Pretty much everyone has dreamt of going to Hawaii for a vacation getaway. People typically imagine the white sandy beaches, the warm, blue water, the tropical forests, and the delicious foods; however, my experience at Hawaii was not what I expected.
I went to Hawaii four years ago, and it was not a bad experience per se, but it was not what I had envisioned. I expected going to the beach everyday and relaxing, but that is not how my mother plans our trips. We started our vacation off right from day one.
Let me start off by adding that I get motion sickness really easily, so any kind of boat, plane, or car ride is awful for me. It is struggle I always have to deal with on our trips. We started off our vacation by taking a two hour and thirty minute flight to Las Vegas, Nevada. We stayed there for a night and flew to Hawaii, a five hour flight, the next morning. We broke the flight up because leaving from Texas straight to Hawaii was a eight hour flight. And trust me, five hours was all I could handle. We arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii around midnight (there is a five hour time difference so it actually felt like five in the morning for us) and took a luxurious black limo to our hotel. From there, we quickly unpacked our belongings and prepared ourselves to wake up at 5am for our first excursion.
At the crack of dawn, my family and I rose out of bed to begin our first adventure in Hawaii-shark diving. Swimming with sharks was something I have always wanted to do, so I was extremely excited to finally check this off my bucket list. We strolled over to the North Shore Shark Adentures van to go to the boating dock, and we headed out to a thirty minute drive to North Shore Beach. Once we arrived, we scrambled onto the little boat with approximately fifteen other people and plopped on a seat. I am not sure how rough the water normally is in Hawaii, but lets just say today, it was extremely rough and we were not even moving, yet.
I held onto the rail and hoped for the best because I knew it was going to be a long morning. We sailed out for about thirty minutes arrived to the Galapagos and Sandbar shark infested water. I slowly stood up to glance at the remarkable six to twelve foot long creatures swimming leisurely by the boat, but because the waves were so rough, I could hardly stand. The first group of cage divers went in first, so I sat there miserably, trying my hardest to distract myself from the unsteady swishing of the waves. Five minutes pass, and I begin to feel worse. I lie my head down on the bench and focus on my breathing.
As soon as the first group finishes, my mother volunteers us to go next, knowing I need to go in the water now before I throw up. I stumble across the boat, flying into one person after another as each wave beats against the boat. I arrive at the end of the boat by the ladder and an employee of the shark diving company hands me a snorkel and rushes me down the ladder. By now, it is 6:30am and the temperature is about seventy degrees at the most. Let me clarify why I am including the temperature outside; I am from south Texas where it is 105 degrees on a daily basis, and it is so hot at home, I sweat in our swimming pool. Therefore, it was going to be a challenge for me to get into what I consider icy water.
I hesitantly put my foot on the ladder, trying not to gag as I start to feel light headed, and deliberately slide down a step at a time. A cold wave brushes against my thigh and I suck a breath of air in slowly. I creep down further, grinding my teeth until the deep blue water is sloshing repeatedly on my stomach. I got to the point where I know I need to suck it up and jump all the way into the water because gently crawling down was not making it any easier. I draw in a quick breath and hopped in the water, allowing the waves to fully overcome my body. Out of pure shock of the coldness, I automatically wave my arms and kick my legs. I doggy paddle over to the edge of the cage and hold onto the rail to balance myself. As I arrive, I start to feel queasy. I look around and notice there are roughly five other people in here with me that are not my family. I desperately told myself, “Please do not throw up in the water with these people. It will be gross and ruin their day. Please do not throw up.” I kept thinking it over and over again hoping my sea sickness will eventually pass.
A couple minutes went by, and I started to gain my equilibrium. I decided to put my goggles over my eyes and hunt for sharks. Ten seconds later, I spotted a Sandbar shark. It swam right in front of me with the greatest of ease. It was breathtaking. I turn my head to the right and another swam by smoothly. Additionally, I looked beneath the cage and saw more sharks swimming under me.
Not long after, I notice the cage had a huge gap in the middle. I thought to myself, “Great. If the sharks get hungry, they can easily slide through the bars and have me for breakfast.” Luckily, they were harmless and we both minded our own business.
After about twenty minutes of being in the cage, it was time to get out and let the next group get their turn. I climbed out of the water, ready to dry myself off and lie down on the bench. Furthermore, I lied down and closed my eyes, reminiscing my adventure. Although I got extremely seasick and was frozen like an ice cube, I had a superb time.
Before I knew it, we arrived back to the dock and my first excursion has ended. I crawled into the van with my family, ready to go back to the hotel. We arrive to our room, I showered, and repacked my suitcase for the cruise we were going to go on later that evening. Although it may seem our vacation was practically over from that point on, shark diving was only the beginning of our trip. Our next adventures included going zip lining through waterfalls, driving around the whole island of Hana, visiting a volcanic black beach, tubing through sugar cane tunnels in Kauai, and touring Pearl Harbor.I included the link to the North Shore Shark Adventures, the tour/excursion I went on in Hawaii.
