shore diving in Hawaii and Kauai

[akscuba]

I'm heading to the Big Island and Kauai with my bf in December, and we're trying to figure out the most economical way to do the best dives possible.

One question is--when people say that shore diving on Kauai isn't great--what do they mean? Is this in comparison to Big Island/Maui diving? Would people say it is better or worse than shore diving in southern CA? MA shore diving?

We heard that we need to pretty much stay to the south. We found a couple sites there--can people tell us if they are worth going to-and if so, how many times we can reasonably dive there in one trip w/o being bored? Here they are:

Koloa Landing
Prince Kuhio
Lawai Beach
East Landing
Poipu Beach
Brennecke Beach

Also, our Hawaii dive book talks about a few southern boat dives, all near Poipu: General Store, Sheraton Caverns, and Brennecke's Ledges (is this different from Brennecke Beach?)--are these *absolutely* boat dives, or can they be done by shore? And, are these the sites that the local dive ops (Bubbles Below, Fathom Five, etc) go to? Or do they do to other places not near Poipu?

Finally, how much better is boat diving on the Big Island than on Kauai (in Dec)? And how much better is shore diving there as well?

Thanks very much for the help!!!!

ps-also, can anyone recommend shore diving spots in Hawaii? We're also trying to decide where to go there...

 

[REFLECTIONPOOL]

Whew! Lots of great questions. First of all the Big Island diving and diving on Kauai are very very very different. The Big island and Kauai both have wonderful diving without question. The Big Islands waters are much calmer especially in terms of the boat diving. The Manta dive there is world class and not to be missed. You'll talk about it for as long as you dive - or talk about diving. Kauai's waters are rougher in part because the primary diving is on the south shore and "not" in leeward waters. In simple terms this means that if the trades are blowing you are not sheltered from them. Kauai is also primarily an algae reef. That is what drives the ecology there. This means fewer corals than the other islands. Still the same species of hard corals just not in the same abundance.

You will find that the diving on Kauai is limited in terms of shore. I've dove Koloa landing many times though and think it is great! Max depth of about 50ft and a truck load of awesome critters! Make sure you get an experienced guide though. New instructors are often assigned to Koloa as they are learning Kauai's waters. With a little research and creativity you can find an instructor there that has dove the landing hundreds of times and can show you what really makes the site great. You can easily do 3-4 dives there before seeing it all - or thinking you have.

If you have time look at Fathom Five divers in Koloa. I've dove with them for years and they are great! Real small personalized groups and they really take care of there divers. If you send an email to Anthony there he will send you all the info you could ever need on the islands diving. Fathomfive.com is the site.

Oh, and the sites you mentioned are mostly snorkel spots to be honest in terms of the shore stuff. Koloa, Tunnels and Ahukini are the only spots regularly dove.

Big island diving is usually very easy and sooooo wonderful. I'll let some others with more experience there explain - but with the deep drop offs surrounding the island the waters are often the clearest of all the main islands. Just dont miss the manta dive!

Sheraton Caverns and Turtle Bluffs are not to be missed if you boat dive. They are two of the frequented sites by Fathom Five and SeaSports. Boat out of Port Allen go there sometimes as well but the trips are much much longer and can be rough if the seas are grumpy.

Boats out of Poipu/Koloa are great since they have around 20( I think ) dive sites that are within 10-15 minutes from the harbor.

hope this helps - contact Fathom Five and Anthony. You'll be glad you did.

RP