Where are the best snorkeling spots? (Captain Cook, Kahaluu: beach, swimming, station)

[hawaiilady46]

My friend is coming from the mainland and this will be here 5th summer on the BI. Every year we try to find new and better snorkeling spots we haven't visited yet. Got any ideas?

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Tell us which areas you've been to, so that we don't suggest someplace you've already been.

[hawaiilady46]

Waio pai ponda, champagne ponds, Richardson's beach, a bay in kona, hapuna, captain cook, all the common places. I'm looking for secret places that not everyone knows about.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Well now, they wouldn't be secret if they got published on a forum that goes out to the entire world.

[terracore]

My favorite snorkeling place is that one between the ice caves and the bomber crash.

[Robin Rossi]

Originally Posted by terracore

My favorite snorkeling place is that one between the ice caves and the bomber crash.

Do you do so with benefit of wet suit, or au natural`?

I saw a picture of the bomber. Didn't look like good snorkeling to me! Actually, looked like an excellent place to get killed.

[KaraBenNemsi]

Originally Posted by terracore

My favorite snorkeling place is that one between the ice caves and the bomber crash.

Intended pun taken

To the topic: I wouldn't say there's a sure spot. The 'good', accessible spots are all known, but differ greatly from day to day. I was just down at the Captain Cook Memorial in Kealakekua BAy, and it was pretty boring in terms of marine life. Unlike last weeks Saturday where the fish were really plenty.

[hotzcatz]

Mahukona maybe? Not a very large area, but there's folks who snorkel there.

[Big Island Cat]

Beach 69 is always a good snorkeling place I like to visit when I take the drive across to the other side of the island.

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Well now, they wouldn't be secret if they got published on a forum that goes out to the entire world.

Great point!

To the OP: If you want to find a secret place, just get yourself to a rocky beach where you don't see anyone out there and where you can safely get out through nay waves and start snorkeling... then call that your own 'secret place'.

Seriously, the entire Kona coastline offers some world-class snorkeling, so just about anywhere you get your head in the water will be good as long as you're not out too far. The 'best' spots are usually more a matter of accessibility and underwater geography than anything. Kahaluu is packed with tourists, but for good reason... because it's super easy to get to, shallow enough to see everything, and the turtles are usually basking/swimming right there for you. Two step is a little further to get to, and gets crowded with divers, but is a really fun spot with lots to see at various depths. There's also a feeding station on a rock outcropping off of the old airport, but you need a boat (and probably a guide) to get there and it's a ways down, so it's mostly divers there. Some of the best snorkeling I've enjoyed is just swimming out over the main reef at places like Kealakekua SP or Honokohau preserve and just free diving along the edges for as long as I can. You usually don't see much past 20-30 feet below the surface anyways. But if you're looking for some special, secret, epic place where you can snorkel and see turtles, dolphins, whales, and topless hula dancers all day long with no one else around, it really doesn't exist. ...or maybe it does, and we're just not telling you!