A little over two years ago, I was lucky enough to spend some time at Sugar Cottage in South Kona. I'm not going to review the Sugar Cottage experience again. You can read my initial review here: Sugar Cottage - South Kona Trip Report. Everything was pretty much the same - just as delightful and affordable. The host, who is older, now dives with a few buddies. But I was able to get tanks and weights to dive on my own whenever I wanted. The Sugar Cottage website is currently down, but hopefully that's just the website. There's still a listing on Airbnb (Airbnb: Vacation Rentals, Cabins, Beach Houses, Unique Homes & Experiences). I feel confident saying there is no better value for independent divers in the entire state of Hawai'i than Sugar Cottage. As long as you don't need fancy, and you don't mind being farther from the hustle & bustle, it's awesome. The Covid procedures for entering Hawai'i were straightforward and didn't cause any delays. It's my understanding that Safe Travels is ending on 3/26 and there will be no more restrictions for US travelers.
This time around I went back to my favorite dives sites: Two-Step; Da Rock (Miloli'i); Pebbles; Miloli'i Boat Ramp and I also tried a couple new ones: Old Kona Airport; Honokohau Harbor; Kawaihae Harbor (Nudi Madness). I saw my first couple Hammerheads off Da Rock (too far for pics), but Two-Step is still my favorite place. I like how easy it is to choose your depth. My preference is to dip down a little deep to start and then take things nice and slow in the shallows. Not as many turtles as before, but lots of new fish for me. I spent almost an hour photographing two different juvenile Rockmover Wrasse at Two-Step, which was delightful. I also waited patiently for a perching Peacock Grouper and got in really close.
In terms of the new sites, I did Old Airport and Kawaihae on my own. I may write an additional post with some more explicit directions for these. Old Airport was a blast, but the entry can be tricky, esp at low tide. Lots of schooling fish plus an eagle ray and day octopus. Kawaihae was a little disappointing (and a long drive up north). But I love nudis, so I had to try a site called Nudi Madness. It was pretty long surface swim and the viz was <10ft. I had hoped for more nudis, but I did find 3 or 4. Maybe just a bad day. At Honokohau, I went with the group, and they wanted to submerge to 40' and keep swimming straight out for the whole dive, hoping to see a Tiger Shark. I would have loved to see a Tiger, but after about 30 minutes of blue, I headed back to the shallows for some reef action.
Apart from diving, we spent time at South Point, and at Kīlauea, which was (is still) erupting. We were able to hike to within a mile or so of the Halema'uma'u crater and just watch in wonder. That's a first for me, too. We also spent time at Punalu'u Black Sand beach and took a short hike to Honomolino, a secluded bay and beach past Miloli'i. That was amazing - empty and excellent snorkeling. On the last day, we spent time at the Kahuku Unit area in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. This also seems like a relatively unknown place with incredible lush green pastures overlooking South Point. The more I write, the more I want to go back, so I'll just post some pics. You can find the full gallery here: Big Island 2021.
This time around I went back to my favorite dives sites: Two-Step; Da Rock (Miloli'i); Pebbles; Miloli'i Boat Ramp and I also tried a couple new ones: Old Kona Airport; Honokohau Harbor; Kawaihae Harbor (Nudi Madness). I saw my first couple Hammerheads off Da Rock (too far for pics), but Two-Step is still my favorite place. I like how easy it is to choose your depth. My preference is to dip down a little deep to start and then take things nice and slow in the shallows. Not as many turtles as before, but lots of new fish for me. I spent almost an hour photographing two different juvenile Rockmover Wrasse at Two-Step, which was delightful. I also waited patiently for a perching Peacock Grouper and got in really close.
In terms of the new sites, I did Old Airport and Kawaihae on my own. I may write an additional post with some more explicit directions for these. Old Airport was a blast, but the entry can be tricky, esp at low tide. Lots of schooling fish plus an eagle ray and day octopus. Kawaihae was a little disappointing (and a long drive up north). But I love nudis, so I had to try a site called Nudi Madness. It was pretty long surface swim and the viz was <10ft. I had hoped for more nudis, but I did find 3 or 4. Maybe just a bad day. At Honokohau, I went with the group, and they wanted to submerge to 40' and keep swimming straight out for the whole dive, hoping to see a Tiger Shark. I would have loved to see a Tiger, but after about 30 minutes of blue, I headed back to the shallows for some reef action.
Apart from diving, we spent time at South Point, and at Kīlauea, which was (is still) erupting. We were able to hike to within a mile or so of the Halema'uma'u crater and just watch in wonder. That's a first for me, too. We also spent time at Punalu'u Black Sand beach and took a short hike to Honomolino, a secluded bay and beach past Miloli'i. That was amazing - empty and excellent snorkeling. On the last day, we spent time at the Kahuku Unit area in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. This also seems like a relatively unknown place with incredible lush green pastures overlooking South Point. The more I write, the more I want to go back, so I'll just post some pics. You can find the full gallery here: Big Island 2021.
