Snorkeling at Two Step

---

On this day I drove to Kealakekua Bay, which is about 12 miles South of Kona, to snorkel. After taking the exit off the main highway, you eventually come to a t in the road where you can continue straight for say 50 yards into a parking lot, or a right where you can continue about a 1/10th of a mile into a different parking lot and you are on the Kealakekua Bay at that point.

If you take a left at the t though, that is the way to Two Step. You first drive a narrow road that has been paved over a previous lava flow, then after you pass a sign, take a right into that area, and when you see the paid parking ahead, simply take a non-descript right hand turn prior to that, and about 1/10th of a mile later you are in the Two Step area. Most of the parking in that area is free, and if you are willing to walk a little bit, you should be able to find free parking in that area.

Soon after arriving at Two Step, I was told there was a pod of Spinner Dolphins out in those waters, maybe 150 to 200 yards offshore in that small little cove. Turns out they were there most of the day, and I had plenty of time to swim out to them and watch them gracefully "rest" in the water while regularly coming up for a breath of air. The closest I got to them was probably 10' away when I saw one dive right in front of me. They must go fairly deep on each dive as it seems hard to follow where they go after they drop down about 50'.

I also came across a couple of Green Sea Turtles while I was snorkeling, one of which darted deep and quickly when it saw me, and another that I could stay within about 12' for a good minute while it lazed around the area at a fairly shallow depth. I would later find some three to four Green Sea Turtles swimming around the concrete boat ramp that sits toward the South end of the area, and it appeared that they had a habit of doing so. Maybe they have been fed there by people in the past.

There were of course plenty of Yellow Tangs and other smaller fish easily seen snorkeling, but I saw about a 2.5' Coronetfish as well. A bit odd looking, but was fun to see a bigger one like that fairly close.

---

Photos

On the way to Kealakekua Bay
You might be able to make out the white monument to Captain Cook from here. It is on the far side of the Bay, about in the middle.

Captain Cook's Monument
Can be seen in the distance, in the middle of the photo between the Palm Trees.

Pu'uhonua O Honaunau
Take a right shortly after this sign to find Two Step.

Two Step
If you look closely toward the center of this photo you can see a woman sitting on one of the steps preparing to enter the way. This is Two Step.

Spinner Dolphins are straight away
You can make it some people's heads in the center of the photo, and that is generally where you would see the Dorsal fins of the Spinner Dolphins break the surface when they came up for air.

At the concrete Boat Ramp
I just happened to walk over to this area for a moment to cool my feet in the water, shortly later to realize there were a few Green Sea Turtles swimming in the area. These came up to about 2' away from where I was standing in the water, but I had no concern that they might test my leg to see if it was tasty. They respectfully kept their distance as did I.

In Flight
Moving slowly, just another lazy day in the Pacific apparently.

Then there were two
There had to have been at least four in the area, in different areas near the boat ramp, but I think these two kept frequently this area where I took this photo.

Another angle
While I took many photos of these turtles, most didn't turn out well due to reflection of the sun off the waves.

Coming up the Boat Ramp
Not really. This one got itself turned around in fairly short order.

Dead Ferrett
These guys were pretty visible and around in many places, certainly in this area. Looked like it had been hit by a car as I found it lying in the road. It must have been hit not too long before I arrived there as there were no signs of rigor mortis at this time. It was surprisingly heavy, maybe about 5 pounds.