2 step

[George Scherman]

I'm heading to Kona in November. Along with boat dives, I'd like to do a couple of shore dives. I dove 2 step last year and would lke to do it again. Can anyone give me directions for their favorite area on this dive? Seems like last time we we pretty close to the north shore. Thanks

 

[Wildcard]

Head to the right along the shore about 60 yards and go down. Follow the wall on your left down to about 80 feet or more then work back up to your left to about 30 feet of water and swim straight back to the steps over some amasing coral. One of my favorite dives!

 

[redrover]

1) Anywhere is good, I’ve seen Eagle Rays rooting around in 10’ – 20’ in front of the main entrance/exit.

2) Look for Spinner Dolphins in resting out deep to the North. Keep checking as the pod cycles down to the sand and come up to breathe. Big clue is a snorkel cluster.

3) With small tanks I’m inclined to snorkel around the shore line either North or South vs just drop and head out. Both directions have ridges and canyons, depending on the tide they are perfect for snorkel viewing over and around. See eels, lots of small stuff, lizardfish and turtles feeding. Big stuff will come in close and the light is good for photos, particularly if no strobe. If I’m so inclined I can just drop down from there to check out walls and overhangs or follow a swimming eel. Keep an eye out just below the surface for Coronets and Needlefish.

4) If I want to go deep I snorkel around one side or another until at the coral/sand demarcation line at roughly 90’. Barracuda are usually near the surface but over deeper water – or nearer to the coral/sand break and more to one side or the other vs center of bay. Drop down from there and cruse the edge for X minutes – seen some honking cucumbers, Helmets, Domino ect there at the edges – and then slowly head upwards over the rising coral beds. Of course different fish being found deeper such as the line Wrasses, Soldiers, Potters and Squirrels. Pretty much in line with the entry/exit is a prominent plate coral cliff with a good sized shelf at the bottom.

5) Crown of Thorns, Eels and Trumpets everywhere, recently seeing clusters of baby Trumpets in holes in coral around 40’ - 60'.

6) Over the South Center coral beds look for resting/cleaning turtle stations.

7) If you are working up the south side be aware of canyons toping out at about 5’ you have to pop over to work back to the exit, you may not want to be that shallow that soon. One has swimthru skylight but is IMHO too tight in surge. If the tide is receding, the flats and ridge tops may be too shallow to snorkel over, it gets even shallower the before it gets deeper closer to the exit again so head back out and around them. Keep an eye on the surface for boats, most likely at the South side.

8) Again working along the South side, going into the park beach the vis is usually poor but I’ve been surrounded by so many turtles I’d avoid one only to get nearly rammed by another. Also a frequent problem just south of the center entry/exit.

9) The free divers go out pretty deep to the North Center area if you want to see them.

10) There can be much more wave action happening by the time you surface. I shore dive with a snorkel for the swims, again I have small tanks and usually drop and come up a ways away from shore. Was with someone recently with out a snorkel and they seemed to be getting pretty tired getting back to shore although it was not very far. As the shore (such as it is) is shallow and teeming with life it is hard to not contact stuff when you can’t see it being on your back and moving backwards. The surge can push you into shore with it’s close to the surface ridges and in particular the south side needing to zig zag the slightly deeper path over flats.

11) Please use the center or South entry/exits that gave it the name 2 Step, any other place is a whole lot harder and trashes what you’ve come there to see. If you don’t know where they are, ask someone to show you. Please try to be organized getting in and out and clear the entry’s and exits.

Center Entry: With a tank on it’s pretty hard to get down to the first ledge when there are more than two people there. Snorklers don’t get it and like to hang out on the top with fins splayed out covering the ledge, politely telling a diver to just go ahead, they’re not ready yet; it’s pointless and you may need to educate them. I smile while trying to convey it’s hot here in neoprene and say, “Thank you but there isn’t room for me to go ahead.” Until you know the underwater topography I suggest a sit down/turn entry.
Center Exit: If you’re having trouble exiting (more common in low tide) back off and wait for someone to show you how to let the surge work on your behalf, it takes room.
North Entry and Exit: One at a time, in or out, nice deep giant stride into a canyon. If the path is wet (slippery) it can be quite a challenge to navigate as a loaded diver. Check before getting out, don’t use as a diver if waves are washing over the pathway, a lot of power in them waves.

12) Feel free to police your parking spot for trash including what was there when you arrived and anywhere for that matter.

13) Understand Pu' uhonaua O Honaunau (AKA 2 Step, City of Refuge) has little controls, official rules and regulations with a high frequency of visitors. Please respect it as not only a Hawaiian sacred place but one of the leeside jewels and a joy to experience with out a lot of bureaucratic hassle and keep it that way.

 

[friscuba]

I'm heading to Kona in November. Along with boat dives, I'd like to do a couple of shore dives. I dove 2 step last year and would lke to do it again. Can anyone give me directions for their favorite area on this dive? Seems like last time we we pretty close to the north shore. Thanks

The North wall is getting much nicer. Back in '99 when I moved here it still had a lot of damage from hurricane Iniki. Now you have 5-8 inches of new growth finger coral on the drop off. I tend to see more mantas (not common, but I've seen a couple) here than elsewhere in the bay. there's also a better chance of seeing trevally/ulua/jacks cruising and hunting the reef in this area. That aside, I usually spend more time to the south side if I'm showing the site to people.

I usually head out at about 1 o'clock form the step entry. This will put you roughly at the sandpatches. Head out to the north end of the patch with the "Aloha" cinderblocks and then drop down. You can head out towards the north as you drop over the ledge for a while and then come back southward. Heading south from this spot you will see some of the nicest plate coral formations in Hawaii. The third set has an overhang at 60' feet where there are a pair, sometimes a single or trio, of longfin anthias, which are normally found at 130' and below in Kona. There's been a huge trumpet fish hanging out in this area for years.

Once you get past the plate coral with the overhang, it's up to how good your air consumption is when choosing how far south to go. If you are around 1500-1800 psi you probably ought to head uphill and check out the turtle cleaning station and the pinnacles mentioned earlier. The turtle cleaning station is in about 16-21 feet of water just off/outside the north pinnacle, just to the south of the boat channel. It's been getting progressively busier the last couple of years and is great at low tide, high tide they tend to be feeding up in the shallows or on top of the pinnacles. If you are sitting at 2000 or more you could head a bit further south and then loop around past some sand patches and a great finger coral field before reaching the pinnacles and the turtle cleaning station.

I'd recommend doing some smaller trips and get to know the reef before trying the longer dive routes so you have an idea where you are on your way back.

Here's a few highlights for those who know the area to some extent and are good on air. There's a rock at 124' on the north side where I've seen Hawaiian Lionfish, a couple of leaf scorpions, longfin and bicolor anthias and cleaner and banded coral shrimp on all at once. There's a rock at 119 to the south of the overhang below the cinder blocks spelling out a name (name has changed over the years so I don't know what it is now) that has bicolor anthias, cleaner and banded coral shrimp and often an eel or puffer getting cleaned. Below this at "too deep", for those who are good on air and comfortable with deco dives, there is a larger rock with dozens of anthias and all the other assorted goodies on it. If you are good on air (80 minute dives and such) and are good at paying atttention to your computer and NDL status you could go far to the south (I'd still recommend get to know the closer areas first)where there is a short wall (maybe 3-4' high)which tops out at rougly 68' and goes down beyond recreational depths (been to the bottom once with one of my original instructors from back in Oregon, he had no idea we were that deep 'til I motioned to him to check his deco status). There used to be a pair/trio of Bandit angels in this area near the top of the wall for several years, I haven't been there in a couple of years though so I couldn'[t say if they are still there. I've also seen white tips here on occasion cruising below and saw one BIG guy (probalby a tiger) coming towards me years ago, I went for a big rock and noticed the Bandits and by the time I turned around it was gone.

Two step is a great dive and has something to offer for divers of all skill levels.

later,

Steve

 

[Wildcard]

I know the south rock but will have to look for the north rock. I STILL haven't seen a lion fish :-(

 

[George Scherman]

Many thanks for the detailed info. Sounds like I need to spend a couple of days there!

 

[bluemagoo]

.......

Here's a few highlights for those who know the area to some extent and are good on air. There's a rock at 124' on the north side where I've seen Hawaiian Lionfish, a couple of leaf scorpions, longfin and bicolor anthias and cleaner and banded coral shrimp on all at once. There's a rock at 119 to the south of the overhang below the cinder blocks spelling out a name (name has changed over the years so I don't know what it is now) that has bicolor anthias, cleaner and banded coral shrimp and often an eel or puffer getting cleaned. Below this at "too deep", for those who are good on air and comfortable with deco dives, there is a larger rock with dozens of anthias and all the other assorted goodies on it. If you are good on air (80 minute dives and such) and are good at paying atttention to your computer and NDL status you could go far to the south (I'd still recommend get to know the closer areas first)where there is a short wall (maybe 3-4' high)which tops out at rougly 68' and goes down beyond recreational depths (been to the bottom once with one of my original instructors from back in Oregon, he had no idea we were that deep 'til I motioned to him to check his deco status). There used to be a pair/trio of Bandit angels in this area near the top of the wall for several years, I haven't been there in a couple of years though so I couldn'[t say if they are still there. I've also seen white tips here on occasion cruising below and saw one BIG guy (probalby a tiger) coming towards me years ago, I went for a big rock and noticed the Bandits and by the time I turned around it was gone.

Two step is a great dive and has something to offer for divers of all skill levels.

later,

Steve

Has anyone else seen the longnose's with holes in their bodies? I've seen maybe a half-dozen or so over the years; there was even a mated pair that were in the solid dark-brown colored phase and both had holes near the tail. The holes are usually about the size of a spearshaft (although there was one with a puka that looked big enough for my index finger) but don't appear to be healed wounds of any kind; the location is consistently near the tail and there seems to be no evidence of surrounding scarring or swimming difficulties. It's probably some genetic defect. They seem to range along the slope from the entry/exit toward the houses.

 

[Wildcard]

Many thanks for the detailed info. Sounds like I need to spend a couple of days there!

I have to be getting close to 100 dives there.It's a drive from where I used to live but worth it. My favorite shore dive in Hawaii.