Hanauma Bay to open 1 hour earlier than normal

HONOLULU — The Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation has announced that it will open the Hanauma Bay Nature Reserve to the public an hour earlier than normal.

The bay will now open at 6:30 a.m.

“This aims to cut down on lines, especially in the morning,” said department spokesman Nathan Serota.

Laura H. Thielen, the department’s director-designate, said demand in the morning has been high since the bay reopened to visitors on Dec. 2 after an eight month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“With our pilot ticketing system providing smoother entry into Hanauma Bay, we found that most beachgoers were arriving earlier in the day with attendance decreasing in the afternoon,” Thielen said in the statement.

The city also increased showings for its safety and conservation video that visitors are required to watch before accessing the popular beach, the parks department said in a statement.

All other public health protocols implemented for the bay’s reopening will remain in place, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The bay has a quota of only 720 visitors per day.