We departed out of Keaohu Bay in South Kona for our journey that would take us far out into the deep sea, past the “Place of Refuge” and to some of South Kona’s top snorkeling destinations.
When we initially left the harbor our captain set a course almost straight out to sea. He steadily pushed on the throttle until we were going really fast. Once we were up to speed he began to make a series of long drawn out turns that generated enough g forces to really press my butt into the seat. Eventually we found our selves a few miles off shore and he explained that because of the unique topography of the big island, we were already in over 6000ft of water. We cruised around to see if we could see any big creatures come out of the deep. I think at one point I might have seen a marlin swim by, but it didn’t hang around long to be sure what exactly it was.
After cruising through the deep sea we made our way back towards shore where we happened to witness the start of a massive outrigger canoe race. We then continued south to the place of refuge, as well as some massive sea caves. Some of the caves were so large that we were able to actually pull the boat all the way inside them. After we were done exploring, Grab quiksilver’s snorkeling equipment we eventually made our way to our days snorkel spot.
Our captain cut the motors and allowed the boat to slow to a stop as we entered the cove that was going to be our days snorkel spot. Before we got in the water our Captain briefed everyone about the snorkel spot, and pointed out a few areas that he recommended we check out.
As soon as we got into the water it became very apparent that we were snorkeling in a world class location. The water was crystal clear, the fish were plentiful and the formations of the rock and coral that made up the bottom of the cove had some really interesting features. By far my favorite part of the snorkel spot was a large sea cave that was nestled into the bottom of the cliff. Upon closer inspection it became apparent that there was actually a side cave coming off the main entrance that was possible to swim through. I went back and forth a few times and thoroughly checked out the inside of the cave before eventually heading back to the boat.
On the way home we hugged the coastline and pulled into all kinds of different coves and bays, pulling into sea caves and going under massive rock arches. There were blowholes all up the coastline and our Captain (who was born and raised on the Big Island) shared some really interesting stories with us about some of the areas that we were passing by. It was a great adventure.