Did a week of shore diving and boat diving in Kauai and had a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.
For shore dives, we stuck to the Poipu area - Koloa Landing, Prince Kuhio, and Lawai Beach. We dove Koloa Landing on two separate occasions and visibility was a milky 20' away from the landing. Lots of fish, eels, and turtles. Prince Kuhio offered better viz at 30' and was my favorite shore dive site. More turtles and fish. Lawai was interesting in that we dove in an average of 6' of water (max 9') for 30 minutes before calling the dive, and hiking back to Prince Kuhio Beack for dive #2. We did see a magnificent snake eel (myrichthys magnificus) at Lawai and the shaved ice stand is nice for a post dive treat.
For boat diving, we dove with Bubbles Below. The difference between shore diving and boat diving was night and day. Unlike Kona were I enjoyed shore diving more, in Kauai the boat diving was clearly the highlights of the trip.
First day on the boat, the swells were still quite strong. As the result, we opted to dive in a more sheltered area and hit Hale O Honu (House of Turtles). While viz was only 40', we were greated with turtles everywhere. Along with turtles, we saw a few Hawaiian turkeyfish (Pterois sphex) and other endemic species. Linda and her crew dove at a leisurely pace and were very good at finding unique fish to investigate. Their slates were always busy with names of fish, details on fish habits, or funny random comments about the fish.
Second day was a Napoli Coast trip. We stopped at Mana #4 for fun drift dive in strong current and 100' viz. Captain Earl gave a highly educational tour of the Napoli coast before we returned to Mana #2 for our second dive of the day. It's always amusing to see sharks and rocket parts in the water together in harmony. I couldn't think of a better way to see the Napoli Coast but to dive along the way as well.
Third day was Ni'ihau and we were blessed with a much improved sea. As the result, the crossing was quite doable - no hanging on for dear life. Lehua/Ni'ihau is the best diving experienced we had in Hawaii. The back wall of Molokini holds a special place for us, but the 3 dives in Lehua/Niihau was indeed impressive.
During the crossing, we encounter a pod of pilot whales in the channel.
The first dive at Vertical Awareness, we were greated immediately by two monk seals. With viz over 100', we could appreciate the sheerness of the wall. A quick drop over the wall to see the Hawaiian longfin anthias (pseudanthias hawaiiensis), and away we go.
Before the second dive, we are taking into Lehua crater where we encounter a pod of dolphins. Except for two people who chose warmth over dolphins, everyone else jumped at the opportunity to snorkel and freedive with a huge pod of frolicking dolphins. And I mean frolicking.
Second dive at Keyhole was a rush. As we left the sanctuary of the Keyhole, with 10 white tip reef sharks 40' below us, a strong current swept us away. We cruised past walls, past sloping hills, and finally to a calm plateau.
Before the third dive, we were again fortunate during our SI. As if pilot whales and dolphins aren't enough, in the channel between Lehua and Niihau, we see some humpbacks!
The third dive at Niihau Arches was my favorite. Large arches, vertical drops down a "chimney", and a couple of swimthroughs. We saw a juvenile shortnose wrasse (Macropharyngodon geoffroy) and a red striped pipefish, but I was more impressed with the topography and dramatic formations. We end the dive with a monk seal encounter during our safety stop.
Thanks to Bubbles Below crew for the good times and the easy diving.
Here's some video:
* Monk Seal at Vertical Awareness
* Diving Ni'ihau Arches
* Turtles at Hale O Honu
For shore dives, we stuck to the Poipu area - Koloa Landing, Prince Kuhio, and Lawai Beach. We dove Koloa Landing on two separate occasions and visibility was a milky 20' away from the landing. Lots of fish, eels, and turtles. Prince Kuhio offered better viz at 30' and was my favorite shore dive site. More turtles and fish. Lawai was interesting in that we dove in an average of 6' of water (max 9') for 30 minutes before calling the dive, and hiking back to Prince Kuhio Beack for dive #2. We did see a magnificent snake eel (myrichthys magnificus) at Lawai and the shaved ice stand is nice for a post dive treat.
For boat diving, we dove with Bubbles Below. The difference between shore diving and boat diving was night and day. Unlike Kona were I enjoyed shore diving more, in Kauai the boat diving was clearly the highlights of the trip.
First day on the boat, the swells were still quite strong. As the result, we opted to dive in a more sheltered area and hit Hale O Honu (House of Turtles). While viz was only 40', we were greated with turtles everywhere. Along with turtles, we saw a few Hawaiian turkeyfish (Pterois sphex) and other endemic species. Linda and her crew dove at a leisurely pace and were very good at finding unique fish to investigate. Their slates were always busy with names of fish, details on fish habits, or funny random comments about the fish.
Second day was a Napoli Coast trip. We stopped at Mana #4 for fun drift dive in strong current and 100' viz. Captain Earl gave a highly educational tour of the Napoli coast before we returned to Mana #2 for our second dive of the day. It's always amusing to see sharks and rocket parts in the water together in harmony. I couldn't think of a better way to see the Napoli Coast but to dive along the way as well.
Third day was Ni'ihau and we were blessed with a much improved sea. As the result, the crossing was quite doable - no hanging on for dear life. Lehua/Ni'ihau is the best diving experienced we had in Hawaii. The back wall of Molokini holds a special place for us, but the 3 dives in Lehua/Niihau was indeed impressive.
During the crossing, we encounter a pod of pilot whales in the channel.
The first dive at Vertical Awareness, we were greated immediately by two monk seals. With viz over 100', we could appreciate the sheerness of the wall. A quick drop over the wall to see the Hawaiian longfin anthias (pseudanthias hawaiiensis), and away we go.
Before the second dive, we are taking into Lehua crater where we encounter a pod of dolphins. Except for two people who chose warmth over dolphins, everyone else jumped at the opportunity to snorkel and freedive with a huge pod of frolicking dolphins. And I mean frolicking.
Second dive at Keyhole was a rush. As we left the sanctuary of the Keyhole, with 10 white tip reef sharks 40' below us, a strong current swept us away. We cruised past walls, past sloping hills, and finally to a calm plateau.
Before the third dive, we were again fortunate during our SI. As if pilot whales and dolphins aren't enough, in the channel between Lehua and Niihau, we see some humpbacks!
The third dive at Niihau Arches was my favorite. Large arches, vertical drops down a "chimney", and a couple of swimthroughs. We saw a juvenile shortnose wrasse (Macropharyngodon geoffroy) and a red striped pipefish, but I was more impressed with the topography and dramatic formations. We end the dive with a monk seal encounter during our safety stop.
Thanks to Bubbles Below crew for the good times and the easy diving.
Here's some video:
* Monk Seal at Vertical Awareness
* Diving Ni'ihau Arches
* Turtles at Hale O Honu
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