Difficulty
beginner
Viz (last reported 2107h ago)
Max Depth
70ft
Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Place of Refuge (Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park)
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.
Access
shore
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Jim Olinger
Jun 6, 2013, 12:00 AM
scuba
This one is a MUST if shore diving the Big Island. There is much written here so I would just add there are actually two ALOHA cement brick structures. The first is just to the right of center as you head straight away from the entry. 30' (or 10 meters) sounds about right for the depth. If you go just a ways past it, the depth drops off and you can swim north along a sloping wall of coral at about 60-70' depth until you hit 1/2 tank (beyond that I don't know). If you head south instead, the depth increases until you come to the 2nd ALOHA which is larger and located on the sandy bottom, probably more like 30-35 meters of depth. It either took a few divers several dives to put it together, or a whole team of folks who could have built it in a dive or two. (I gotta get a UW camera for these things!) Enjoy!!!
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