Snorkeling on Big Island!

Big Island has the best snorkeling out of the Hawaiian Islands.  It's the most tropical, since it's the closest to the equator, so it has corals, turtles, and dolphins in spades.  And because it's the youngest island, it has the least amount of soil run-off in the ocean, resulting in the clearest water.

And there's no better snorkeling on the Big Island than south of Kona at Captain Cook's Monument (aka Kealakekua Bay)and off the shore of Place of Refuge (aka Honaunau Bay).  Unfortunately, both places are inaccessible by land, so you'll need to either book a boat tour, or, if you're more adventurous, plan to kayak there.

View Big Island Snorkeling in a larger map

Last time, we went with Sea Quest, which we were pretty happy with.  About 6 of us went out on a little boat, and even before we went into the water, we saw dolphins galore:

Once you're done snorkeling, I'd recommend driving down to Place of Refuge, which is a beautiful park in itself, with a lot of native Hawaiian stuff.  Pretty neat!