick photo of Hannah and I at Sea Life Park. Hope you will stay tuned for my upcoming posts!

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

I'm Thankful for Paradise...

We arrived safely in Hawaii.

While Daddy is climbing Diamond Head and Grandma is at the pool, Mommy thought she would give an uber quick update while baby sleeps in the hotel crib.

Paradise is fabulous and well-worth the LONG flight from Toronto. Thankfully there were babies on both our plane rides, and all the touristy attractions are well-prepared for infant guests.

Having a great time - can't wait to write some of my first posts about travelling with baby, when I'm back in cold, palm treeless Ontario.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone! :)

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.