Fourth of July Mauna Lani turtle release was CHAOS!

The image of the Koi fish is a visual to how the turtle release event was. My family and I thought to go to the event and see these amazing Green Sea Turtles being released into the wild. Opening with a couple native Hawaiian dances to the freeing of 4 Honu. What we envisioned was totally different than what we experienced.

We were a little late to the event due to the amazing amounts of traffic of other people thinking to do the same thing with their families. This was all understandable, but as we walked in to the event we began to see the amount of people. I turned to my wife and indicated that there is no way we would be able to see the event. A large rectangle border was created like a runway from the sandy beach and into the water where hundreds of people crowded against it as if to outline the lines. There must have been a row of seven people in front of us. As I looked around people were climbing the trees and rocks to get better views.

As the event began to start we could see glimpses of what was happening through the dodging heads of the crowds. I am much to short for this as were a lot of other people around me as they held their cameras over their heads to get a picture. My kids were lucky enough to get up front, however, others weren’t so fortunate. Arguments erupted from people that had staked their claim early in the day when someone put their foot in their territory for a moment as everyone lunged foreword to get a better view. I wanted to leave and so did my family, but the crowding wasn’t over.

We were told when we were dropped off to catch the shuttles at the hotel drive around. It was there we waited for what seemed like an eternity. Grumpy eager people jostling all around us in what was one of the most un-organized situations I have been in. You would think they, the hotel staff, would have this under control as this wasn’t their first event. Instead everyone made their own line and of course theirs is the line because they found a place up front. And then the shuttle arrived.

The moment the shuttle had stopped behind a car in traffic there was a mad dash of people rushing it as if there was a celebrity to be interviewed by the media. It took us several attempts at the shuttles before we made it with a sigh of relief. “Never again” we told each other as we left.