Snorkeling Captain Cook Monument at Kealakekua Bay

by James Bassler
(San Diego, CA)

We ran into a guy renting kayaks from the boat dock across the bay. All the locals know him. The road from the coffee plantation runs down to the bay. He arranged to meet us there the next morning and provided kayaks and snorkel gear. We paddled across the bay and pulled our boats up onto the lava rock several hundred feet to the left of the Captain Cook Monument. The fish were phenomenal all along the shore as you snorkel back towards the monument. If you swim more than 30 feet off the shoreline there is a drop off that looked bottomless. There were no fish there so we did not swim that way. It was eerie. After we passed the monument we swam around the corner to where the party boats were and I have to tell you the fish almost disappeared. We said why would they anchor there? It sucks. It is the only suitable anchorage is why, but I would not choose to go with them but would kayak. We saw eels in the rocks also.

When we finished we walked a little further towards the ocean 30 yards and saw a sign that said bang sticks are recommended for diving in this area due to a large shark population. If I had seen that first I would have had second thoughts about going there. It's a beautiful spot with a lot of history, definitely check it out.