Hilo

A diving day starts at a dive shop in Hilo. Guests meet there, and the shop drives divers and gear to the site for a shoreline entry into water framed by lava rock. The main shore site is Wai'olena, at Leleiwi, run as a guided single-tank dive; the same centre runs a two-tank boat trip to reefs outside Hilo Bay, a one-tank guided boat dive and a night dive. A second Hilo shop guides dives and snorkels at Leleiwi, Richardson Ocean Park, Carlsmith Beach Park and Puhi Bay.

The seabed is volcanic: lava rock formations, lava shelves and coral growth, with coral gardens between them. Most dives run from 8 to 21 m (25 to 70 ft), and night dives from 6 to 18 m (20 to 60 ft). Green sea turtles graze among the coral heads and rest on the lava shelves, and moray eels, octopus and nudibranchs are the common sightings at Leleiwi. The east side is known for its ice ponds and freshwater springs, and the sea runs 24 to 27 °C (75 to 80 °F).

Hilo suits certified divers who are steady on an active shore entry and want quiet reefs with turtles; its reefs are not dived as much as those of Kailua-Kona or Maui. At Leleiwi, the entry over a'a lava and a shallow spring pool is awkward in any month and dangerous from November to March, when northwest swells arrive. Divers who would rather join the island's more-dived reefs should base themselves in Kailua-Kona, at the western end of the island and at least 2 hours' drive away, instead.