Hawaii

📍 Oahu, south-east shore (Honolulu)

A sheltered snorkeling bay set inside a volcanic crater, its shallow coral reef gradually recovering under careful management — one of the best shore reefs on Oahu and a longtime first-snorkel favourite.

A Marine Life Conservation District: entry requires a same-day reservation and fee, and conservation rules apply to everyone on the reef.

📍 Maui, in the channel south of the island

A crescent-shaped volcanic crater rising from the sea, its sheltered inner wall a protected marine reserve with unusually clear water and dense reef life. Reached only by boat, which keeps it in exceptional shape.

Boat-access only; mornings are calmest. It's a marine reserve — no touching, no taking.

📍 Big Island, west (Kona) coast

After dark, floodlit boards draw plankton — and with them huge manta rays that glide and barrel-roll right in front of snorkelers holding onto the light rig. An awe-inspiring, fully guided night encounter and one of the region's most famous snorkel experiences.

A guided night trip from a boat; operators run strict non-contact rules for the mantas.

📍 Big Island, south Kona coast

A deep, clear bay beneath the Captain Cook monument, famous for its spinner dolphins and rich fringing reef. The steep shoreline puts the best snorkeling by the monument wall, reached by kayak or boat.

A Marine Life Conservation District — the spinner dolphins are protected; keep your distance and never chase or enter the water around them.

📍 Maui, north-west shore

A protected bay entered from the rocks, with lush coral gardens just offshore in some of Maui's clearest water. Off-limits to fishing and partly seasonal when winter surf rolls through.

A marine reserve; best in calm summer months, and the shoreline entry is over smooth rocks — go early for calm water.

📍 Big Island, near Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau

A superb walk-in access at a sheltered lava shelf — the 'two-step' is a natural staging ledge that drops you straight into gardens of coral and clouds of reef fish, with green sea turtles commonly cruising the shallows.

📍 Kauai, north shore

A celebrated north-shore reef with sand channels and lava tunnels running through dense coral, and a long stretch where young green turtles forage. One of Hawaii's best-known shore reef systems.

North-shore winter surf can make conditions rough — aim for calm days (usually summer) and check local conditions.

📍 Kauai, south shore

A laid-back, family-friendly beach with easy shore snorkeling off the reef at the east end of the park, where green sea turtles are frequent visitors and the protected bay keeps the water calm.

📍 Lanai, south shore

Lanai's pristine crescent bay, a marine reserve and marine-life conservation district with calm, clear water and an easy fringing reef alive with fish and turtles. Quieter than Oahu and Maui, and all the better for it.

A tarp-roofed roadside shack where the Kahuku shrimp are grown in the ponds right behind the stand, so what lands on your paper plate was nearly swimming minutes earlier. It's cash-only with no menu to speak of and a gravel parking lot — exactly the no-frills North Shore experience the glossy food-tour vans pull past.

Tip: Order the garlic butter shrimp with rice and slaw, and go early in the day before the afternoon line forms.

A legendary hole-in-the-wall that has served home-style Hawaiian food since 1946, with James Beard recognition that never changed its Formica-counter, order-at-the-register soul. The laulau — salted meat and butterfish steamed in taro leaf — tastes like a backyard luau packed into a takeout box.

Tip: Get the laulau combo with kalua pork and pipikaula, and go for lunch — they close early when the day's pot runs out.

An utterly unassuming counter that sells fresh poke by the pound straight out of a cold case, letting you mix scoops across a dozen rotating varieties from ahi to limu and spicy mayo. It tastes like the fishing boats — stop in the same morning the fish landed and it shows.

Tip: Go right at opening for the day's freshest catch, and take it sea-salt-and-limu style to taste the Kona coast itself.