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Quick answers
Which local rescue or training agency should I check first?
Use the local lens: coastguard/federation norms and the shop briefing for that bay — not a blog visibility claim.
What is Act 104?
A 2018 Hawaii statute targeting sunscreen ingredients such as oxybenzone and octinoxate. Long sleeves work regardless of the chemistry debate.
Molokini?
A crescent tuff cone off Maui. The inner crater is the classic boat-snorkel; the back wall is a current dive. Morning trips are the culture.
Kealakekua Bay?
A marine life conservation district on Hawaii Island, reached by boat or a steep trail, famous for clear water and a monument shore. Theft and heat on the trail are real.
Kona manta nights?
A sit-dive or snorkel around lights that attract plankton, then mantas. Codes limit touching and light-in-eyes. See night-diving.
Is Two Step a real name?
Yes: a lava-entry snorkel at Honaunau near the Place of Refuge, popular and sharp on the ankles.
Snorkel visitors need a sealing mask, sleeves that replace a lot of banned cream, and reef-safe habit where cream is still used. Scuba visitors add the usual rec kit; Kona nights add a light discipline, not a sun gun in a manta's face.
Tabis or stout sandals help at lava entries.
Core kit
- Mask that seals — Hire after the Hanauma video if needed.
- Rash top / sleeves — Act 104 made this the honest kit.
- Fins — Small kicks in 1-3 m.
- Tabis or entry shoes — Two Step and lava.
- Reservation confirmation — Hanauma listed as kit.
- SMB if the boat says so — Walls and crater backs.
Optional
- Thin wetsuit — Windward winters and night decks.
- Red or dim light on night dives — Manta codes.
- Pointer — Sand and rock.
- Whistle — Shore entries with a tower.
Care
- Rinse volcanic grit from skirts — It leaks tomorrow.
- Do not pocket coral or sand — DLNR.
- Keep cream off the lake-equivalent: the bay ladder — Apply long before.
- Check fin straps on lava — They fail at the step.
Budget bands
- Hanauma day — Ticket, mask, sleeves.
- Maui boat day — The Molokini ticket.
- Kona week — Manta night as an optional line item.
- Skip — A full-face gadget as a first bay mask.
Spend on the reservation and the sleeves. The crater can wait a morning.