Trapped in a Conference Room and an Escape to Hanauma Bay

I spent most of Tuesday attending sessions at the conference, which were very good, and were the reason I was there, but it was hard to forget the adventures calling to me from a few feet away. When I arrived at the conference on Wednesday morning, I ran into some colleagues from BYU, and sat down to eat breakfast with them. I guess I had really taken in the island lifestyle because one of them said to me, "Heidi, you look very relaxed." I guess he was trying to say that I don't always look that way back at the office. He was right.

On Wednesday, after the morning sessions, I decided to have an adventure and take the city bus to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling. I took my friend Gordon's wife Vickie and away we went on Bus #22 with a lot of other people dressed in swim suits. Hanauma Bay was breakthtaking with beautiful blue water and green mountains rising on 3 sides. The water was shallow, very shallow at some points where I would have to suck in my belly to not hit the coral, but the sea life was right at home. I saw the most variety there, compared to the other snorkeling stops, but there the fish were sort of loners and I didn't seen large groups of colorful schools, like I had other places.

I took a little break after our first jaunt, to convince my brain that it wasn't sea sick. After a few minutes of resting in the sunshine, I went back in the water to another part of the reef. I could see something big a few feet away. You would think my gut would say, "Don't go over there, it is something big," but curiosity got the best of me and I went over to explore. I got so excited when I saw that it was a turtle! I grabbed Vickie and brought her back over to see it. She was ecstatic. I followed it for a while and enjoyed seeing its grace as it moved in the water. When it turned around and came at me, I thought it was best I moved on. That was an experience I hope I never forget.



Here I am heading out for my day at the conference. I wore dress clothes and flip flops. It was the best I could do.



Hanauma Bay. This picture does not do it justice.



Snorkelers at Hanauma Bay



Not exactly me with the turtle, but you get the idea.