It’s true! Hanauma Bay, one Hawaii’s hottest customer locations, is now reopened to the general public in the present day, December 2, after being closed as a result of COVID-19 pandemic on March 18 of this 12 months. There are new limits on the variety of each day guests in place, in addition to different measures to make sure the continued well being and security of beachgoers and of the pure reserve itself.
The months-long closure of the park to guests has sparked an incredible renewal and rejuvenation at Hanauma Bay. Water readability has improved within the bay, and researchers have noticed a significant increase within the variety of numerous native species of huge and small reef fish, Hawaiian monk seals, turtles and corals that had been degraded by a long time of heavy customer visitors.
Throughout peak customer seasons earlier than the closure, Hanauma Bay frequently averaged customer numbers within the hundreds. The reopening of Hanauma Bay begins with a cap of 720 guests per day. The reopening additionally comes with a number of latest modifications, together with a $12 entry payment and a $three parking payment for nonresidents. The reward store, snorkeling gear leases, meals concessions and different facilities at Hanauma Bay will stay closed. All guests shall be require to view an academic video about Hanauma Bay on arrival.
After all, the pure magnificence and pristine waters of Hanauma Bay are what attracts guests and residents alike to the fabled bay. However Hanauma Bay has performed an essential function in native Hawaiian historical past in addition to Oahu’s richly various ecology.
Hanauma Bay was as soon as a pure playground for Hawaiian royalty. King Kamehameha the Nice and Queen Ka’ahumanu frequently fished there, they usually typically held leisure video games and hosted honored guests on the bay. Due to a scarcity of pure contemporary water, the realm was by no means considerably populated though archaeologists have uncovered a wide range of native instruments and different artifacts there.
Most Hanauma Bay guests are unaware that Hanauma Bay grew to become in style with the general public solely after easy accessibility by highway was constructed within the 1930s, or that the bay’s in style “swimming holes” are man-made. They had been blasted into the reef with dynamite to create room for trans-Pacific phone cables to the West Coast in 1956. It has been a location for numerous movie and tv productions for many years, from Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii to the Magnum PI reboot at present on the air.
Hanauma Bay was named a Marine Protected Space in 1967. Additional steps to mitigate the unfavourable affect of hundreds of each day guests had been taken within the 1990s. The COVID-19 closure of the bay for almost 9 months has seen a miraculous restoration of the sources of Hanauma Bay. The most important scaling again of customer visitors to 720 guests per day shall be maybe probably the most important effort towards the conservation and preservation of Hanauma Bay since Honolulu County bought the land from the property of Bernice Pauahi Bishop.
The adjustments that include Hanauma Bay reopening are important, so we right here at Hawaii Aloha Journey encourage you to contact us or relevant government agencies with any questions you might have about visiting the bay. We’re glad to welcome you again!
Posted by: Jamie Winpenny
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