Caleb O'Kray, 25, watched as his little brother splashed in the ocean off Waikiki yesterday, the memory of last month's Ala Wai Canal sewage spill still fresh in his mind.

"My wife is pregnant and she refuses to go into the water because of fear of getting sick," said O'Kray, a student at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. "(The water) seems to be much better than it has been," he said, although he didn't go in the water yesterday.

O'Kray's 9-year-old brother, Joseph, who was visiting from Michigan with his parents, said he was OK with going into the water.

"Seems fine to me," Joseph said.

Yesterday's sunny skies in Waikiki brought out hundreds of beachgoers, residents and visitors alike brave enough to test out the waters at Waikiki. Although signs were posted at the Kahanamoku and Fort DeRussy beaches in the area in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village and Hale Koa Hotel, other areas of Waikiki did not have warning signs yesterday.

Some visitors refused to venture into the water — even if there were no warning signs — because of fear that sewage could have still made its way to other parts of the beach. The 48 million gallons of raw sewage pumped into the Ala Wai Canal from March 24 to 30 marked the largest release of untreated wastewater into Honolulu waters in at least two decades, according to the city.

"I'll put my feet it, but I won't go in," said Diana Seckla, a visitor from Connecticut. "You never know what's in there," she said as she waded through the water.

Waikiki lifeguards were hesitant to say whether they thought the water was safe but did say they were trying to advise as many people as possible about the situation.

"You can tell people about the water, but that's all you can do," lifeguard Curtis Cuba said. He said he can't tell people not to go into the water since warning signs were not posted at the part of the beach he was watching.

Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the lifeguards, said it is frustrating because they can only advise people to stay out of the water, they can't force them to stay out.

"If people come up to us and ask, as a precautionary measure we'll say, 'Even if signs aren't posted, we suggest you don't swim,' " Cheplic said. "We can tell them not to go in, but if they decide to go in, there is nothing we can do about it."

Scott Watson, 40, said he can see the beach from his Waikiki apartment and that for the past few days the water was dirty and murky-looking. But yesterday, for the first time in a week, Watson and his 4-year-old son went swimming.

"It looks pretty good today. There is a considerable difference in color," Watson said. "For a number of days (the water) was brown in color but now it's getting back to turquoise again."

Julio Bayardo and his wife, Alexa, are visiting from Mexico and said they were unaware of the sewage spill situation.

"We went in for a little bit," Julio Bayardo said. He said if he had known about the situation beforehand, he may not have done so. He said he thinks officials should inform people about the water quality and let them decide to "choose (one of) two options — to swim or not to swim."

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.