Getting to and from Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve just got easier for out-of-state visitors.
A new contract between the City and County of Honolulu and Roberts Hawai‘i streamlines the journey to the popular snorkeling spot, packaging transportation, entry and an educational video, while also freeing up space in the public parking lot.
The new online admission options now allow visitors to reserve their Hanauma Bay excursions a month in advance, the city said in a recent announcement. The packages include roundtrip transportation from several spots in Ala Moana and Waikīkī as well as entry into the bay.
During the bus ride, visitors will be shown a 10-minute educational video, which is required viewing for everyone entering the nature preserve.
Advanced reservations can be made on the Hanauma Bay and Roberts Hawai‘i websites. A portion of these packages also will include tickets to the Honolulu Zoo.
(ICYMI: The Honolulu Zoo has also recently launched a new online ticketing system. Read about that here).
According to the city, 400 tickets will be available daily through the new advanced ticketing option, while adjustments will be made to the existing ticketing system to keep daily attendance around 1,400 people.
Looking for admission only? You can still make those two days in advance.
Residents, though, can still get in free, without payment or reservation required. Only a $1 parking fee is applicable to locals for a space within the 280-stall parking lot, which was repaved in September, the city notes.
Laura Thielen, director of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation, said in the announcement that the idea came from the Hanauma Bay Steering Committee and progressed with the help of preserve staff and partners in the city’s departments of Enterprise Services, Information Technology and Office of Economic Revitalization.
“This effort aligns with Hanauma Bay’s goal of balancing the recreational and cultural needs of the community with the education and preservation mandates of this wahi pana (storied place),” she says.
“We’re proud to collaborate with the City and County of Honolulu to make Hanauma Bay more accessible while preserving its natural beauty," JoAnn Erban, vice president of sales and marketing for Roberts Hawai‘i, said in the announcement. "As a locally owned, employee-owned company, we’re deeply committed to caring for our island home. By providing eco-friendly transportation and the convenience of advance booking, we’re helping guests enjoy a seamless, responsible experience at one of Hawai‘i’s most beloved and culturally rich destinations.”
It's not immediately known how many people have already used the new options.
The lava flows that created the Hanauma Bay region began about 40,000 years ago, while the bay itself was created about 32,000 years ago "in a violent series of explosions" that occurred after a volcanic vent opened underwater.
Today, DPR maintains the land portion of the preserve, while the state Department of Land and Natural Resources oversees the ocean.
Once a favorite fishing spot for Hawaiian royalty, Hanauma Bay was designated as Hawai‘i's first Marine Life Conservation District in 1967, the preserve's website states.
The number of visitors peaked in the 1970s and 1980s at an estimated 10,000 people per day, but a management plan put into place in 1990 helped mitigate the impact, the site notes.
In 2019 — before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 closed the preserve for nearly eight months — nearly 3,000 people attended each day for a total of nearly 845,000 visitors that year.
The city says there were 400,776 visits to Hanauma Bay in 2024. You can find last year's attendance numbers here.
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Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
