Hawaii has so many beautiful turtle beaches in and around Kona and the bays. Even the airport is nice when you arrive. Many people get here and then settle down in their accommodations. Then it’s time to look for things to do. There’s so many things to do in Kona. One of them, is to look for sea turtles on the beaches. If you’re looking for sea turtles in Kona this is where you should come to see them.
There are many sea turtle beaches in Kona. We have four great beaches just in the Kona area itself that have sea turtles for viewing. There are two great spots to see turtles on land. And there are two great spots to see turtles in the water. You should check out our blog post on the best sea turtle beaches Kona has to offer.
If you would like to learn more about the best beaches on the Big Island, we have a blog post about that. It covers all of the beaches on the west side of the big island and even some on the east side in Hilo. There’s so many beaches to be seen here. Hawaii has some of the best beaches in the world. If you’re interested in looking at turtles, we can point you to some of the best spots.
Beginning at the airport where most people arrive, the closest turtle Beach is a Kaloko Honokohau beach. It’s located at the northern end of our harbor. It’s only a few miles south of the airport. Kaloko honokohau is a great federal park. It’s a bit of a rough walk to get there, but once you arrive it’s a very special place steeped in historical significance. There is a Hawaiian haeiau and lots of great beach to hang out on. It’s also a decent surf spot. Lots of locals go there to surf and hang out on the beach. The turtles like to congregate there as well and you can often see them in the water. They also come up on the rocks to hang out and dry out their shells. Sometimes you’ll even see them on the beach in the sand.
If you’re looking for a great turtle Beach to visit Kona has many. Another great beach to see sea turtles on is Kahalu’u. It’s located just south of downtown Kona near the heart of Kona town. It’s great for snorkeling as well as seeing lots of turtles and reef fish. It also happens to be a great surf spot! It nearly has everything. It has access to public showers and a covered roof as well. There’s also some sand where you can hang out. There’s often a van there that explains why it’s important to protect their coral reefs. Lots of people will bring sunscreen that is not reef safe. Hawaii has banned non reef-safe sunscreen. It’s important for the health of the coral reef that you use reef-safe sunscreen. The sea turtles like to come in to Kahulu’u Bay making it a very common gathering place. Since it is protected from the ocean swell, the snorkeling here is generally calm and beautiful. The entrance to Kahulu’u allows for great surfing as well. It’s an ironic juxtaposition. This is a great turtle beach that Kona has and it should definitely be high on your list.
If you’re looking for another great turtle beach in Kona, checkout the Four Seasons Resort. It’s located just a short drive north of the airport. If you go to four seasons, ask the gate guard for beach access. After parking you walk towards the sand and head south or left. From there you will see turtles grazing on the limu or seaweed on the rocks. Sometimes they will haul out onto the sand. There you can get a great view of them. The snorkeling is not very good here. Often there will be multiple sea turtles hauled out on the rocks. It’s a great beach for hanging out in the shade and on the sand. But the snorkeling is not so fantastic. This is probably one of the most consistent places to find sea turtles near Kona.
Another great beach to find sea turtles is located in one of the most popular tourist destinations. It’s called two-step. Often the turtles will be in the shallows of the tide pools eating limu. Limu is also known as algae. That’s the turtle’s primary diet. We have also seen turtles eating things like fish and things on the reef. If you go to Honokohau Marina you will see turtles munching on the carcasses of fish that are hanging from the docks. Turtles are opportunistic omnivores. If you’re looking for the best turtle Beach Kona has, it may be just to the north in Kiholo. Kiholo is a beautiful place that you can see from the highway. When you hike north to the northern end of the bay, you will see a sand spit of land like a little island. It is there that turtles like to hang out. There is even a research station there.
Finally one of the last great turtle beaches Kona has is Puako. Puako has some really great scuba diving. If you drive to the end of the road there and get in the water you will see a lot of sea turtles often. Once when we were scuba diving there, we saw two different sea turtles with fishing hooks in their mouths. We helped them by cutting the fishing line off of their fins. Their fins were wrapped in line and they were not able to use them. There is another spot in the Puako. It’s at house number 38. It’s known as the turtle cleaning station. It’s where sea turtles go to get their shells cleaned by butterfly fish. It’s such a gorgeous site to see.
There are many more great sea turtle beaches in Kona but to find them you will just have to see for yourself. You never know when you’ll be swimming along and see a sea turtle in the water while you are snorkeling in Kona. There’s so many things to do in Kona and one of them is to go see sea turtles. If you’d like to learn more go to our website at www.aliiadventureshack.com
Alii Adventures specializes in rental equipment for snorkeling and beach rental.
If you’d like to learn more about the turtle beaches that Kona has to offer, give us a call at (808)657-4606 and we can guide you to the best turtle beaches on the Big Island.
