In Hawaii, on the Kona coast, there is another world below the water. It is filled with lively coral reefs, majestic sea creatures, and ancient lava formations.
Turtle Pinnacle and Manta Ray Night Dive at Garden Eel Cove are among the most well-liked sites. These places abound in life and beauty.
The warm waters and excellent visibility create a unique opportunity to explore Kona’s undersea realm. Plunge into Kona dive sites and enjoy the marvelous marine life of Hawaiian Big Island.
Best Place for Diving in Kona
Top Dive Sites in Kona
- Garden Eel Cove
- Golden Arches
- Turtle Pinnacle
- Kaiwi Point
These sites have:
- Vibrant coral reefs
- Diverse marine life such as manta rays, reef sharks, and sea turtles
- Exciting underwater landscapes including lava caves, arches, and drop-offs
For the best marine life and landscape, you can visit:
- Pu’uhonua O Honaunau/Two Step
- Suck’em Up Lava Tube
- Touch of Grey
Here you can see colorful reef fish, whitetip reef sharks, triggerfish, moray eels, and more. From beginners to experts, all levels of divers will find something interesting at Kona’s dive sites. It’s paradise for those who love being underwater.
Popular Dive Sites on the Kona Coast
Kahaluu Beach Park
Kahaluu Beach Park has a lot to offer for divers: colorful reef fish, green sea turtles, and spinner dolphins underwater. The park is great for beginners as well as experienced scuba divers due to easy access shore dives with fascinating coral reef and lava rock formations creating interesting underwater landscapes while exploring it. Unlike other popular dive spots in Kona, calm waters make it a perfect place for snorkeling.
Take care around marine life and coral reefs to protect the ecosystem. To ensure a safe and fun diving experience, it’s a good idea to get help from experienced dive guides and crews like Kona Honu Divers, who have rental gear including underwater lights for better visibility in the caves. Be ready to see whitetip reef sharks and other sea creatures during your dive. Shore diving at Kahaluu is a convenient and affordable option compared to boat diving, which gives you the freedom to explore at your own pace.
Keauhou
Keauhou is a great diving spot with many marine animals and beautiful underwater views located in Kona. Here, dive sites are special for scuba divers where big animals can be met, such as manta rays and whitetip reef sharks. Additionally, coral reefs are full of various colorful fish.
Lava caves, drop-offs, and interesting rocks underwater can be explored in Keauhou. Skilled guides and friendly crew members will make sure that you stay safe while having fun there. Keauhou is easy to reach and offers a variety of marine life. Also, exciting night dives with manta rays can be experienced by divers visiting Keauhou on the Kona coast of Hawaii.
Puako
Puako is a popular dive site on the Kona Coast known for its bustling coral garden filled with lots of colorful reef fish. Beginner and advanced divers equally enjoy vibrant marine life here. Ancient underwater lava architecture makes Puako unique among other Kona dive spots.
Compared to other Kona dive spots, visibility at Puako is outstanding – 80′-100’. Underwater topography includes lava caves with beams of sunlight. Divers can observe sharks of the whitetip reef, triggerfish, eels among other marine species at Puako. This is a fascinating diving spot on the Big Island in Hawaii because of its diversity.
Waikoloa
There are several amazing dive sites worth exploring at Waikoloa.
- Makako Bay’s Garden Eel Cove is an enchanting place to be. After dark, manta rays move gracefully beneath the underwater lights.
- Suck’em Up Lava Tube has two oversized entrances that look like wide arches. A Skull Cave also forms part of it.
- Apart from them, there are plenty of dolphins which may show up every now and then together with other colorful reef fish.
- The Golden Arches rank highly among Kona Coast lava arches.
- Marine life encounters abound in Turtle Pinnacle and Turtle Heaven, including green sea turtles among others.
Kona Honu Divers employs friendly staff who also have vast knowledge about various aspects related to diving. Basically, boat dives give divers an opportunity to explore different parts of marine life found along Kona coastlines, especially when it comes to diversity.
Sharks thrive so well here because they have plenty of food sources such as dolphins and vibrant coral reefs, which provide them with suitable habitats for breeding purposes too, besides feeding areas themselves being rich in nutrients required by these creatures. Thus, making it easier for them to survive within this region than any other place around the world while still offering excellent visibility throughout most times despite some periods having reduced clarity due mainly to tidal currents caused by oceanic currents brushing against landforms located near each other, causing waters to appear more turbid, thereby reducing visual range underwater during such occasions. But overall, it remains very good even though sometimes affected slightly when there’s too much rain falling directly into certain areas close by, resulting in somewhat murky conditions to a small extent.
Makako Bay
Makako Bay is a famous location for the Manta Ray Night Dive and Snorkel. It is one of the best boat diving sites in Kona.
Starting at 20 feet, divers can explore the shallow shelf that gently slopes down to about 40 feet before dropping off. This is where garden eels can be seen swaying in the water. In addition to this, sometimes afternoon dives may also come across manta rays or dolphins.
At night, it’s truly magical watching underwater lights which are surrounded by manta rays feeding on plankton. It provides an exhilarating experience like no other!
The diversity of marine life, including manta rays, dolphins, and garden eels, makes Garden Eel Cove a popular destination for those who want to discover more about Hawaii’s Big Island underwater world.
Diving in Makako Bay
Located on the Kona Coast, Makako Bay offers some excellent boat diving opportunities with its unique underwater terrain consisting of hard coral and lava rock formations. The coral reef starts at around 20’ deep, descending slowly until it meets a wall at 40’. This creates many different habitats for a wide range of sea creatures making every dive exciting and diverse.
- Garden eels sway softly among many other colorful fish species while mantas might fly by during daylight hours too!
- When night falls, everything lights up as hundreds, if not thousands, of planktonic organisms become dinner for these majestic giants right below our fins! Truly spectacular indeed!!
With lava caves scattered throughout its waters along with frequent sightings of whitetip reef sharks, Makako Bay has something for everyone looking forward to scuba diving here in Hawaii.
North & South Kona Diving Opportunities
Kalihiwai Bay
Kalihiwai Bay offers some fantastic diving opportunities along the Kona coast due to its vibrant marine life and unique underwater topography. Reef fish such as parrotfish, butterflyfish, and damsels are commonly seen here. Also, it is not surprising to find sea turtles, whitetip reef sharks, or even spinner dolphins around this bay area.
There are colorful coral reefs with dramatic drop-offs that will surely give any diver an adrenaline rush every time they explore them! The friendly and knowledgeable crew members will guide you safely through encounters with fascinating creatures such as manta rays, triggerfish, or moray eels among others. The presence of lava caves adds some extra excitement to your diving experience at Kalihiwai Bay.
Kailua Pier
Kailua Pier is known as one of the top diving spots on the Kona coast due to its excellent location and diverse marine life that can be found there. When compared with other dive sites in this area, what makes Kailua Pier special is easy access combined with a wide variety of different species living within close proximity to each other, including manta rays, reef sharks, and sea turtles.
The crew members at Kailua Pier are friendly and knowledgeable, ensuring a safe dive experience for everyone no matter their level of expertise. There are also coral reefs scattered all over the place which add colorfulness to every dive, while underwater light fixtures make this location perfect for shore diving during nighttime hours.
If you prefer boat diving instead of shore dives, then worry not because rental gear is available at Kailua Pier itself, where operators like Kona Honu Divers offer guided trips designed specifically around showcasing beauty hidden beneath waves crashing against rocky shores along Hawaii’s biggest island.
Distinct Underwater Experiences
Distinct underwater experiences are provided by dive sites in the area of Honaunau. Lava caves, colorful reef fish, and green sea turtles are present at Suck’em Up Lava Tube and Turtle Pinnacle. Boat dive sites such as Kaiwi Point boast exciting underwater landscapes with lava rock arches, caverns, and drop-offs.
Great for shore diving is Two Step in Honaunau. Easy entry, tiered lava formations, and underwater architecture make it perfect for this type of experience. Marine life like eels, octopuses, and sea turtles can be found there too.
The crew of Kona Honu Divers is known to be friendly. Rental gear is available for both shore and boat diving along the Kona coast. Manta rays, whitetip reef sharks, and spinner dolphins are among some vibrant marine life that can be encountered by divers.
Colorful reefs, lava caves, and diverse marine species fill the underwater world of Honaunau and The Big Island of Hawaii. You will find many things to discover whether you’re diving from a boat or the shore.
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