I will be on the big island next week, and have set aside a 1/2 day for kayaking to the Capt Cook monument area and snorkeling.

I did a Google search on this but did not come up with much. My research indicates there are plenty of places along the road above this area at which you can rent kayaks and snorkel gear, but you have to put them on the roof of your rental car and drive down to the water and then get the kayak in the water (or pay one of the locals who hangs around ready to do this $5 to help).

Does anyone know of a place on the water to which you can drive, park and rent the kayaks from the water? Where exactly do I want to go for this?

Also, it seems that the bay by the Capt Cook monument is the regarded as a great place to snorkel, and is about a 1 mile kayak trip from where ever the shore is that you start at. Is this correct? Are there still dolphins that frequent that area or have the tourists run them off?

(I've been to konaweb.com but it seems they only show the latest 200 posts, with no archives, and the main topic of discussion there is the virtues and motivations of the guy who is the first to answer every question related to this with "don't snorkel there" so there does not seem to be much useful info there. Hoping someone here can help.)