Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve — Attraction in Hawaii

Changed my original review of 1 star to 3 stars because obviously this isn’t a 1-star location. I was just so pissed off by the entrance staff, so I wrote it while in line. Here are some notes I want their managers and all visiting parents to see.

Realistic Expectations - No drop offs at the ticket station. This means the entire party must park first, then walk down. My wife wanted to scope out the wait situation and was shouted at ‘get back in the car’. Never experienced that anywhere. They don’t let you get in line until your entire party is present. This includes babies, toddlers, elderly. So forget about letting the kids stay in AC. There’s some shade but it’s still 90+ on pavement so… be ready If you didn’t make reservations online, expect some snarky comments from staff. If you did, you better get your ID ready. If not, snarky comments. If you show a picture of your ID, they WILL make you feel stupid. Witnessed it at least 3 times today with international tourists because it’s common practice in other countries. Expect 30 minutes between your arrival and when you step on sand, even with reservations: 5-10 mins at ticket stand, 5-10 mins for a talk and get into theatre, 5 mins settle in and watch movie, 5 min get down to beach. If you don’t have reservations, add 10 minutes if it’s a slow day. Could be hours on weekends. Best snorkel yet so be prepared to be mind blown. Fish seem to be bigger since the pandemic (aren’t we all)… Follow their advice and have some safe fun!

To managers if you care: we want to keep coming back here and not go through the entrance hassle again. I understand every rule is written on your website somewhere. But if you think that level of communication is sufficient, you’re wrong. What I see at the gate is confused patrons being yelled at by over-stressed employees. This is all avoidable with enough signage that spells out the rules, and minor updates to your SOP. Human beings are great at following rules, if we can read them at where applied. Some staff seem like they’ve forgot why they chose this career and is taking it out on patrons. If they are rude and yelling at customers all day, there’s no way they enjoy the job. They need to quit and find something else they enjoy. About the visitor cap - Staff informed us the visitor cap is 1000 online reservations and 300 walk-ins per day. Would be very helpful to post some kind of update board at the gate to turn people away so that no one needs to park, walk their whole family down just to find out they need to wait a long time or can’t get in.

My original angry review wrote while in line: Zero aloha. If you come with kids, expect long delays and the worst TSA style treatment at the gate. Worst customer service you’ll ever experience at 9AM on a Wednesday. Doesn’t matter if you have...

READ THIS IF : you weren’t able to get a reservation ticket. I will walk in through what I did.

THIS IS A MUST GO PLACE! BEAUTIFUL! Please ignore one star. One star is for the “GET OUT” lady. Story below.

They do give out limited amount of walk in tickets. And should get them no problem if you are early.

I thought there was a parking spot that we can park and line up for the ticket before it open… but boy was I wrong! Keep in mind that I never been here before until today. Keep reading to know what to expect.

Rant: (feel free to scroll down and skip) I show up early to a… crazy? Annoyed? Security lady at the entrance off the road. At 5:45 am. She said “get out”. I try to have a conversation and ask when I should come back but she just kept raising her voice and screaming “get out! GET OUT! …”Over and over again…

I came back at 6:30 to see if they opened because I saw people going in. I guess it was the staffs heading in. Same crazy lady is sane now lol. “Please come back at 6:45”. Idk why she couldn’t have said that to begin with.

Rant over.

Please arrive on time. Not a second early. You can wait at the scenic lookout’s parking area that’s super close by. Once you drive down the hill to the parking lot (parking is $3 each time you enter. No in n outs).

Right at the first parking spots after paying, there was a person sitting on the bench giving out a time card for you to buy a ticket. Make sure all party is present to get time cards for your group. With the time card, head toward the entrance and buy your tickets. Attend the intro talk and Informational video about not to do and how to keep the beach and fish safe and clean. Very informational and short.

Note: this all happened on a Sunday. I had a friend who was about to get a walk in ticket at 9 am on a weekday. But you know. Better safe than sorry

Now you can either leave and get a stamp on your arm on the way out to come back at a later time in the same day. ( make sure to get it stamped on your arm and not on the back of the hand like me… it was very faded due to hand washes lol.

Or you can walk down the hill or take the shuttle down. Shuttle are pretty fast and frequent. There are bathroom down at the beach.

P.S. when I came back in the afternoon because it was too cold in the morning. February. the male security at the entrance was...

Tips:

1. Be sure to pre-book your admission ticket two days before your intended date of visit and to pay the fees (USD 25), otherwise you’re out of luck to go there. Reservations for most popular times sell out within a minute of the booking opening times so be ready if you are looking to book for a specific date and time.
2. If you can, pick an early time (before 8 am) when there are fewer people as the waters are clearer when there are less people stepping around them.
3. There are limited shady spots on the beach, so get there early to reserve your spot for later in the day.
4. Best places to view fishes are near the reefs.
5. You can rent snorkel equipment and life vests there or if you can buy some at Target or Long’s before you get there, you’ll also be able to save some money and time as line ups later in the day tend to be long.

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is a great place to check out if you want to snorkel and view some fishes, but it’s not the best place as waves can be rough on certain days and it can be very touristy. Visitors need to arrive 15 minutes before their intended entrance time and if you’re a first time visitor, you’ll need to watch a safely and rules video before you are allowed to go down the hill, via tram or walk, to the beach.

Once on the beach, you can pick a spot to leave your stuff and go directly to the waters. Fishes are usually near the reefs and there is a guide on what types of fishes you’ll likely encounter. There is outdoor shower facilities as well as toilets on site.

The day that we went, the water was a bit too rough which made it difficult to view the fishes. Earlier in the day, the water was calmer so we were able to view them a little better but once more people started arriving, it was almost impossible to view fishes vs viewing people’s legs.

If you’re not a confident swimmer, I recommend getting a life vest to help you worry less about swimming / floating.

There are also monk seals which are native to Hawaii lying lazily near the rocks on the...