Kealakekua Bay - best snorkeling spot on Big Island

The Captain Cook Monument was erected in 1874 by Princess Likelike and marks the approximate location of Cook's death; the monument is unreachable by road but was worth the hour hike each way for great snorkeling

Peacock hind; despite dozens of boats, lots of people and a difficult to access location, Captain Cook is consistently rated the best snorkeling destination on the island

Achilles tang; settled more than 1000 yrs ago, Kealakekua Bay is now a marine life conservation district that supposedly is home to spinner dolphins although we didn't see them

To minimize damage to the reef there is now a permit system in place if you want to kayak in the bay; it is probably easier to join one of the kayak excursions but your time would then be limited

There were mongoose everywhere on the island (including quite a few dead in the road); if you left a backpack unguarded a mongoose would magically appear to inspect the contents

The adult male Pacific bird wrasse is blue and green (above) while females and juveniles are white and gray with a reddish snout; named for its bird-like snout, this wrasse feeds by plucking small crustaceans from between coral branches

Captain Cook was the first documented European to arrive in Hawaii (Jan 17, 1779); Cook was attacked and killed Feb 14, 1779 during a dispute with the local Hawaiian chief over a stolen boat

Yellow trumpetfish; Kealakekua Bay is located 12 miles south of Kona and is popularly referred to as Captain Cook (there's also a town above the bay called Captain Cook)

Pacific sailfin tang; it's a relatively easy 30 minute paddle across the bay if you want to kayak to the Captain Cook Monument and the most popular snorkel area

Yellowtail coris; this colorful fish is common in the shallow waters around Hawaii and can grow to 15 inches long; wrasses are very alert and typically would flee before I could get a good photo

Ornate butterflyfish; it's a 2 mile hike each way to reach the best snorkeling area; you lose 1300 ft on the hike down to the bay but our walk up had cloud cover and wasn't bad at all

Scrawled filefish; Kealakekua Bay is one of the best places in Hawaii for snorkeling; fish are plentiful over a well-developed reef that slopes steeply from the shore into nearby deep water, making it easy to see different kinds of fish in a short time

Yellow-billed cardinal; Lee saw a white-tipped reef shark here in shallow water; if you're not up to the hike or kayak to the bay, you can get on a boat tour from about $90

Hawaiian spotted boxfish; Captain Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making his three voyages to the Pacific; Cook's name has been memorialized worldwide including on the highest peak in NZ

Fourspot butterflyfish; the county of Hawaii (same as the island of Hawaii) comprises 62.7% of the state's land area; it is the highest percentage by any county in the country

Juvenile yellowtail coris; the racial makeup of the island is 34.5% White, 29.2% from two or more races, 22.6% Asian, 12.4% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and 0.7% African American; 11.8% of the population also identified as Hispanic

Black triggerfish; Captain James Cook is famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and to Australia in particular; he also had the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand