Kahaluʻu Bay, at Kahaluʻu Beach Park on Aliʻi Drive in North Kona, is a shallow reef bay whose protected water is a nursery for young marine life. Lifeguards from the Hawaiʻi Fire Department staff the park every day, and The Kohala Center's ReefTeach program is on site every day. Get in and out through the channel in front of the lifeguard tower, left of the pavilion, not over the rocks, which are slippery, sharp and where fish and honu feed. Float over coral, rock and sand instead of standing, and do not stand, kick or walk beyond the orange buoys that mark where the sand ends and the reef begins. Give honu space and never chase or touch marine life. Use sunscreen whose active ingredients are zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Marine heatwaves badly bleached the bay's cauliflower coral, and the County closes the park for its yearly spawning. Conditions change fast, with large waves, strong currents and sea urchins, and the park closes until mid-morning on the first Thursday of each month.
Enter and leave the water by the channel in front of the lifeguard tower, not over the rocks.