Kauai in August

[vanisleboy]

I'm blueskying about going to Kauai this August. The recent post about Niihau has really caught my interest.

Thinking about going for 2 weeks and staying in the Poipu area. I will be there with my non diving wife and 9yr old, they like to snorkel. I like to dive least 2 tanks a day boat or shore.

I've never been to Kauai, but am quite familiar with Maui and Hawaii. We just spent 3 weeks on the Big Island in March, so in the back of my head I'm thinking maybe we should go elsewhere, but the idea of diving Hawaiian Islands when it is reasonably calm is very appealing (I usually bring big swells with me when I visit in winter, should have been here last week bra...), not to mention it's an easy flight from Vancouver.

I've heard that Kauai is rather quiet, and wonder if there's enough to do topside to keep everyone occupied.

Would appreciate insights from those who have dove Kauai. Thanks!

 

[AquamanKauai]

Aloha vanisleboy

As a longtime resident here I am happy to share a few thoughts. Kauai is sleepy when matched up against some of the other islands for sure - but mostly when it comes to nightlife. Just about all the same activities are available though. Zipline, ATV, Waterfall hikes, Kayak trips (river and ocean), Napali coast catamaran trips, etc...

If there are any specific interests that you have questions about I'd be happy to help you. Oh, there are a number of great spots to snorkel with the turtles here just from the shore.

Niihau as you have likely read in previous posts is JUST AWESOME. With your 200-500 dives I think you'd be amazed by the diving. It is very very different from the big island and Maui both.

I'm sure you find plenty of help from other board members. This is such a great resource for us divers!

 

[drmbloom]

Mahalo for the praise of Kauai, but can you offer recommendations of dive operators and bexch dive locations?

 

[AquamanKauai]

I personally work for Seasport divers so I would naturally be a little biased, but feel it's important to be up front with that information. The three primary companies include ourselves along with Fathom Five (also Poipu) and Bubbles Below (Port Allen). You'll find the primary shore dive to be Koloa Landing in Poipu. It's a great dive with pretty easy entry - especially at high tide. It offers some incredible critters including frogfish, endemic lionfish, turtles, rare/endemic bandit angels, dragon morays, cleaner shrimp, etc... Down the road Prince Kuhio's is a good shallow dive/snorkel with an active turtle cleaning station but caps out at about 20ft. The north shore has a great lava tube dive called tunnels if you enjoy topography dives. The vis' can be quirky at times and the current can be strong but the formations are pretty amazing. I strongly suggest morning dives with the company you choose. Afternoon trips can be (and often are) limited by gusty trades requiring short runs to sites that are close by and protected. Mornings are often wide open to requests. You'll find a lot of the same activities are available topside for families here as the other islands. ATV trips, zipline, kayak trips, waterfall hikes, etc... If I can provide you with any specifics let me know and I will be more than happy to help you and your family out with suggestions or contact information. The diving has been pretty amazing this summer. Send a pm to me with specifics and I will get back to you right away. Have a great day. Aloha.

 

[halems]

Do you know of any easy way to match up with a buddy diver for some Koloa Landing shore dives? I will be in Poipu for a couple of weeks in January and too many boat dives gets expensive.

Thanks

 

[Stacyt38]

I was in Kauai back in June we dove with Seasport divers......they were awesome! There are lots of things to do topside during the day. My family has 3 non-divers so they didn't allow the rest of us but 2 dive days. While in Kauai we went ziplining with Princeville ranch adventures. We also went tubing an old sugar cane plantations...which was very cool. I can't wait to go back to Hawaii it was an awesome trip! We dove Ni'ihau the three tank dive it was well worth the money. We had a monk seal join our dive...tooooo cool!! Enjoy your trip...I'm very jealous!!

 

[Tunaman68]

We dove with Fathom Five and had a great experience! The twilight/night dive was amazing - Sheraton Caverns was a whole different dive with the lights out!!

Didn't do any shore diving, but Koloa landing seems to be the spot.

The island is very slow compared to say Maui, that might be good for some, not so much for others. The beaches at Poipu are great, and if the non-divers like sun, sand and water, they will be fine. The place kind of shuts down around 5-7 pm, so if you're hungry/bored after that, your choices are limited. Also, the speed limit is around 20 mph a lot of the time, so it takes a while to get around.

Waimea canyon, Jo Jo's shave ice, and a day trip up to the beaches around Princeville are a must as well!

My buddy was there and did the Ni'ihau trip and loved everything except the 2 hour boat ride in huge seas on the way back.

Have fun!

 

[drmbloom]

Just got back from a week in Kauai staying in Princeville finding the diving at Tunnels with Jack from Fathom Five divers out of Koloa (arranged by phone & met him at the beach finding chairs set up and tanks on a large mat to don wetsuits) excellent - he led us around to critters big (white tips and turtles) n small (tiny endemic lion fish & cleaner shimp tickling our teeth). Found snorkling and beaches were better going north to Haena & SUP in Hanalei river and bay. Aloha

 

[drmbloom]

Koloa Landing was a bit of disappointment - just rocks n rubble but saw 7 different Dragon Eels as well as a number of white mouths and others - must be an eel haven.