Sea Life Up Close and Personal

One thing we have found here is that everyone is so helpful. From the employees at the hotel to local bus drivers, either they are good at tolerating tourists or they genuinely care about their fellow humans. Either way, it has made for are really nice island experience.

Tuesday found us once again preparing to board The Bus  for our ride to Sea Life Park. Before going, I made several phone calls in an effort to find out how we would make the trip. We settled on The Bus. It costs $2.50 per person one way and isn't really a bad way to travel as we get to see the island close up.

 Upon leaving the hotel, I stopped at the desk to ask directions to the closest bus stop that would serve our needs. Soon we were on our way walking towards the beach on Kuhio Avenue and reaching our destination after about three blocks. A few minutes later, The Bus arrived and we spent about an hour heading to our destination with spectacular views of beaches and the ocean.

 We were dropped off right at the entrance to the park and immediately purchased our tickets and entered a large aquarium that as shaped like a circle and as you went around and down, you were able to see the fish that lived at all the levels. Sharks, rays, and other tropical fish swam by and some, like the puffer, even faced the humans who were peering at it.

One of the neat things about the park, as we would learn during our visit is that most of the animal displays are interactive for park guests.It was really fun because I don't remember ever having been able to get so close to animals before.

For example, we encountered a turtle pond full of turtles that were waiting anxiously to be fed by park attendees. Most of them craned their heads far out of the water in the hope of a snack. If dolphins are your thing then many park goers get to swim with them and interact with them as well. Great stuff.

 The main attractions at the park are the sea lions and dolphins. We watched one sea lion show where the sea lions danced to music and painted pictures.

 The dolphin show offered up lots of jumping and splashing to the joy of young and old alike. It even offered up a Wolfin, the result of a dolphin mating with a whale. The interesting part is that it did look like a bottle nosed dolphin but its snout was curved like a whale. Neat stuff.

Wolphin

The afternoon was warm, about 75 degrees and the penguins spent it hiding under rock outcroppings. The sea lion played all day in their pool and could be heard barking all over the park, especially when It came time for guests to get the chance to feed them. I can tell you, it was incredible. Although there was fencing, the sea lions at times were within about three feet from us.

 Before we knew it, our time at the park was over and we once again headed for a bus stop and sat waiting. It was there that I noticed the older woman with the back pack. I struck up a conversation with her and found out she as from Germany and was spending a month backpacking around the island. How cool. I think that sometimes we all wish we could do stuff like that.

I said goodbye and Autumn and I boarded the bus and headed back to Waikiki.

We made one stop at Costco so that Autumn could get a bathing suit and then finally made it back to the hotel.