Hanauma Bay newsletter input

DA CAVE

One thing I really enjoy about the Bay is it’s unique ability to continually surprise even the most jaded, been there, done that snorkel dude whose convinced himself that he’s seen all there is to see. Yup! I’m talking about me!

After 12 plus years of near daily snorkels, I thought I had seen it all and, in fact, have even slacked off a bit on my daily photo adventures.

Now I’m the first to admit that the Bay is not quite it’s former self, especially following the feeding ban and the tremendous storm surge that hit it in Dec of ‘03 which rearranged the coral and the bottom topography. However, there’s still a bit of surprise in the old gal! (Bays are members of the feminine persuasion- I looked it up!)

For the past several years, on my daily excursions, I routinely stop in a special area in the flats where there’s a small entrance to a mini cave just big enough to stick a camera into and take a blind shot of the inner most recesses of a concealed depression which can’t be more than 9 inches wide and maybe 18 inches deep. I basically snap a photo and then see what I’ve got on the LCD display on the camera rear.

Over the years, I’ve photographed a variety of Morays, a juvenile Peacock Grouper, several Banded Coral Shrimp, a couple of resident Bluestripe Pipefish who have established a cleaning station there, and more recently, a Conger Eel who has taken what appears to be a long term lease on the property.

Yesterday, my blind shot yielded a couple of marble shrimp hanging on the side of the cave walls, likely waiting for nightfall so they could venture forth and forage. For me, this daily blind shot has given new meaning to my daily forays into the Bay and I always look forward to seeing how Father Nature is gonna surprise me. It’s a bit like bottom fishing in that you don’t know what you have till you get a bit of color as you bring the critter boatside. I get that same anticipatory feeling between snapping the photo and reviewing the LCD screen.

So where am I going with all this? Geez, I dunno! Maybe just a tip of the hat to Father Nature for giving me those special moments and the anticipation of yet another new critter just around the corner, or as in my case, just around the cave!! May your New Year be filled with the anticipation of new adventures just around your corner as well.

Oh yeah! If you don’t have the rough equivalent of my “blind shot cave,” to experience a special moment, I have a ‘my cave’ direction map available for only $10 plus S&H!! Batteries not included! Aloha as always, Larry Winnik