Start your day with a drive out to Hawaii Kai from Waikiki, about 30 minutes, and go snorkeling with turtles.
-
07:30am trip and 10am trip depart at 377 Keahole Street behind Island Divers Hawaii location (trips are 2.5 hours)
-
After that, lunch or breakfast at Liko’s (walk to it) on the water or Kona Brewing Co (short drive).
-
About 1 hour.
The rest of this guide is all free stuff you can do. Pile on the sunscreen early and often. All parking is free except the Pali Lookout. If you enjoy the free guide, we’d appreciate you tossing us some love on your favorite review site, or sharing our website with your friends. You may have to pick and choose, there is a lot of stuff here!
-
-
After some food goto Lanai Lookout, only a couple of minutes from the Snorkel with Turtles departure point >> Directions link.
It is the first pull out right past Hanauma Bay (about 20 parking spots).
-
Keep going down that road and pull out an Halona Blowhole Lookout (bigger parking lot), about a half a mile.
-
Right past the blowhole is Sandy’s Beach Park. There are two sets of restrooms there and a sandy beach. I usually just stop for the restrooms, and go to the second one a little further down and away from the crowds. The crowds are there mostly for the body surfing, and the young local kids love to hang out here. You might also find a food truck if you are hungry.
This is the view from Halona Blowhole to Sandy’s beach where you can find restrooms and fresh water showers.
-
Keep going another couple miles down the road Directions Link and pull out at Makapu?u Point Lighthouse trailhead.
-
Another 300ft down the road at the very top of the hill is a pull out for Maka’puu Lookout.
-
Next recommended stop is Bellows Field Beach Park 6 miles past Makapu’u lookout. This is a huge sandy beach area with easy swimming and great sand. It also has trees set back from the beach a bit because by this time you are probably getting a lot of sun. Swimming is good here, but not so much on the snorkeling, but that is relative to the great stuff you’ve already done. There are restrooms and showers here as well, and that might be all the reason you need to stop.
-
(30 minutes for pics)
-
(1hr plus if swimming)
-
-
Keep Hwy 72 through Waimanalo and eventually to the Pail Highway Hwy 61. If you want to take a right, you can explore Kailua town. A right on Hwy 61, the Pali Highway takes you back to Honolulu town. At the top of the Pali road look for the signs for the Pali Lookout and spend a few more minutes there again enjoying great views. Pali Lookout on map.
-
(15 min stop, but a solid half hour from Bellows)
-
-
From there, keep going on the Pali (61) back to Honolulu side. If it is dinner time and you want a recommendation for good Hawaiian food use Google to goto the Highway Inn directions near downtown. I LOVE the smokin’ moco there, but the fish is really good too. You can try some poi and lau lau if you are brave. The Village Pub is also there, a nice little walk in spot where they will sell you 4oz pours of local beers and 2 oz pours of wines. I like it because you can try and few and still drive. And finally, we have a little dive shop across the street, Honolulu Scuba Company, if you want to stop in and say hi, or thank you for the best day ever!
Walking directions from Highway Inn
-
30 minutes from the Pali Lookout to the Highway Inn
-
-
Also, you could do the whole thing in reverse and rent snorkeling gear at Honolulu Scuba Company. $24 for the whole day and you can still finish with Highway Inn and Village pub after dropping off your gear. You’d miss the tour we sell, but that’s okay, we want you to love Hawaii just like we do. Please treat it with respect, malama kai, or care for the ocean, and malama a’ina, care for the land.
This free guide is brought to you by Snorkel with Turtles. If you have enjoyed it, consider booking with us or sharing with your friends. Aloha!