Fish can be seen, our super-knowledgeable hostel owner told us, around the back of the local aquarium. Not by avoiding the entrance fee and climbing through a toilet window (which used to work at Frome cinema) but by swimming out to some small shallow reefs just offshore. So it was back on with snorkels and factor 85 suncream, and off we went!
The prize catch, as it were, was the humuhumunukunukuapua'a, Hawaii's state fish. They had been spotted in this area but, frankly, we were extremely excited just to see a Moorish Idol (Gil from Finding Nemo!) in the first five minutes of bobbing around. Emboldened we were soon swimming with schools of tang and surgeonfish.
Then, out of the murky blue, there he/she was! Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, a little timid, keeping its distance, unmistakably like a parrot fish but slightly less interesting, certainly nicer than the state fish of Georgia, and probably excellent with a herb crust and tartare sauce.
Run Hannah! Go find the fishies!
