Ni'ihau & Flying Next Day

[grantwiscour]

We will be on Kauai this summer and are planning on the Ni'ihau dive trip. We leave LIH for KOA at 9:48 on a Thursday morning. This will be our first Ni'ihau trip. My wife and I are both advanced divers and typically leave a day after diving for off-gassing/

It looks like we'd have a full 18 hours of off-gassing if we are out of the water by 3:48 pm on Wednesday.
We plan on Nitrox for the first two tanks. Is this cutting it too close? We can dive a different day if needed but were hoping to dive with Bubbles Below Kauai from Port Allen.

Any thoughts or advise is appreciated.

 

[AquamanKauai]

Aloha Grant

Generally speaking I always suggest 24 after Niihau as I've always been on the conservative side. That being said the suggested time out is 18 hours after a trip/diving of this nature and timing. Additionally, in terms of your "out of the water time" - divers are usually out of the water well before 3:45. I don't know about Bubbles and how rigid they are but other companies also have allowed 3 tanks on trox for the extra benefit.

With Niihau being such a highlight trip another suggestion would be to book the trip as early on in the trip (Kauai portion) as possible. It's not often but should wind or swell be an issue causing cancellation of the charter late in the trip then you are out of luck. If a trip is cancelled early on - you still have the chance to rebook on a later date. Trips run every day of the week among the different companies.

Also, take the time to understand the dive plan among the different companies. Some companies have a more conservative approach to diving at Niihau. There's no real need in my humble opinion to dive real deep at Niihau and dives shouldn't "require" divers to hit 100ft on the first two dives. The majority of the highlights of the day are easily seen diving 70ft and above. Over that depth you can see more black coral, Tinker's Butterfly fish and Anthias - but pack on more nitrogen and potentially shorten dives. Bang for the buck in doing so is individually determined.

Anyway, I hope this helps a little. I'm excited for your chance to dive Niihau. If I can help with any other information regarding your trip feel free to message me.

Have a great week
A

 

[grantwiscour]

Thanks for all the great info and insight.
We would be feel dumb if either of us got bent on the short recovery...it'd be one of those where we knew better.
Straight out of the DAN magazine.

We'll do some looking at the dive companies.
We are excited about the trip. We'll get in a couple dives the day before the Ni'ihau trip.
After Kauai we'll be diving with friends South of Kona for eight days...I love summer.

 

[AquamanKauai]

Give some consideration to the Koloa Landing shore dive. It's an easy entry super critter intensive dive. With your experience you can be assured hour long + bottom times. Loaded with green sea turtles, scorpion fish, frogfish, leaf scorpions, endemic freckled snake eels, countless morays, octopus, and on and on...

Have fun planning - and YES!!!!! Summer is awesome!
A

 

[grantwiscour]

Koloa Landing is our plan. We did a couple self guided shore dives back in January 2016.
It'd be a good easy to place for a salt-water weight check...we like the long bottom time and found a few turtles.
The rock kind of all alone straight out seems to be a favorite spot for the local fish and turtles.

The planning is half my fun...I've gotta get back off Hawaii and do a little work.
Dive talkin' is always better than work.

 

[tphelps]

Honestly it depends on your personal tolerances for DCI. 18 hours is certainly within the accepted time interval. Ni'ihau is an epic spot and you guys will probably end up going deeper along the sheer walls. But it sounds like you are taking steps to mitigate the risks like diving nitrox, stay well hydrated, etc.

Personally, if it was the only time I could dive Ni'ihau, I would do it, just in the way you described. But if there was a way to dive it earlier, opting to do that might be a better option and save Koloa landing for your last diving day. Koloa is another great spot, keep your eyes out for dragon morays, it remains to be the only place in the whole archipelago I've been able to see them consistently.

Have a great trip, aloha!

 

[grantwiscour]

Give some consideration to the Koloa Landing shore dive. It's an easy entry super critter intensive dive. With your experience you can be assured hour long + bottom times. Loaded with green sea turtles, scorpion fish, frogfish, leaf scorpions, endemic freckled snake eels, countless morays, octopus, and on and on...

Have fun planning - and YES!!!!! Summer is awesome!
A

Thanks for all the good info...

Do any of the Dive Ops have larger tanks available? I can always use the benefit of a larger tank...I'm 6'4" and 265#. I use a bit more air than most others.

 

[boulderjohn]

It's been 8 years since I was there, but I remember it well. I did the dive with Bubbles Below and had a great time.

In case you are bored and would like to read a trip report, here it is:
Ni'ihau Trip Report

 

[grantwiscour]

Seasport Divers and Fathom Five both offer 100 cf tanks.

 

[AquamanKauai]

Thanks for all the good info...

Do any of the Dive Ops have larger tanks available? I can always use the benefit of a larger tank...I'm 6'4" and 265#. I use a bit more air than most others.

All of the dive Ops here offer larger tanks as far as I am aware. At least all the Niihau groups. Nitrox 100's are available from 2 of the 3 as well. No reason you shouldn't be able to dive 100's. If you get a different reply....your probably not going with the right group. It's a lot of money for that AMAZING trip and you should be able to maximize your bottom time. For that matter - your guide / shop should do everything they can to ensure you maximize your bottom time and experience there!

A