Pawai Bay has an
excellent variety of tropical reef fish and dramatic terrain, with
ledges, caves, shallow shelves and steep drop-offs; and all coral
encrusted lava formations. Frequent visitors to the bay are manta
rays (up to 10 feet across!), spotted eagle rays, and green sea
turtles.
Depths vary from 3-4
feet on the shallow ledges to blue water where the bottom disappears
at 100 feet. Average is about 18 feet.
We specialize in non-swimmers and first time snorkelers, because we think everybody should get in the water and experience Kona's spectacular underwater beauty. We have excellent flotation devices, a wide assortment of quality silicone masks and snorkels (including prescription lens masks for the near sighted), rubber fins from size 0 to 14. Our first mate will give you a 7-10 minute instruction/demonstration on the use of the gear and do's and don'ts at Pawai Bay.
The Fisheries Management Area means two activities are illegal - tropical fish collecting for export and fish feeding by humans. Both of these activities upset the natural balance on the reef, hence they are banned. The bay is inaccessible by car and is within the Queen Liliuokalani Trust lands at Kaiwi Point. It is close enough though, to Kailua and Honokohau Marina so that we are able to actually sail back from the bay to the harbor for about 1 1/2 hours and still give our guests about 1 1/2 hours of snorkeling time, all on a 3 1/2 hour tour.
