Hawaii Wrap Up, Part 3: Diving





Sea turtle off Kauai

Allison and I visited the Hawaiian Islands from late January through early February.  During that visit, I made a total of 11 dives on 6 dive trips off the Big Island of Hawaii and Kauai.

Ornate butterflyfish off the Big Island

Like the islands themselves, the dive sites off the Big Island and Kauai are each wonderful but quite different.  On the Big Island I dove sites off the Kohala Coast.  The reefs in that area are characterized by dramatic lava formations heavily encrusted with colorful coral.

Swimming through a lava tube off the Big Island 

My dives on the Big Island were arranged with Kohala Divers, an excellent small dive shop located in Kawaihae Harbor.  All of the dives were made off of the M/V KOHALA DIVER, with anywhere from a few to more than a dozen other divers.

The M/V KOHALA DIVER in Kawaihae Harbor

Generally we took two dives on each trip.  We would consume one tank diving at a site, return to the boat for a "surface interval" of approximately one hour, then finish the trip with a second dive at another site.  The only exception was my first day of diving when heavy swells, high wind and low underwater visibility led the dive master to call off our second dive.

Preparing for a dive on board the M/V KOHALA DIVER

A real treat on both the Big Island and Kauai was the opportunity to observe migrating humpback whales from the dive boats.

Breaching humpback whale off the Big Island

Our dive masters were very familiar with the marine life at the various dive sites, pointing out many beautiful and unusual fish and other organisms.

Spotted moray eel off the Big Island

Hawaii's endemic marine species are a major attraction for divers; more than 20% of the fish species seen in Hawaii are found nowhere else in the world.



Raccoon butterflyfish off the Big Island

On Kauai I dove with Seasport Divers, a popular dive shop based in Poipu on the island's south side.  We dove off Seasport's boat the M/V ANELA KAI ("Sea Angel"). 



Sheraton Caverns off Kauai

Like the Big Island, Kauai's dive sites are populated by a wide variety of marine species.  However, there were some noticeable differences between the two islands. 

 

Sheraton Caverns off Kauai

Kauai also has reefs composed of lava formations, but there is less coral on Kauai's south side.  Instead, the sites in that area are characterized by jumbled boulders and complicated structures such as caverns, tunnels and canyons.

Sea turtle off Kauai

Sea turtles seem to find these structures irresistible, and we saw many on our dives off Kauai.  Often we would find large sea turtles sleeping in crevices among the boulders and caverns.  



Sheraton Caverns off Kauai

Like the sea turtles, divers also find these structures irresistible!  With all of their hidden nooks and crannies filled with fish, turtles and other marine life, the dive sites off Kauai were a wonderful underwater playground.



Y'all come back real soon!