How to Snorkeling at Honaunau Bay, also known as Two Step - Big Island, Hawaii

Located just 40 minutes outside of Kona is a spot that is said to be one of the best snorkeling spots in the state of Hawaii. That's right, I'm talking about Hanaunau Bay, or as it's more affectionately known by the locals, Two Step. If you're hoping to take advantage of the free parking, you better get there early because we counted only about enough space for 13 cars. If you miss out on the free parking though, there are two much larger paid parking lots nearby and one of them only charges five dollars. If you use the free parking lot, be sure to look to the right as you approach the bay and check out the really cool outrigger canoes that they are storing there. If you're not wanting to deal with the crowds that day, you can use the sandy beach on the left to get into the water. However, if you're looking for the full Two Step experience, it will be located a little bit to your right. If you are wanting some soft sand to dig your toes into, I hate to break it to you but you've come to the wrong place. Be sure to bring some water shoes or sandals because the bay is pretty much covered in giant chunks of lava rock. But enough about the shore, it's time to hit the water. As we made our way towards the edge, we found out where Two Step gets its name from. It comes from the two large lava rock steps that lead down into the ocean. Vi sat down on the second step, timed the waves for her entry and took off across the bay like a mermaid. After a quick hello to my new turtle friend, I took off across this almost alien landscape to go find her. One thing that we noticed almost immediately was how clear the water is. This is one of the positives to that lava-filled shoreline because that means that there's not a lot of sand getting churned up in the waves and making the water cloudy. This is definitely a great place to go if you want to see some awesome sea life. In addition to the green sea turtles, we saw yellow tang, parrotfish, trumpetfish, spotted boxfish and several other species. It was really fun getting to swim around and through all of the coral but you need to be careful not to touch it. It is actually a living organism and the oils in our skin is harmful to it. Speaking about coral, here's something you might find interesting. 75% of the United States coral is located in Hawaii and 57% of that is located right here on the Kona coast. Towards the end of our swim, I found this epic spot. It was located just north of the entry point at Two Step. It was super fun swimming through these narrow passageways but I would definitely recommend not going here unless you're an experienced swimmer. The waves were coming through and throwing me around a little bit but luckily I didn't get tossed into the rocks. I was super proud of Vee. Not that that's anything new but when we first got together, she wasn't the strongest of swimmers and she wasn't crazy about the water but ever since we got her some practice time in the pool and a little flotation belt, she's been unstoppable. I mean look at her go. At first, I wasn't sure what I was looking at when I saw something bright blue on the ocean floor so I swam down and took a look and it turned out it was a piece of someone's flipper that had broken off. So I did my best to do mother nature a favor and I swam down and got it. We both loved how expansive this bay is. I mean there was probably 40 or more people in the water but there was so much space that it felt like you could just walk in and just sit there and practically have the place to yourself. It was really nice. After you've gotten your fill of swimming for the day, you can always check out the tide pools that are about 20 feet south of Two Step. There was lots of little crabs and tiny fish and there was even a sea turtle there basking but be sure to give him some space. If you enjoy our adventures, give us a thumbs up and be sure to subscribe and hit that bell so you don't miss anything. Also be sure to check us out on Instagram and also on our website thatadventurelife.com