Hanauma Bay - The Best Beach For Snorkeling Or Scuba Diving in Hawaii

Hanauma Bay is undisputedly the best beach for snorkeling or scuba diving in Hawaii. Protected offshore from rough East Oahu waves by a shallow fringing reef, the bay allows safe exploration of its marine life all year round. The water is warm and clear and shallow, catering to individuals of all ages. Plus you're in Hawaii's very first marine protected conservation district so you're always sure to get unspoiled beauty.

From the parking lot to the lava rock formations at the tip of the beach park, it is also easy to see why the Hanauma Bay Beach Park reaches as much as 3000 visitors a day and why Hanauma Bay Beach Park was chosen as America's Best Beach in 2004 by Dr. Beach. At the parking lot, the lookout points already fill you with breathtaking sights even before you descend down the bay. To get to the bay, visitors can take the steep walkway or the shuttle bus.

Hanauma Bay is a unique one: its floor is an ocean-breach crater. The bay was form when the crater's seaward wall collapsed and ocean filled the crater. Shaped like a horseshoe, it is fronted by a 2000-foot, white sanded shoreline. Several interesting coves and inlets are scattered around the bay. On the bay's left point, there's a natural catch basin called "Witches' Brew." On the right side, there's a pool called "Toilet Bowl," named so because of the toilet-bowl flushing and filling motion of the pool every time ocean water surges into a nearby inlet.

Generally, Hanauma Bay is safe for swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving. On the western side of the bay, however, there's a danger called spot "Cable Channel," named so because this part was dredged in the 1950s to place a trans-Pacific cable channel. The channel has strong rip currents so if you snorkel here, you might end up carried out of the bay to the open ocean.