Kuilima Cove Snorkeling — Attraction in Hawaii

This place is excellent for beginner snorkelers. My first snorkel attempt was years ago, in the Bahamas. It did not go well and traumatized me. I'm now in Hawaii for work and was determined to try again. I did research and it said to come here. I've now been here 3 times and it's a cool spot. It's also a pretty good wave pool, depending on the time you're there. Be warned: it's not a complete cove. The middle is mostly blocked by rocks but either side is pretty much open. You'll see signs saying to stay to the right of the buoy's since the left is open to the waves; however, too far to the right is also pretty open; although not as much. Also, if it's low tide, be careful; it can be too shallow to go across the rocks and/or corals...and they're sharp! Basically, if you can clearly see the far rock "table", be careful. If you stay near the buoy's, you're more likely to see better stuff like eels and maybe turtles etc. You can feel the difference in water temperature, as the warm waves from the ocean come in. The sea life like that too. It is a pretty awesome place! P.S. the pics were taken here, so it's a good example of...

The beach is nice, there's a good shady spot to sit under trees in the morning. Probably always a nice breeze due to the location. There's public parking and access from the hotel lot, follow the signs. I assume the chairs are reserved for hotel guests.

We went here to snorkel because the beaches to the south had too much surf up. The cove is very protected and the surf break is way out, it was very comfortable swimming... but halfway to high tide it was super cloudy. We saw a few fish but it wasn't worth staying in.

It's hard to guess if it would be much better on a different tide, or if this is mostly a nice sheltered spot for kids to swim. Probably wouldn't try...

We rented a covered set of beach chairs for $35 for the day which really let us relax during peak sun times. The cove calms the waves down and makes the beach manageable with small kids. There are boogie boards and other gear available for rent. We snorkeled a bit, and while visibility was poor that day, we saw quite a lot of fish. Beware there are TONS of urchins here. It’s not likely that you’ll have a problem but if you don’t know what you’re doing and get pushed into some shallow rocks you might be in for a sting. There are some strong currents in areas that are marked. Overall pretty easy place to snorkel though. Free beach...