Little disappointed with Kauai beach dives

[Ob1Stogie]

I was in Kauai last week and I was able to get four beach dives in three days. I went to Koloa landing twice (left side and right side) and frankly it was not what I was expecting. The right side was much better, but the reef was sparse as were the fish. I was out there for over an hour down to about 47ft. It was a VERY easy dive, but I guess I expected more.

I also made two dives to Ahukini landing. My first dive in the morning was great. Vis was about 40ft and the "life" was much better than at Koloa. I got down to about 60ft and found several small walls and the much talked about ammo. Definitely much better, IMHO, than Koloa. I went back later in the day and the vis was 0-5 for much of the same area I covered earlier. It did clear up a little (maybe to 10ft), but much of what I enjoyed on the earlier dive was washed out.

Both spots had lots of sediment. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. I don't know how the coral can survive in with a layer of silt, so maybe that is why the life was less than I expected.

 

[Shaka Doug]

Did you go with a local guide?

 

[Wildcard]

Yup. pretty marginal diving IMHO.

 

[AquamanKauai]

The reality here on Kauai is that shore diving is very limited. And when conditions are good you can go with a local DM and be blown away. However, Koloa Landing is an old once active harbor that is up and down with conditions. Primarily it is used for intros and students. The river mouth there can lead to low vis when there is rain. I would be honest and say that it still hasnt fully recovered fully from the Spring 40 days of rain and the dumping of the river for almost a month.

On the flip side I took a photographer out there a couple of weeks ago and he said it was one of the best photo dives he had done yet (about 75 dives of shooting - so while not endless photo experience it does say something about the potential). One that dive he was able to get shots of four different Dragon Morays, Harlequin shrimp, Green Lionfish and several leaf and devil scorpion fish which litter the site.

Ahukini is great as well on the RARE occasion that it is ok to dive. But that's only when tradewinds arent blowing. For those of you familiar with the islands you know how rare that is.

So, the diving is quirky at times for sure here off the shore. Winter however is usually the best time to hit koloa. Also like "Shaka" said - go with a local DM. Just around the corner from Koloa is Sheraton Caverns (the number one requested site on the island) and if you can get outside at Koloa you can often be rewarded with some even better vis.

Island best -
Please feel free to post with any questions re: local conditions at any point.

Anything we can do to make your diving here a great experience will be done!