Andrey S.'s Dive Log

The entrance to the beach access is blocked by large lava boulders so you will have to park on a side of the Puako rd. (across from the church), gear up and head on to the beach. Entry is fairly easy if there's no surf. We entered in the 'pool' area to the left and marked the site with a red rag to make sure we can identify the exit spot when we're done - that helped a lot. Make sure you don't step on one of the small green turtles swimming around. Kick straight out 300 ft and drop down. Site bottom slopes to ~65-70ft before the sand patch begins so most of life is at around 40ft. Usual finger corals and small reef fish. No facilities around.

Possibly the best shore dive site on the BI. Healthy corals, lots of life, easy entry/exit, lack of currents, interesting bottom profile (lava tubes). We dove the site in May 2012 and while the surf was up the entry point was shielded pretty well by the lava 'wall'. The entry point looks exactly as on the pictures above, you cannot miss it (a few easy steps down into the water). As the other reviews mentioned go straight out until you see the lava tube, drop down to about 40ft. You can easily see the parking lot from the water so the exit point is easy to locate. No facilities at this site but lots of parking and shade.

Very nice site overall, also known as 'Crescent Beach'. We dove there twice in May 2012. First dive was with Kona Diving Co., diving from their boat and second time from the beach. As some reviews mentioned the site gets lots of traffic which seems to attract Spinner dolphins (flag float is probably a good idea here). We saw a bunch on the first dive at around 60ft and one from the group came down and circled around our group for 5 minutes or so, which is very unusual behavior I was told. We did not see them the second time but we did see an eagle ray, morays and lots of other life down at the site. Keep in mind that getting to the sandy beach entry point from the parking lot is not an easy hike at all (especially carrying all gear on the back), it was one of the hardest sites to get to - 30 meters or so of lava rocks piled together with no easy way across. Probably easier without the gear. Very close to Kona and the marina. Parking isn't a problem and the facilities are nearby.

Must do this site. Very easy entry and exit (two steps down into the water from the lava plateau), great life at the wall, resident spinner dolphins. Usually you can either park on the side of the road or pay $3 and park at the lot across the road if its too crowded. From the entry point navigate to heading 330 until you see 'Aloha' on the bottom, then go 270 or follow the wall out. Facilities are available at this site.