Big Island Hawaii - What to Do
2 Step - My favorite place in the world, easy entrance to Honaunau Bay for snorkeling and swimming with dolphin, honu (turtles) and tropical fish. There is limited parking and almost no beach to the right of the boat ramp, but the short walk is so worth the experience. So from the point of view above, you have the boat ramp and little beach to the left and 2 step where the people are standing. To the right of that is lava rock beach that you can enter the water by. If entering by way of 2 step (it is literally 2 steps into the water shown below) you immediately see the coral and fish since you enter water that is 8-10 feet deep. There are all colors of fish, eels, and there was a reef shark that hangs out there that you can follow.
One early May morning we were so lucky to swim with a pod of dolphin that were resting after a night out feeding. They had no fear of us and seemed to be curious about what were were doing there in the bay. Watching them was so interesting, there were some that had young ones with them, and others that were playing with leaves. You could see them ‘catch’ them by the flipper and kind of hold onto the leaf as they were swimming, letting it go, and catching it again. They had no fear of us and were swimming beside us giving us the side eye.
Fairwinds Snorkel Cruise — This is a great cruise whether you take the morning one with the bbq lunch or the afternoon with the snacks and fruit.
Kohala Na’alapa Stable - This ranch has 2 locations, the Waimea (Kohala) and the Waipi’o location. I’ve ridden at the Kohala location more than once, this isn’t your nose-to-tail walk on the tail ride. You get to go through a working cattle ranch and walk, trot, and canter through the hillsides. You get a gorgeous view of the coastline and a peek at the tip of Haleakala on Maui on a clear day. The guides are friendly, knowledgeable and helpful, this is a ride for all levels of riding ability as the horses know what they are doing and you don’t have to ‘make’ them do anything.
Outside Lava Lava Beach Club looking at A’Bay
Queens Marketplace on the way to A’Bay for snokeling- Island Gourmet Market has hot foods and prepared sushi in addition to local food, snacks and gifts. Here you can find take out lunches, chips, cookies and chocolates in addition to my favorite Hi-Chew in local flavors like lilikoi and mango and a great collection of wines. I bought my favorite dress of this trip here and cant wait to go back, i come here every time i’m in the northern part of this island.
