HELP! Are rains going to ruin diving this week?

[guymenton]

Aloha Everyone,
I'm really excited about my 1st Hawaii vacation this Monday. I plan to dive in Maui and Oahu. I saw the showers in the forecast all week. Can anyone on these islands tell me how this might affect diving. Anyone familiar with the drive to Hana...I plan to do that on Wed. Are rains going to spoil the scenery? Any suggestions much appreciated!
Mahalo,
Tom

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Showers won't disturb much of anything and it rains along the road to Hana a lot. The rains make that scenery what it is.

Leave really early for Hana, get ahead of the traffic and it won't be such a chore.

 

[Gilligan]

The forecast for the islands varies greatly from one island to another and from one part of the same island to another.
Runoff from rain is mostly an issue on the windward sides of the islands where it rains frequently. However, that is not where the charter boat diving is done.
What does affect shore diving is ocean swells. A large swell is forecast for Monday. The swells also affect the islands differently. The North Shore of Oahu could get 8 foot sets and the Leeward side of Maui may get 2 to 3 feet from the same swell. Nevertheless, ocean swells will often trash the vis for shore diving.
If you plan on a lot of shore diving check the swell conditions in advance as they sometimes vary enough on Maui to affect West Side diving conditions but not the South Side and vice versa. Just phone dive shops on each end to check it out.

 

[whitedragon13]

call 596-SURF for Oahu reports. It's updated every 4 hours or so, with a forecast at 7pm for the next day.