A Snorkeling Trip to Kealakekua Bay

The most vivid memory of my first trip to the Big Island of Hawaii almost twelve years ago was the Fair Wind morning snorkeling tour to Kealakekua. Sun, fun, scenery, fish, swimming, food, coral: it was an easy decision to repeat the exact excursion at the start of my second visit to the island two weeks ago. It was the same nice boat (the Fair Wind II catamaran), the same picturesque departure harbor (Keauhou Bay in South Kona), and a just as pleasant and informative crew as last time.

Of course there were fewer passengers on board as a result of COVID-related distancing guidelines. As a result the vessel seemed more spacious and exclusive, a luxurious upgrade in this time of sacrifice. I also noticed from some old pictures that the sail and its mast were removed. However a new top deck roof in their place provided lots of shade from the tropical sun. The trip was off to a good start: fresh, breezy air; wide open views of the Kona Coast and seascape; and an extra layer of UV protection overhead.

I am a much more experienced snorkeler today than I was twelve years ago. Back then I would limit most of my Hawaii snorkeling adventures to a single day on an all-inclusive (Equipment provided!) outing like Fair Wind. That kind of excursion was the exception to a week's vacation spent mostly swimming and sightseeing. But since then I've acquired an inexpensive underwater camera and an insatiable interest in wildlife. As a result I always have a set of fins and masks at the ready - in the trunk of my rental car or next to my beach chair - so I can explore a shoreside reef at a moment's notice. However you need a boat like the Fair Wind II to reach certain destinations like Ka'awaloa Cove in Kealakekua Bay, one of the best snorkeling spots on the Big Island, if not in the entire Aloha State.

Much of the 315 acre bay is a marine sanctuary and the surrounding land a state historical park, which is also the home of Captain Cook Monument. Specifically the waters are a Marine Life Conservation District extending from Manini Beach Point in the southeast to Cook Point in the west. Excellent snorkeling is found right off-shore from the monument, at Ka'awaloa Cove. It's a destination that can be hiked to from almost two miles away from atop the steep cliffs, or kayaked to from a community on the eastern side of the preserve. I had no second thoughts joining Fair Wind on their exercise-free morning excursion there.

Incidentally, behind the monument are ruins of an ancient native Hawaiian village, Ka'awaloa. The English explorer Captain James Cook was the first European to make contact with the residents of the area and of all the Hawaiian Islands in the late eighteenth century. And it was at this bay where he was killed in 1779 in a misunderstanding with the locals. His monument was erected on the site of his death in 1874 and was deeded to the United Kingdom in 1877.

There are no more native villagers or British interlopers in the vicinity of the bay today: only marine wildlife like fish, and lots of them at that. The Achilles tangs were most impressive to me initially as I don't have the pleasure of swimming with this striking surgeonfish a lot away from the Big Island. He was joined by lots of other members of his family: gold-ring, orangeband, whitespotted, whitebar, and orangespine surgeonfish, along with yellow, convict, and sailfin tangs. But most notable was encountering my first black surgeonfish, a fish more common on this island than the others.

I had another first time sighting at Kealakekua: the reticulated butterflyfish. It's in a family of fish that might include some of the most beautiful creatures on the reef with their elaborate patterns, bright colors, and graceful movements usually in pairs. The reticulated is no exception in the beauty pageant, crosshatched mostly in shades of black and white, with lemon yellow edges. In Hawaii it's found mostly around this area, the Kona Coast, where it was joined by the raccoon and rare longnose, to name two others in the family that I photographed at the bay.

Of course there were plenty of other fish populating the reefs in the bay. Triggerfish like the pinktail and black seemed to prefer deeper water while the reef, lei and lagoon varieties meandered in the shallows. A photogenic redlip parrotfish was a fun subject to try to keep up with. Much easier to shoot was a whitemouth moray eel that suddenly appeared under me, undulating away before entwining itself within some rocky coral.

The water in the bay was clear: all the better to see the exquisite coral formations. However I noticed the views through my mask were sometimes momentarily blurry. A quick look up and out of the water showed a crystalline coastline and my waiting catamaran ready to serve lunch, so my lens wasn't fogging up. It turns out that while the Big Island doesn't have any flowing rivers ABOVE ground there is quite a lot of water flowing BELOW ground. The fresh water seeps and channels itself into the salty ocean in lots of locations, including Kealakekua Bay. As a result, the optical phenomenon might be the effect of haloclines (varying salinity gradients) or thermoclines (varying temperature gradients).

The effect could be annoying if you're trying to snap a picture of a jiggling eel or a magnificent fish. But it's mostly just one fascinating aspect of a massive island that captures a tremendous amount of Pacific Ocean rainwater. Although some of these abrupt changes in visibility were nothing compared to the changes in temperature. Brrr... it was downright cold in spots!

Nonetheless, dear Kealakekua, you never disappoint: same clear (mostly) water, same majestic scenery, and same vibrant underwater life. Fair Wind, you're using the same trusted, comfortable ship with an as always wonderful crew. And you've upgraded your menu with an inspiring vegan lunch that includes chickpea "egg" salad and jackfruit "BBQ pork" sliders. How could a day off the Kona Coast be any better? Well it turns out it was in a spectacular way: I'll tell you about the humpback whales in my next story!