finally in the Pacific

I was in Hawaii for almost a week before i finally got into the Pacific Ocean.
One morning i walked from my hotel down to the beach resorts and followed a tiny public access alley to famed Waikiki Beach.

As i mentioned in an earlier post, the sand is lovely - closer to white than tan. The water was nice and warm and after spending my life next to the Atlantic, i was excited to swim in a new ocean. It was beautiful, though someone should have reminded me that the beach is on an island of volcanic rock and coral so i would have worn water shoes.
Even for a Thursday in October the beach was busy and water full of people. Unlike Ocean City, though, you didn't just have to keep an eye out for other swimmers and the occasional body board; there were swimmers, body boards, rafts, canoes, surfers, and upright surfers using paddles:  
Anybody know what this is called?
One good thing about there being so many people around that i was able to try several times to get a picture of me in the water with Diamond Head in the background.
 
See? I was really in Hawaii! (someday, when i am fabulously wealthy, i am gonna get a digital camera that works in the water so that i don't have to use those floating disposables anymore; the quality is really variable from picture to picture)
But when i swam out far enough, to where i couldn't touch the bottom, the swells would momentarily block everything from sight
except water
and it felt like i was alone with the sea.