Best Island for snorkeling??

[DandyTwister]

Hi,

 

We snorkeled once in the Caribbean and fell in love with it!!

 

We want to do one snorkel excursion on this trip...but I'm having trouble going through everything on the internet to decide which island and then which tour.

 

Anyone with experience and/or an opinion is most welcome.

 

Thanks:D

[lv2bgoofy]

I did not snorkel on this trip but have read I think everything on this site and everyone raves about Kona being one of the best places to snorkel

[Astro Flyer]

I did not snorkel on this trip but have read I think everything on this site and everyone raves about Kona being one of the best places to snorkel

I think Kona is the best place to scuba dive in Hawaii so it makes sense it's just as good for snorkeling. I enjoy snorkeling & diving in Maui from one of the many sandy beaches but have only taken boat excursions for scuba & not for snorkeling.

[hexdragon]

There are so many places to snorkel in Hawaii, that it is hard to say which is the best.

[beachchick]

There's good to great snorkeling on all the islands. Generally, the best sites on the islands are the leeward (west) sides. What's best also varies by time of year. For example, Ke'e beach on Kauai is on the north side and can be good for snorkeling in the summer and fall, but not in the winter and early spring because of the ocean conditions. Those huge winter waves that make for world-famous surfing on Oahu also make the waters unsafe for snorkeling in those areas.

 

I suggest that you check into some of the travel guides (the Revealed series has excellent information about beaches and snorkeling on each island). You can also do an advanced search on this forum for "X snorkel" (X = name of island), "best snorkel," or similar. Some sights can only be accessed by boat, others are super easy to do off the beaches, and some can be good or bad depending on how rough the ocean entry is that day. Also, morning is almost always better than afternoon.

 

The bottom line is that any island is a good choice, although we give a definite advantage to the Big Island (Kona-Kohala side) and Maui (all of the west side).

 

beachchick

[Budget Queen]

I am just back from a three week trip and snorkeled multiple times, out of Kona, Maui and Honolulu. All offered me, good/great snorkeling.

 

Are you going to have your own transportation and equiptment, do you want boat tour, guided kayak trip? Are you on a cruise?

[Astro Flyer]

Maui Dive Shop on their website offers a free brochure that shows snorkeling and diving sites on Maui.

[sharks48]

We really liked Kahalu'u Park south of Kailua-Kona. The park itself is nothing special, nor is the "beach", but the snorkeling was fantastic! We were there for a land vacation and chose to go back a second time. Two-Step, down by Honaunau is also nice, but a bit harder to get in and out.

[DandyTwister]

Thanks for all the advice so far.

We are doing a round trip cruise from San Diego and will be in the islands April 18th - 22nd.

 

The one time we snorkeled it was on an "excursion" which was on a sail boat and then we snorkeled off the boat. We don't have our own gear...so it would have to be part of an "excursion" or someplace we could rent equipment.

[sillylizzie]

BIG ISLAND

We just got back from a Hawaiian cruise on POA. While we were in Kona, we booked a trip with Sea Paradise via Shore Trips (I think...).

 

Regardless, it was some of the best snorkeling we have done! We saw tons of humpback whales & dolphins on our way out & back in to our two snorkeling locations. The 1st location was near the Captain Cook monument, where the water was extremely calm. Tons of butterfly fish, tangs, an eel or two and lots of beautiful coral. The 2nd location was a bit rougher water, but we still had plenty to see.

 

The other nice thing that we enjoyed about this excursion was that on our catamaran there was a total of 14 people, including the cabin & staff. It seemed like we had the catamaran to ourselves! Very nice change of pace.

 

KUAUI

We also snorkeled on Kuaui on our own. We saw that Anini Beach had great snorkeling reviews in our Frommer's book, and decided to try it out.

 

The beach there is nice. You can pretty much walk out to the reef. While we were there we ended up seeing a couple sea turtles and swimming with them for about 30 minutes. That was very cool.

 

We did have our own gear though. There wasn't a place on the beach to rent gear, however there were plenty of places along the main road to the beach that had signs out advertising that they had equipment to rent.

 

The other nice thing about Anini Beach was that there was plenty of shade on shore, as well as bathrooms, lots of picnic tables, & a shower.

~~~

We had a lot of fun at both snorkeling locations. I wouldn't say one was inherently better or worse than the other. We truly liked both of them. I don't think that you'll go wrong no matter what you choose because it really is that beautiful there! :)