The Big Island Snorkeling Hawaii Guide

We absolutely love Big Island Snorkeling and it offers some of the best in the Hawaiian Islands. In fact, for our honeymoon, we took a 14 day snorkel trip on the Big Island. Later we had the good fortune to house-sit for two months on Kealakekua Bay.

Some of our favorite experiences have been taking a catamaran snorkel boat tour to Captain Cook Monument in Kealakekua Bay, basking on the huge white sand beach at Hapuna after a snorkel, swimming with turtles at Honaunau, and discovering the colorful little reef at Ho'okena Beach Park.

When you look at the map below of the many different Big Island snorkeling locations available (around 25!), you will notice that most of them are on the west side of the island. The west side, the Kona side, is drier and offers more beautiful beach spots with clear water. The east side, or Hilo side, is more mountainous, has more rain and less water clarity. But the east side does have its jewels.

Click on the many locations (below the map) to read detailed information on each location and plan your Big Island snorkeling trip!

• Kapa’a Beach County Park
• Mahukona Beach County Park
• Lapakahi State Historical Park
• Spencer Beach Park
• Mau’umae Beach
• Mauna Kea Beach - Kauna’oa Bay
• Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area
• Waialea Bay - Beach 69
• Puako Bay/Puako Boat Ramp
• A Bay (‘Anaeho’Omalu Bay)
• Manini'owali (Kua Bay)
• Old Kona Airport Beach Park - Pawaii Bay
• Kailua Bay

Locations South of Kona:

• White Sands Beach Park - or Magic Sands, Disappearing Sands & La-aloa Bay Beach
• Kahalu’u Beach Park
• Kealakekua Bay
• Captain Cook Monument
• Napo'opo'o Beach Park - Kealakekua Dolphins
• Manini Beach
• Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park - (Or Two Steps, Place Of Refuge, Koene'ele Cove)
• Ho’okena Beach County Park

Locations on the East side (Windward) of the Island:

• Punalu’u Black Sand Beach Park - Palima Point
• Kapoho Tidepools - Now Wai'Opae Tidepools Marine Life Conservation District
• Richardson’s Beach - Leleiwi Beach Park

• Great Snorkeling at "End of the Road" Puako - by Anonymous
• Turtles Relaxing at Stunning Kiholo Bay - by Roger (CA)

The Letsgo-Hawaii.com site is only about the Big Island and is a very usefull trip planning resource with some good info on snorkeling also.

Another all Big Island resource is KonaWeb.com. This site serves locals and tourists, has forums and more. Check it out.