Love snorkelling at Turtle Beach, Kona!

One of the things we really love doing in Kona is hop on the bikes and enjoy a scenic 2mile pedal to lovely Kahalu'u Beach Park (Turtle beach) to enjoy a swim and a snorkel in the crystal clear  water of the bay.

The bay is protected by a reef and is home to many green turtles as well as a myriad of tropical reef fish and their coral feeding grounds. Every time we snorkel we see a new fish - their shapes, colours and markings are fascinating!  Out closer to the reef boundary the coral's size, formations and colours get better and better.

Visit the park as the tide begins to come in and you'll be swimming with the turtles and watching them feed on the algae on the rocks near the shore.

It was a perfect morning today to enjoy this lovely park!

Within the park is a heritage site, including ancient fish ponds 

One of the fish ponds in the foreground

Great place for a picnic or BBQ!

The water was an amazing green today, and so warm! - my kind of temperature!

Lots of people out enjoying the sunshine and the beach

There is a very interesting Education Center manned by volunteers who care about the preservation of the reef and the turtles. They have great pictorial displays and the volunteers are only too happy to tell you about the reef, the environment there, and about the life of the turtles (honu).

Heading into the sandy channel between the rocks for my first snorkel of the morning

Gets a bit congested at times! Great once you get out into the bay itself.

The tide was coming in and while we were there 3 of the regular 8 turtles arrived to feed on the algae - they just swim through all the legs to get to the rocks! :)

Aloha! :)

Posing for a pic, and giving a wave! :)

I need a waterproof camera! but the education centre has great pictures of the colourful fish that live in the bay (not all of them though! ) so you can identify the fish you are seeing when you are snorkelling.
It is still better seeing them in their natural environment - the sun shining through the clear water enhances their amazing colours and highlights their fluorescent touches. So beautiful!

Some of our favourites.......

Love their little snouts! and they are so graceful as they glide through the water!

Put the lippy on for the outing! ;)

The fluorescent blue headpiece is stunning! 

The different fluorescent colours on the Coris are striking - especially when the sunlight hits them 

The sea urchins are littered amongst the corals and add to the rainbow of colours

Of course the iconic van shop in the park does a huge trade - everyone is hungry and thirsty after a good day at the beach and snorkelling in the bay!