Snorkeling Captain Cook Monument
Big Island Hawaii Snorkel Guide
We highly recommend snorkeling Captain Cook Monument. This location has it all: coral, fish and super clear water. It is always an adventure to get there, and that is definitely part of the wonderful experience. The Captain Cook Monument is on the north shore of Kealakekua Bay, inaccessible directly by car. We have tried pretty much every way to get there, kayaking, boat tour, and hiking, and we talk about the benefits and drawbacks of each below.
The monument is the location where Captain Cook was killed by the local Hawaiians. And surprisingly the land around it is British soil. All of Kealakekua Bay is a protected marine life conservation district, helping to preserve the health of the reef and the populations of fish.
Where To Snorkel
These snorkeling Captain Cook Monument instructions are given looking at the white obelisk of the monument from the water (see picture above). To the right of the monument is north and toward the cliff, and to the left of the monument is south and toward the open ocean.
Be aware that if you come on a boat tour, they may limit the area you are allowed to snorkel. You may not be able to explore the entire area we are describing.
The snorkeling is along the shore to the left and right of the white obelisk of the monument. The coral shelf begins in a couple feet of water right next to shore. And as you swim out away from shore the ocean floor drops away quickly into depths where you cannot see the bottom. We have found the coral and fish to be abundant in both directions. The visibility here is some of the clearest in all of the Hawaiian Islands; you can often see 100 feet.
To the left toward the ocean, there are some shallow coral areas you can explore between the rocks in addition to checking out the edge of the drop off. Past the rocky point, it gets really deep and more exposed, so don’t go there.
We find that in front of the monument and to the right is a little more interesting than to the left. Directly in front of the monument, the drop off is sudden, but if you keep heading to the right, the coral shelf gets a little wider. Up in the corner of the bay, there is a rocky bottom in the shallows and then the coral reef gradually drops off again. It is a bit deeper here, but the topography and coral life is fantastic. We have found big schools of fish right up along shore. All the way around the little rocky point, under the steep cliffs, the coral starts to look less alive. Turn back at this point.
What We Saw Snorkeling Captain Cook Monument
There are often turtles here. You may also see urchins and Crown of Thorns Sea Stars on the reef. Further out in the bay Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins rest and you may hear them, but probably won’t see them near the monument itself. There are a good number of fish here and in good variety. Here is a sample of what we saw: Teardrop Butterflyfish, Ornate Butterflyfish, Fourspot Butterflyfish, Yellow Tang, Lavender Tang, Orangespine Surgeonfish, Whitespotted Surgeonfish, Goldring Surgeonfish, Whitebar Surgeonfish, Ringtail Surgeonfish, Hawaiian Sergeant Major, Indo-Pacific Sergeant Major, Saddle Wrasse, Bullethead Parrotfish, Black Triggerfish, Pinktail Triggerfish, Bluefin Trevally, large schools of Sharpnose Mullet in the shallows at the north end of the snorkeling area, and even a big Crocodile Needlefish.
Choose Your Mode of Travel for snorkeling Captain Cook Monument. There are a few different ways to get to Captain Cook Monument. And depending on what type of adventure you want, and how in shape you are, it should be pretty easy to decide.
Here are the options:
- Take a boat tour by catamaran or inflatable
- Hike down the mountain
- Rent a kayak or take a guided kayak tour and paddle across Kealakekua Bay
Snorkeling Captain Cook Monument by boat tour is our favorite way to get there. There are a variety of different boat tour companies that leave from Keauhou Bay, Honokohau Harbor or the Kailua-Kona Pier. They break down into two basic types, big comfortable but slow catamaran sailboats (picture at right), or fast small inflatable speedboats (or rafts as they call them in Hawaii). The catamaran trips are often more relaxing and comfortable, and the inflatables are more adventurous, physically challenging, and offer no shade.
Most of the companies offer a morning or afternoon trip. The water is calmer and there is more sea life in the mornings, so that is the best time to go.
With the catamaran trips there is plenty of shade, comfortable seating, music, and great food. One company provides a wonderful BBQ lunch. These trips tend to cost a little more than the inflatable boat trips, and take more time. The inflatable trips take less of your day and tend to cost a little less. With both you get snorkel gear.
Hike Down The Mountain - for snorkeling Captain Cook Monument
This alternative is for the more adventurous and athletic. High up above the cliffs over the bay is the beginning of a trail. It used to be a rough 4x4 road that came down to the monument, but is now closed to vehicles. We have hiked down this two mile trail before, and it was fun, but that is because we are avid hikers. Not only is it four miles round trip, but there is about 1500 feet of elevation drop that you have to come back up. Combine this difficult hike with a couple of hours of snorkeling in the middle, and you have two very worn out people. Oh, did I mention we also had to carry down all of our snorkel gear, lunch and plenty of water? Plus we found a mango tree and definitely had to haul up a few pounds of those on the way back!
You can just see the trail/road in the picture below, cutting from the center top to the left, and back down to the right.
Snorkeling Captain Cook Monument by hiking is a great way to get there, but we would only suggest this if you are already a hiker in great shape. Take more water than you want to and don’t forget your mosquito spray - one year it was really bad.
Kayak to Captain Cook - Our least favorite
One popular method for snorkeling Captain Cook Monument is to rent a kayak and paddle across Kealakekua Bay. You can rent a boat at a variety of shops. You launch your boat at a pier at the end of Napo’opo’o Drive, and paddle for about thirty minutes across the bay. If you leave in the morning you will often find yourself surrounded by pods of Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins.
New in 2010 the State of Hawaii has made it so that you must have a permit to land a kayak at the monument. They only allow ten permits per day (an amazingly low number compared to the traffic in the past). They are doing this to reduce the damage caused by kayakers (we have seen it). We think this is great because of all the problems we describe below. Make sure to get your permit well ahead of time. Click here for the State website about the permits. Click here for the PDF permit for landing a kayak.
Kayaking across sounds great, yes? Well, in our experience the boating part of it is great, but there has repeatedly been a bad vibe around the pier where you launch the kayak. There are some locals that make the experience less than stellar.
Over the years, the experience has been similar. There was a big drug problem and folks were pushy with “help” and expected a tip for their trouble. Later, they had supposedly cleaned up the drug problem, but they were replaced with pushy competing kayak rental companies. They had effectively commandeered the public dock, posting what felt like guards on both sides of the entrance. They even had sales people pretending to be environmental educators trying to get you to rent their equipment. The state then began licensing kayak vendors and they were required to have insurance. The kayak renters on the pier are not licensed or insured. Lately, they ask you when you arrive in the area if you will rent a kayak and then direct you to where you can park depending on your answer.
So, we don’t really know what to say. The dock launching has a negative energy around it. But we are a bit sensitive, even wimps about that kind of stuff. We just want to enjoy ourselves, without having other people press their junk on us. But if you have a thicker skin than us, go for it.
If you do decide to rent a kayak, keep in mind that it is a physically demanding sport. You do need to kayak across the bay, land the boat on shore (only if you have a permit), with sometimes less than perfect footing. Then you are snorkeling Captain Cook Monument for an hour or two and kayaking back. Wind, waves and currents are all possible things to encounter.
The other possibility is to book a tour with one of the two kayak companies that has a landing permit. We understand that this takes the people at the pier out of the equation and makes for a nice trip.
Many of our site visitors have shared their experiences with kayaking for snorkeling Captain Cook Monument on our Big Island Q&A and Stories page.
More Snorkeling Captain Cook Monument Information
Get more details about snorkeling Captain Cook Monument in our Big Island Snorkeling Guide, including driving directions, trail directions as well as 24 other great snorkeling spots on the island.
Read some reviews of snorkeling Captain Cook Monument on TripAdvisor.
Now check out Two Steps (Honaunau)
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