jonhall
Contributor
Stayed in Kapa’a (Kauai) the 2nd week of April. Kapa’a is on the east side of the island so there are some great sunrises to see. We stayed at the Pono Kai Resort which was pretty nice.
For the time of year we were there, the majority of dive sites being frequented were on the south side of the island. Tunnels Beach on the north side wasn't an option as the road that gets you there was closed due to heavy rains last year. Nihau which reportedly has the best diving is seasonal and a 7-9 hour day trip as the small island is ~17 miles from Kauai. The op we used wasn't making the trip while we were there. We were told that there is an op that takes a Zodiac to Nihau and can get there in ~45 minutes.
Fathom Five was the dive op we used. They are located in Koloa on the south side which was about a 30 minute drive from where we stayed in Kapa’a. Called them and set up 3 days of diving. You pay each day and get a discount for each day diving after the first. They take a maximum of 6 divers on their boat. provide snacks and drinks (and homemade chocolate chip cookies after the last dive), change over tanks during surface interval, rinse and store your gear, and provided a great 3 man crew on the boat.
On our very first dive we had had an encounter with a humpback whale. Sorry I could only get a crappy picture. It was by itself and circled around to take another look at us. We also saw a spotted eagle ray, turtles, and a variety of fish.
We opted to do a couple of shore dives from Koloa Landing on our last day of diving. There are east and west (or left and right) dives from the landing. Both sides go to about 45' deep. Having gotten used to taking my full foot fins on trips, I didn't have my boots and that was a mistake. One must walk out a ways before being able to swim and the bottom is covered in golfball to football sized rocks with small waves coming in to make things just a little more awkward. The DM told me the shop usually warns customers about the bottom, but they forgot to tell me, not that I would have done anything about it. I thought I broke a toe (fortunately coming in from our last dive), but the purple color went away after a few days.Saw quite a bit on these dives - titan and devil scorpion fish, dragon wrasse, dragon moray eel, a variety of fish, and a huge frogfish. Again my picture isn't great. My video light came apart before we left home, so I just took my camera. The light shining on the head of the frogfish is from the DM.
Topside, Kauai has a lot to offer. Luaus, botanical type tours, beaches, helicopter tours (which happen top be the only way to see the North shore right now due to road closure), hiking, and boat/catamaran trips. There is one helicopter company that has permission to land by a waterfall. Kauai has one of the wettest locations on earth, its own Grand Canyon (Waimea Canyon), and more waterfalls than you can believe.
A pretty good week was spent in Kauai and now I have a tale to tell about seeing a whale.
For the time of year we were there, the majority of dive sites being frequented were on the south side of the island. Tunnels Beach on the north side wasn't an option as the road that gets you there was closed due to heavy rains last year. Nihau which reportedly has the best diving is seasonal and a 7-9 hour day trip as the small island is ~17 miles from Kauai. The op we used wasn't making the trip while we were there. We were told that there is an op that takes a Zodiac to Nihau and can get there in ~45 minutes.
Fathom Five was the dive op we used. They are located in Koloa on the south side which was about a 30 minute drive from where we stayed in Kapa’a. Called them and set up 3 days of diving. You pay each day and get a discount for each day diving after the first. They take a maximum of 6 divers on their boat. provide snacks and drinks (and homemade chocolate chip cookies after the last dive), change over tanks during surface interval, rinse and store your gear, and provided a great 3 man crew on the boat.
On our very first dive we had had an encounter with a humpback whale. Sorry I could only get a crappy picture. It was by itself and circled around to take another look at us. We also saw a spotted eagle ray, turtles, and a variety of fish.
We opted to do a couple of shore dives from Koloa Landing on our last day of diving. There are east and west (or left and right) dives from the landing. Both sides go to about 45' deep. Having gotten used to taking my full foot fins on trips, I didn't have my boots and that was a mistake. One must walk out a ways before being able to swim and the bottom is covered in golfball to football sized rocks with small waves coming in to make things just a little more awkward. The DM told me the shop usually warns customers about the bottom, but they forgot to tell me, not that I would have done anything about it. I thought I broke a toe (fortunately coming in from our last dive), but the purple color went away after a few days.Saw quite a bit on these dives - titan and devil scorpion fish, dragon wrasse, dragon moray eel, a variety of fish, and a huge frogfish. Again my picture isn't great. My video light came apart before we left home, so I just took my camera. The light shining on the head of the frogfish is from the DM.
Topside, Kauai has a lot to offer. Luaus, botanical type tours, beaches, helicopter tours (which happen top be the only way to see the North shore right now due to road closure), hiking, and boat/catamaran trips. There is one helicopter company that has permission to land by a waterfall. Kauai has one of the wettest locations on earth, its own Grand Canyon (Waimea Canyon), and more waterfalls than you can believe.
A pretty good week was spent in Kauai and now I have a tale to tell about seeing a whale.
