We live part of the year in our condo apartment at the Ilikai Hotel and Apartments. We rent out our apartment the rest of the year. We offer generous discounts off our regular rates to help “fill in” open nights. Click on this link ( 1530) for more details on this fully furnished Hawaiian Style Apartment.
Our ocean front Condo apartment is right next to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. There is a great reef to snorkel in front of the Hilton. The reef extends from the Atlantis Pier to the jetty. My wife loves to snorkel and loves the fact that she can see the reef from our Condo’s lanai. She can see the clarity, condition, and depth of the water to determine when she wants to walk down to snorkel.
This is a shallow reef so you get a great close up view of the fish. At low tide there can be less than 12 inches between the reef and the surface of the water. My wife uses the Boogie Board to keep her above the sharp coral. When the surf is up or choppy this area can be cloudy, but when the water is clear it is a great experience. We have seen Wrasses, Trumpetfishes, Pufferfishes, Needlefishes, Moorish Idol, Gobies, File fishes, Humuhumunukunukuapua’a (Hawaii state fish), Tang, Surgeon fishes, Box fishes, Cornet fish, Dragonets, Goat fishes, Pipe fishes, Porcupine fishes and Butterfly fishes, to mention a few.
This is a good link for pictures of these fishes. We have only seen turtles (honu) once or twice around the reef but they are very common beyond the surf break.
The reef at Hanauma Bay is a spectacular place to snorkel. Please note that Hanauma Bay is Closed Tuesdays.
We take the bus. The fare is $2.25 for adults, $1.00 for seniors with a medicare card, and $1.00 for students. The bus takes about 60 minutes. From the Condo, go to the bus stop in front of the Ilikai and take any bus going to Waikiki. Ask the driver for a transfer.
Get off at the first stop on Kuhio Street.
Then take bus # 22 to Hanauma . Give your transfer to the bus driver. Click this link for bus 22 schedule. TheBus 22. This stop on Kuhio is bus # 22′s second stop so you will be among the first passengers on Bus 22. There is only one bus an hour so they can get pretty crowded and even fill up with passengers having to stand in the isle the whole trip. As the bus goes through Waikiki it often fills up completely and it will go past regular bus stops until more space is available. So the closer to the beginning of the route you get on bus 22 the more seats will be available.
We pack a lunch, go early and spend the day at the bay. We freeze bottles of water to use as our ice packs and then have cold water to drink with lunch. When you rent our Condo, unit 1530, we have a soft sided cooler, 2 backpack beach chairs, 3 folding beach chairs, a beach umbrella , 2 snorkel sets and 3 boogie boards for your convenience. One of the boogie boards does not have a lease. If you get a seat in the back of the bus there is room behind the “side” seats on either side of the bus to store the boogie board.
When you return from Hanauma Bay on bus 22, get another transfer and get off at any bus stop on Kuhio street in Waikiki. Use your transfer to get on a # 8, 19, or 20 and get off at the Ilikai Hotel on the corner of Hobron and Ala Moana Blvd. Many of the buses have speaker systems the use gps to announce the next stop, so listen for Hobron and Ilikai.
We invite you to come stay in our beautiful Ilikai condo # 1530 and enjoy the spectacular snorkeling.
Aloha, Terry and Sue
