Water Activities

The aquamarine Pacific waters that surround the Big Island are the world’s great aquatic playgrounds. Water fun usually tops the list for most visitors.

Swimming / Board Surfing / Body Boarding / Body Surfing

The Big Island has about three dozen good beaches for all kinds of ocean activities. The white sand beaches on the Kohala Coast are among the best in America, and include Hapuna Beach and Kaunaoa Beach (at the Mauna Kea Resort). In Kailua-Kona the best are Kona Magic Sands beach and the nearby Kahaluu Beach Park, which is perhaps the Big Island’s easiest and best snorkeling venue. For a black sand beach, try Punaluu Beach in Pahala in the Kau region. All these beaches are easily accessible and each has a particular character with differing sand and wave conditions. (Always be cautious when entering the water at any beach to make sure conditions are safe.) Different companies offer surf lessons to groups or families, and boogie boards are inexpensive to buy or rent just about anyplace.

Snorkeling and Diving

Many of the Big Island’s west coast beaches are good for snorkeling and coral reefs and sea caves nearby offer awesome SCUBA diving. Many companies island-wide offer inexpensive snorkel equipment rentals, snorkeling/diving lessons, equipment and excursions, including both day and night dives, 1-2 tank dives and longer adventures.

Kayaking

Kayaking is easy to do and a great way to see dolphins and other marine life up close. More than a half-dozen kayak companies are found on the Kona and Kohala Coasts, offering rentals, instruction, gear (including a rack for the car) and directions to the best kayaking areas, the most popular and prominent of which is the marine preserve at historic Kealakekua Bay.

Jet Ski / Submarine Tours

Popular activities in the generally protected waters of Kailua Bay in Kona, for seekers of something different. Atlantis Adventures takes visitors 100’ below the surface in air conditioned comfort, to commune with coral gardens, schools of tropical fish and the occasional barracuda.

Windsurfing / Kiteboarding

Generally confined to the windier Kohala Coast; the top spot for those in the know–and for rentals and instruction – is Anaehoomalu Bay in the Waikoloa Beach Resort. Ocean Sports Hawaii has the exclusive concession for Windsurfing on the Coast. There’s nothing like watching these colorful waterborne “butterflies” skate along the ocean surface.

Cruises / Sailing / Sea Excursions

These include daily sailing cruises, sunset sail and dinner/entertainment cruises – such as the famous Captain Beans – and seasonal whale watching. They operate out of Kailua-Kona and the resorts on the Kohala Coast. Most ocean tour companies offer whale watch cruises December–March when the magnificent humpback whales winter in these waters; Captain Dan McSweeney’s Whale Watching Adventures offers cruises to see Hawaii’s many smaller whale species year-round.

Now for cruise ship cruising, it’s hard to beat the Big Island’s two ports-of-call, Hilo and Kona Harbors. Passengers from Norwegian Cruise Lines (including their fabulous Pride of Aloha and Spirit of Aloha inter-island no-hassle cruises), Holland America and Carnival Cruise lines enjoy shore excursions and wonderful wandering around Big Island sights and spectacles.

Big Game Fishing

The Kona Coast of the Big Island is world famous for its marlin fishing, home of the International Billfish Tournament every August. A fleet of more than 100 charter boats and experienced skippers take visitors out to catch a wide variety of gamefish including spearfish, tuna, wahoo, mahimahi and others. Your captain can work with you to have your “grander” (gamefish over 1000 lbs.) mounted and shipped home, or cleaned and iced to share with you for dinner.