I did an early-morning dive off the condos we were staying at (Kona Shores). This site doesn't have public access. You have to be a resident of these condos to have a key to the gate that leads to the shoreline. Of course residents of neighboring condos would also have water access to this area. This stretch of coastline is solid lava and even on calm days, there is a small swell that rolls into this shore, making it mostly inaccessible to divers (unless you want to be rolled around on the sharp rock). The whole time we were here it was unusually calm. The forecast showed only 2' swells everyday. I noticed a small ledge along the shoreline, where the waves didn't break, but just rose up and down a couple of feet. It had a small lava step just underwater, which made it possible to climb in and out of the water.
I swam down the rocky slope that was covered with various kinds of hard coral. It ended in sand about 35' deep. I think if I swam farther South towards the tip of the point it would have gotten deeper, but I didn't go far from my entry-point. I didn't see any turtles, moray eels, sharks, etc. There was just the usual assortment of small reef fish, mostly in the shallows.
This was a quick and convenient dive, but I wasn't impressed by the amount and variety of marine life compared to other shore dives on the Big Island. Considering the tricky entry, this probably isn't a site that I'd bother with more than once.
