NOTE: hanauma bay is closed tuesday, i know this because i went there twice on tuesdays before working it out haha

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is about 10 miles east of Waikiki just off the main coastal road (Kalaniana'ole Highway, Route 72).

Plan to get to the bay early. The parking lot often fills early and you will be turned away if it is full. By getting an extra early start you will avoid long lines at the ticket booth and snorkel concession

Kaimaiana are free and so are kids under 13 otherwise its $7

you then have to watch a film which pretty much everyone then disregards and walks all over destroying the reef.

Not going to lie, i think Hanauma bay was a huge dissapointment, There is far too many people and you spend alot of time bumping into stupid people on floaties. And then you have the complete dickheads who are treading and stomping on the corals. The condition of the reef is not good and there are plenty of fish but its pretty hard to see them when the visibility is awful because again dickheads are stirring up all the sediments. I tried to go to the far south end of the bay where most people couldnt be bothered to walk down to and there seemed to be a few more fish species and greater vis. 

Puhi'oni'o - Whitemouth Moray (Gymnothorax meleagris) - eats small fish, crustaceans and octopus - most commonly seen and boldest 

The bay is undoubtedly beautiful and protected from most of the swell conditions too.  The beach is reasonably cleaned but pretty much as packed as Waikiki beach. 

Lauhau - Four Spot Butterflyfish (Chaetodon quadrimaculatus)  - orange eye bar bordered with black and blue followed by a yellow bar.  - two white spots either side on dark part of the upper body - eats coral polyps 

maneoneo - Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum) - remerakable dorsal and anal fins that are exerted when startled to make them appear double their size to confuse predators - Broad cream and and mustard vertical bars on side of the body  - yellow to mustard coloured tail  - eat filamenteous algae 

Puhi kapa - Snowflake Moray Eel (Echidna nebulosa)  - White snout with yellow nostrils  - whiteish body with black blotches centered around yellow markings  - eats crabs and  other crustaceans

Po'opa'a  - Stocky Hawkfish (Cirrhitus pinnulatus) - Mottled body with yellow lines on face and red spots on body  - eats fishes, crabs and crustaceans - largest hawkfish in Hawaii 

Umaumalei - Orangespine Surgeonfish (Naso lituratus)  - yellow band from snout to eye  - orange lips, two orange spines at base of tail  - eats leafy brown algae 

Manini - Convict Tangs (Acanthurus triostegus) - identifiable by 6 black bars, convict stripes - graze on filamentous algae  - endemic to Hawaii