dive in kauai hawaii

[lynnemari]

has anyone dove in kauai hawaii? We may go ther end of January 2006,( trying to plan a trip) we have a time share we exchange this area is an option. We have dove in the carribean Roatan, Bonaire,Cancun, Cozumel,puerto vallartaand in June St. Martin.We would love to see the different fish in Hawaii, and hawaii itself. Is the end of January a bad time to dive this island, we will be staying in Princeville. We herd it is beautifull! but diving must be good too.
thanks Lynne

 

[scuba jeff]

has anyone dove in kauai hawaii? We may go ther end of January 2006,( trying to plan a trip) we have a time share we exchange this area is an option. We have dove in the carribean Roatan, Bonaire,Cancun, Cozumel,puerto vallartaand in June St. Martin.We would love to see the different fish in Hawaii, and hawaii itself. Is the end of January a bad time to dive this island, we will be staying in Princeville. We herd it is beautifull! but diving must be good too.
thanks Lynne

I am in the minority but I thought Kauai was better then Cozumel and Roatan for diving. There is no coral and no reef at all, but you will see so many fish, it is amazing. get ready for turtles. We saw about 40 of them, one was about the size of a car, well not really, but it was huge. The DM said he was the biggest they have ever seen, easily over 100 years old. You will see the normal fish, but diving witht he turtles was great. Got to see some sharks, an octopus, some eels, and the bonus was seeing a Spanish Dancer. That was really cool. The viz was about 75 feet one day and about 50 on another. The temp was about 75 degrees. We were there in October of 03. Fathom Five was the dive op we used and I cannot say enough about them, they were fantastic in every way. I also hear Bubbles Below is good.
The island itself is beautiful. Don't miss the helicopter tour with Inter Island. No doors on their copter and they stop and you have a lunch and then go swimming in a water fall. The island is an out doorsman's paradise, but there is little to no nightlife.
We did the same thign you did and swapped a time share, but we stayed at the Marriott beach club. Let me know if you have any questions

 

[BDub]

The diving in Kauai is pretty good, we had a couple of good dives at Koloa Landing and Sheraton Caves last year. In the winter, the north end (Princeville) is virtually undiveable. You'll be heading to the southern end of the island (Poipu) for any diving, which is about an hour drive each direction. Fathom Five is a good dive op, as is Bubbles Below.

Hope that helps.

 

[lynnemari]

The diving in Kauai is pretty good, we had a couple of good dives at Koloa Landing and Sheraton Caves last year. In the winter, the north end (Princeville) is virtually undiveable. You'll be heading to the southern end of the island (Poipu) for any diving, which is about an hour drive each direction. Fathom Five is a good dive op, as is Bubbles Below.

Hope that helps.

thank you that helps alot, both posts did. It sounds like a good place to go, but on the north side in late January I think we will pass. Don't want to drive 2hours everyday to dive. I will have to see if there are other options for the island another time.
Lynne

 

[Hank49]

has anyone dove in kauai hawaii? We may go ther end of January 2006,( trying to plan a trip) we have a time share we exchange this area is an option. We have dove in the carribean Roatan, Bonaire,Cancun, Cozumel,puerto vallartaand in June St. Martin.We would love to see the different fish in Hawaii, and hawaii itself. Is the end of January a bad time to dive this island, we will be staying in Princeville. We herd it is beautifull! but diving must be good too.
thanks Lynne

January can have huge surf from the north/northwest. Just below Princeville is Hanalei, one of the renowned surf breaks on the island and it goes off from Nov thru Mar or so. You may get calm weather but if not you'll have to travel around to the south side to dive.

 

[ccampan]

When you travel to Kauai you may find that you will end up on the Southside of the island more then once. Princeville is beautiful and lush but this last January they saw little to no sun. The southside was the only place to catch some sun besides the west side. FYI I learned today that the princeville hotel gives you a room to shower change and relax in at the Sheraton on the south shore. I had some people telling me about it today. You'll certainly be travelling to the west side at least once to see polihale and the waimea canyon. The south shore offers Mahaulepu and Poipu Beaches, both worth the drive. Don't let the drive scare you off. The Sheraton Caverns are worth the drive.

At least check out the Fathom Five website. http://fathomfive.com These gusy have always treated me nice.

 

[lynnemari]

When you travel to Kauai you may find that you will end up on the Southside of the island more then once. Princeville is beautiful and lush but this last January they saw little to no sun. The southside was the only place to catch some sun besides the west side. FYI I learned today that the princeville hotel gives you a room to shower change and relax in at the Sheraton on the south shore. I had some people telling me about it today. You'll certainly be travelling to the west side at least once to see polihale and the waimea canyon. The south shore offers Mahaulepu and Poipu Beaches, both worth the drive. Don't let the drive scare you off. The Sheraton Caverns are worth the drive.

At least check out the Fathom Five website. http://fathomfive.com These gusy have always treated me nice.

We have changed our plans and are going in April of 2006 April 1st. We are staying at Pahio at Kauai beach villas ( a time share ). It is in Lihue, don't know what side of the island its on, but no its not on the north side. I hope we will not be too late to see the humpback whales!! can't wait though and know we will have a good time, any info you can give will be great!
Thanks Lynne

 

[gfisher4792]

We have changed our plans and are going in April of 2006 April 1st. We are staying at Pahio at Kauai beach villas ( a time share ). It is in Lihue, don't know what side of the island its on, but no its not on the north side. I hope we will not be too late to see the humpback whales!! can't wait though and know we will have a good time, any info you can give will be great!
Thanks Lynne

Lihue is on the SE corner of the island (techically, I guess it's East Shore), and it's where the airport is. The recommendation I can give is get "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" by Andrew Doughty & Harriet Friedman. Good info. You'll definitely have a great time, and don't forget to treat yourself to the shaved ice!

 

[SecondCoussens]

Lihue is pretty close to Koloa Landing in Poipu. Thats a great and easy shore dive. Dive ops like Fathom Five will take you down there, but you can also do it yourself if you think you can handle diving without a guide. I'd recommend the left side if you go w/o a guide. Regardless check out Fathom Five. If the North Shore is calm enough yo can probably get out to Ni'ihau (Bubbles Below for this one I have heard). That was the best dive I have ever done. It's pricey, but worth it in my opinion.

 

[CA Diver]

I stayed at the Pahio Kauai Beach Resort in February, It is a nice resort and its location makes both the north and south shores activities accessible. I dove with Bubbles below in Port Allen. They did a very good job and were not a "Tourist boat", The dive masters were good at finding unique fish and in addition to the abundance of turtles at Hale O' Hanu we saw frogfish and lionfish.

I highly recommend following Gfisher4792's advice and getting a copy of the "Ultimate Kauai Guidebook". It is worth its weight in gold.