Difficulty
beginner
Viz (last reported 10285h ago)
Max Depth
70ft
Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Place of Refuge (Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park)
The Place of Refuge (also known as Two Steps) is a 'must-do' site. The drive to get there is wonderful, the entry is easy, and the diving is great. Turtles abound! The facilities are a little sparse. Take some water and a picnic lunch. There are porta-potties on the site.
Directions: From Kealakekua Bay, you can continue to travel South on Highway 160 for 3.2 miles to find the turn off. If this is your first destination of the day, you can take a faster route: from Kailua, drive south on Highway 11 for about 19 miles, well past Captain Cook. Take a right on Highway 160, Ke Ala o Keawe Road, (about mile mark 104) to Kealakekua Bay, and wind your way about 3.5 miles down to the ocean.
Access
shore
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Evan Freeman
Nov 2, 2010, 12:00 AM
scuba
My first shore dive in HI, and it was excellent. No turtles, but we saw an eel, a small ray, many fish, and a nudibranch. The coral was in good shape. Other posts are correct about the ease of entry and exit. We went all the way around to the boat ramp, but should have just clambered out onto the rocks as it gets really shallow getting into the ramp's little sub-bay. Max depth was about 22m, but it would be possible though not desirable to go deeper. This was my first dive outside of Aus/Indo, so I was disappointed to not see any soft coral and fewer other creatures, but I'm told HI is not about corals, so we'll see.
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