Hawaii Sights

Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park

#11 of 1053 things to do in Hawaii

#11 of 1053 things to do in Hawaii

1 reviews | Write a review

  • Address
    • Napoopoo Rd Hawai'i
  • Price
    • free

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Lonely Planet review for Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park

Kealakekua Bay is one of the Big Island's (and the state's) premier snorkelling spots. In the pristine waters, a spectacular diversity of marine life thrives. The bay is both a state park and a marine-life conservation district. Among the protected species here are spinner dolphins that frequently swim into the bay.

In nearby Ka'awaloa Cove you can find the Captain Cook Monument which marks the spot where the explorer died during a skirmish in 1779.

 

Traveller reviews for Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park (1)

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    AAAAAMAZING snorkling! Review+ directions for hike

    xtinar recommends this,

    Before you put your feet in the water you will hesitate for a second because the water will be yellow ... from all the fish! the snorkelling in this place is insane, amazing, beautiful, breathtaking. If you are a diver that hates snorkelling - don't be afraid - you will not mind snorkelling here.

    Kealakekua Bay is only accessible by kajak, boat or hike. If you are not certain you can navigate the kajak easily around the rocks and don't want to shell out $100 for a 2 hour boat snorkeling trip don't despair - the hike is completely doable.

    Hike down is about 45 minutes - up maybe an hour or a bit more dependent on fitness. Not hard but BRING WATER

    Park (or get dropped off) at Napoopoo road in Captain Cook town.

    Find the telephone pole labelled No. 4 [Note: in Dec 09 part of it was chipped off so could be misread for No.1 but if you look closely you can see the broken off part and it also has a faint arrow underneath it). Another way to know is that if you walk downhill on Napoopoo road from the main road when you walk past a street with a stop sign then you walked too far.

    Next to telephone pole No. 4 is a small dirt road which is the beginning of the hike. You know you are on the right road when after a few hundred meters there is another small dirt road veering off to the right (don't take that - carry on straight). First part is quite dense with bushes but it thinns out after a while. Carry on - don't question yourself once you are at the bottom you are in the best snorkeling place you can imagine.

    Ideally bring aqua socks

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