North Shore Shark's Cove Snorkeling & Banzai Pipeline

Before we headed to Hawaii, we talked friends and family who had been to Hawaii and had advice to share with us. It was interesting to keep finding out more people we knew who had traveled or lived in Hawaii. Oahu Revealed was a book which a few of them said we had to get to help with our exploring the island. Since it was so highly recommended we did what everyone told us and bought it. And we are glad we did! The book gives detailed instructions on how to get to beaches and good snorkeling areas which aren't clearly marked. We easily found Shark's Cove for some great snorkeling. Before getting ready to snorkel, we drove up to the part of the North Shore where surf competitions are held in the winter- the Banzia Pipeline! Since April is the end of Hawaii's winter season, we didn't see the huge pipeline but we still saw some good smaller surf. Here's a video I took but you need to turn your volume down because the wind is pretty loud.  

Shark's Cove at the North Shore Oahu

Our day was made when we saw a sea turtle. We were both so excited to see one. Then a few minutes later we'd be snorkeling and see another one and get excited all over again and swim towards it to watch. We didn't try touching them and kept our distance while admiring their gracefulness. These animals are endangered so they are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Marti, we know you will appreciate hearing this. Marti worked in Yuma as a travel nurse with Caleb and she told him all about the sea turtles. I want to go snorkel again and again to watch these animals. 

While we were snorkeling, a teenage guy told us he spotted a reef shark in the middle area of the cove so we were on the lookout after he told us. I mentally prepared myself and was ready to see a harmless shark without panicking. So I was a little disappointed when we didn't spot any shark by the time we were ready to get out of the water. At the beginning of this video you can see the area we snorkeled in. There wasn't an easy beach access to get into the cove so we had to maneuver our way over sharp volcanic rock to get into the water. We decided we are getting water shoes after this venture. We would love to come back here with our niece Gabriella in a couple weeks because there are large shallow tide pools with reef fish and she loves seeing fish. You can see the tide pool areas at the end of this video below.

We loved the variety of fish we saw in the cove. It was hard to get close up pictures of a lot of the fish because the reef was usually well below the surface. Caleb dove down to get pictures and swim around the coral, but I stayed near the surface. Some people have already asked what we used for a camera. Caleb is using a waterproof OtterBox case for his iPhone. It worked great for our first day of snorkeling. We saw plenty of fish we are still working on identifying. We saw black and white striped ones we identified as Blackspot Sergeant and also saw two types of Parrotfish. The black and orange Achilles Tang were everywhere among the coral. 

Achilles Tang - we saw a lot of this fish

Some week soon we are going to snorkel at Hanauma Bay per our friends Jeff and Janah's recommendation as well as my cousins Tom & Jan who have snorkeled there. Electric Beach is another snorkeling area which comes highly recommended by local Hawaiians Caleb's working with. We've been told both places have great opportunities for seeing more sea life. Dolphins are often seen at Electric Beach. 

This is my hangout spot on the days when Caleb is working - the lagoons at Ko Olina. These lagoon beach areas are beautiful with grassy park areas coming right up the beach. The closest lagoon is about 1.5 miles from where we live so I can walk over there. The water is clear and sandy right at the shore line which is perfect for swimming and out near the rock wall area there is a little bit of reef and rocks which make for decent snorkeling. I look forward to sharing after more of our days exploring in Oahu.