Night Snorkeling

Has anyone ever gone night-snorkeling in Kahaluu Bay? And so, is it any good and legal?

Night Snorkeling

Legal? Yes. Good? You can%26#39;t see much in the darkness of the night. In fact, you can%26#39;t see much there in the afternoon either. Go in the morning when the sky is clear.

Night Snorkeling

Aloha! We tried it once on our last trip, but didn%26#39;t really enjoy it...at least I didn%26#39;t. It was quite shallow at the time, and the sea urchins were out in abundance. It seems they come out of their little crevices at night because we always go in the daytime, and while they are certainly there, not nearly as obvious as they were at night. Because the water was shallow, and the sea urchins were out, I found it difficult to do much snorkeling for fear of touching down. Plus there just wasn%26#39;t much to see.

Legal yes as TT commented..

As most Diver know the ocean comes alive at night at thats when all sorts of stuff comes out in all forms of life. You wil need lights, good dive lights. and a UW compass ( and know how to yse it to navigate) and a chem light on your snorkel for safety I would add a BC vest. The water depth goes up and down with a lot of very shallow stuff all over the place. Go at slack tide after the High... you will have about 1 hour before and 30 min after for the best.

I myself dont like snorkeling at night as thats when big predators feed.... bigger than me.

For your info....

The sharks come out at night.....I%26#39;ve seen many during dusk.

I would not go snorkeling at night unless you%26#39;re with a trained tour guide who knows what they are doing and go in groups. Never snorkel alone!!!!

As you have been correctly informed - legal yes. Good - not so much. I would not.

Ditto to what the others have already posted. Also, if you want to do a truly awesome night snorkel, do the manta ray snorkel. Several tour operators do it. I prefer Jack%26#39;s Dive Locker out of Kona, but if I wanted to go out of Keauhou, I%26#39;d go with Sea Paradise. Don%26#39;t do this on a Tuesday because they all take the night off except one and you DO NOT want to go with them (Neptune Charlies, also known as Manta Ray Dives). Unprofessional and not safety conscious. I would skip this fab trip is they were the only ones doing it!

Yikes...I was looking forward to this. We are experienced snorkelers and strong swimmers. We do not look for experiences that are extremely risky but do like a challenge. We have night snorkeled in Oahu (Shark%26#39;s Cove) and Cozumel. It was really exciting. We would not be swimming out to depths we would during the day so wouldn%26#39;t leave close sight of the shore. We are aware of current changes and the possibility of going too deep. We have good LCD lights. In all honesty, should we give this up? We will be staying near Kahaluu Bay for eight days mid-June. Also, we are interested in a ';City of Refuge'; snorkel boat. Any thoughts?

Thanks so much for your helpful advice!

well, the consensus in this topic is:

you can%26#39;t see much

there are shallows with urchins

shark time -- sharks can come close to shore.

So the payoff is not much and it%26#39;s risky ... why do it?

Why insist on Kahalu%26#39;u instead of going with the Manta Ray experience, which everyone agrees is pretty great?

Your call though.

You do not neet a boat to snorkel at Place of Refuge. Dolphin Discoveries stops there on some trips, a nice bonus, but if you are experienced it is quite straightforward to go in off the steps and get out, timing the surge if any. Be aware that there are pocket urchins on the steps so keep your hands flat. The shore/wall to the right is nice and the lava fingers/canyone to the left are spectacular. Watch out for boat traffic.

Before you get determined to go at night at Kahaluu, go in the daytime and see what%26#39;s there. Note that there is not a lot of good coral close in and note the labyrinth of coral to navigate on the way in/out to the deeper water at the breakwater, where what%26#39;s left of the coral is. In any case, do not go north of the northern pavilion because there is a rip. See the map at the lifeguard station. Then you can make a better informed (augmented by local advice as above) decision. The night manta swims are supposed to be great; have not done them because coming from the east coast I fall asleep too early :-)!

Thanks to both who responded. I should learn to stop asking TA questions after midnight! I saw that I wrote ';LCD'; rather than LED when it came to the lights we have and also, the City of Refuge rather than the Place of Refuge. Sorry! I realize I hadn%26#39;t made it clear that I have snorkeled Kahalu%26#39;u many times over the last fifteen years. BF has only been once (March %26#39;07). The night snorkeling was something I thought would be interesting, though risky, right up there with skydiving and extreme mountain climbing. Since I am not able to dive, guess I was looking for a different experience. You have convinced me to leave the lights at home and be happy with all the rest of what the Big Island has to offer. That said, could anyone recommend a boat for Captain Cook (that%26#39;s what I mean%26#39;t to ask when I mentioned the Place of Refuge?) We went through the same thing looking for the best boat to Molokini last year.

I%26#39;m very grateful to all who help so much in the planning of our trips.

Thanks for all your time and input!

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