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.

Place of Refuge (Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park)

Had a great dive here. It really is one of the best dives on the island. Everyone says you are guaranteed to see turtles here. Unfortunately we didn't see any on our dive but a snorkeler said he saw one. We saw some crown of thorn starfish, an octopus, and all manner of reef fish. The coral formations were beautiful. Entry was a little tricky off of the steps but not bad at all. We did two tanks. To the left side of the bay there are lava rock fingers shooting off from the shore to explore. On the right side it is a fairly steep drop-off of coral. It was well worth the drive down from Kona to this spot which took about 45 min.

Nathan Corn's Dive Log

@nathan_corn

1 dives