tunnels kauai

[Alon J adelson]

hi,

so i'll be headed to kauai (with my gf whom also dives)in april.
i want to do some shore diving in kauai.
I was wondering if I can just rent a cylinder and weights or should I get a guide?
I have a cmas 2 star + nitrox but just started diving again after a long break.
did do a refresher and dove in jamaica recently

any feed back would be appreciated

 

[choiahoy]

Tunnels would be really hard to dive without a company: the parking is about a quarter mile walk from the entrance; there's quite a walk from the entrance to the beach (someone with the dive shop used a cart to lug our gear down); and the site itself is not the easiest to navigate. I would recommend getting a guide.

Koloa Landing on the south of the island would be an option for independent shore dives.

 

[diversteve]

I agree^ - Tunnels is actually near/in a neighborhood. Plus several of the Tunnels are harder to find. If you want to dive it, Paulette at Fathom Five is arguably the local expert. afaik, they're the shop with the cart.

I agree about Koloa Landing - it's in Poipu and both Fathom Five and Seasport Divers are nearby. We rented tanks from Searport - about 10mins drive to the landing. It's a simple entry down the old boat ramp but a little slick. You should see some interesting stuff out there and it's not very deep.

Both shops also keep boats nearby.

IMO skip Lydgate Beach it;s really shallow. The local fishermen had Ahukini closed some years ago to divers - not sure of the current status.

Sheraton Caverns is an interesting boat dive - collapsed lava tube swim-thru's and big green turtles live there. We also liked Fast Lanes.

 

[Alon J adelson]

i saw a report that koloa landing is highly polluted

 

[diversteve]

i saw a report that koloa landing is highly polluted

From what? There's no industry there that I'm aware of.

 

[jonhall]

i saw a report that koloa landing is highly polluted

Do you know where the report is or have a link to it?

 

[choiahoy]

Do you know where the report is or have a link to it?

I read the same thing...of course, after several days of diving there. Apparently, the pollutants are from the stream there.

BWTF (Water Quality Monitoring)

Take care at Koloa Landing - The Garden Island

 

[jonhall]

Sounds like all of the diving needs to be boat dives away from the coast.

 

[diversteve]

eeewww - it really is a brown plume...lol

 

[Rooster59]

From Choiahoy's links above, this map is highly useful

Blue Water Task Force (Map)