Well, do tell, what lies past the third finger north? Went out to three tables with DO this weekend. Good dive, I think I'm liking Sharks Cove the best out of the three dives right there though so far. I'm know I haven't seen it all though so I probably just need to explore some more out there. Very pretty dive though and I had a great time with Dive Oahu. Great group of people and the staff was really friendly too.
cavern/cave diving on Oahu
- Thread starter murfef
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Black_3000psi
Guest
well charlie (surf and sea charlie) went out that way once there are some massive caves, some tubes some huge over hang areas.but we didnt go past that third finger. so im thinking,maybe using a 120 from the shop (Aloha Scuba Divers) and packing an extra 80, it would have to be a weekday for me and soon as i dont think this weather is going to hold up much longer and the waves will start coming in.
Not sure what is the "3rd finger" either. Is it Kulahua Point? (Just beyond that point, on the dry shelf, are several large boulders known as "Pele's followers".) I've been around the point to Pupukea Beach but never ventured more than about 50m from shore. All the way to Pupukea Beach, there's only a fairly shallow shelf. There may be more tubes and caverns in the deeper water beyond. I don't know.
The only big cavern that immediately comes to mind, and everybody knows about, is the one just before Kulalua Pt. Using GoogleEarth, the coordinates of the cavern are approx. lat. 21.654363, lon. -158.063473. Back in the day, the cavern was choked lousy with lobsters; spiny, slipper, Hawaiian Reef. Harlequin shrimps, too. The deep recesses in the cavern roof might still have a few that haven't been blasted by exhaust bubbles. (Other large tubes are at: 21.652781/-158.062910, 21.652446/-158.062954, 21.652135/-158.062434)
Current toward Waimea Bay can be a problem outside the lee of Kulahua Pt. One plan is to start the dive at Pupukea Beach. Drive (or walk if you're sturdy enough or don't want to risk your car locks being punched) past Shark's Cove, take any left onto Ke Iki Road, backtrack toward the Cove, and there's a public right-of-way leading to the corner of Pupukea Beach and the limestone shelf. Start there and drift back toward the Cove. Figuring out where to break the turn into the Cove can be a problem; popping up for look will help. That's one reason why I never got too far offshore; I'd keep oriented by contouring along the shelf.
The only big cavern that immediately comes to mind, and everybody knows about, is the one just before Kulalua Pt. Using GoogleEarth, the coordinates of the cavern are approx. lat. 21.654363, lon. -158.063473. Back in the day, the cavern was choked lousy with lobsters; spiny, slipper, Hawaiian Reef. Harlequin shrimps, too. The deep recesses in the cavern roof might still have a few that haven't been blasted by exhaust bubbles. (Other large tubes are at: 21.652781/-158.062910, 21.652446/-158.062954, 21.652135/-158.062434)
Current toward Waimea Bay can be a problem outside the lee of Kulahua Pt. One plan is to start the dive at Pupukea Beach. Drive (or walk if you're sturdy enough or don't want to risk your car locks being punched) past Shark's Cove, take any left onto Ke Iki Road, backtrack toward the Cove, and there's a public right-of-way leading to the corner of Pupukea Beach and the limestone shelf. Start there and drift back toward the Cove. Figuring out where to break the turn into the Cove can be a problem; popping up for look will help. That's one reason why I never got too far offshore; I'd keep oriented by contouring along the shelf.
sounds like I just need to get together with you guys and let you show me around. LOL Had a great dive last night at 3 tables. Very nice. I hope the weather holds out too. I keep wanting to try Electric Beach but everyone keeps saying "just hold off, soon enough it'll be one of the only places to dive". Not sure how true that is but........just the same, I'm holding off and hitting the North Shore as much as possible.
Black_3000psi
Guest
yeah thats kind of true though I heard tales of some dive windward side but they aint passive dives.
well, I guess I will hold off on E beach for sure then until I can't dive N Shore anymore. I keep hearing everyone say "last week, last week" when is it gonna be the last week? I guess it probably varies a little every year. It's kind of hard to imagine the waves being that big there, it's always so calm.
I saw a couple Youtube clips of it (keywords Shark's Cove and big surf) and they kind of give you the idea. But IMO, these were on the big-but-not-spectacular side. Or the clips missed the really big sets which can be almost a half hour apart. I've seen it when Waimea was reporting sets of 20+ft (Hawaiian style; 25+ft faces normal style). Fangs-out but not consistent enough for the Eddie.
Put it this way: The waves are hissing and curling in way, way over head high, over the highest walls bordering the left side of the Cove. In the parking area front and center, as you stare at the oncoming wall of water, a voice inside says "Turn and run. NOW." But you're anchored like a deer in the headlights. The wave breaks inside, just about where you know the big tall boulders are. Thunder shakes the ground. The whitewater slams into the rocks just in front of the parking area. Drops and spray are going across the street. Looking toward the lagoon, waves hitting the outside shelf explode into walls of white 20+ft into the air. The lagoon is utterly obliterated by whitewash which reforms into secondary shorebreak-type waves that wash up to the wall along the driveway past the restrooms. A raging river's draining the lagoon. In front of the firehouse, maniacs are surfing double-overhead waves, driving to make the shoulder and kick out before being ground into crab food in the rocks. To the right side of the Cove, the huge limestone shelf is completely underwater; whitewater is foaming all the way in to pound against the concrete seawall in front of the houses. In the ocean outside of Kulalua Pt, visually halfway to the horizon, monster surf is breaking over a far 2nd reef which I think is called Cloudbreak (although that name's used for other remote breaks too). And of course, some yokels visiting from Hooterville want to get a "closer look" and don't catch on to everybody else standing way, WAY back. You're a bit torn between warning them or watching them get taken out of the gene pool. Fortunately, the lifeguard trucks are constantly cruising past, bellowing their bullhorns. And after all that, as you drive back toward Haleiwa, at danger close spots like Laniakea, you notice a debris line going completely across the road, pools of water on the other side, and a Civil Defense guy is there, maybe getting set to close the road. Healthy fear. That's the only word to describe it.
to be completely honest, you painted a very vivid picture for me there and it got me very excited to see it. I'm diving up there again this weekend, probably Sharks Cove this time. I want to get em in while I can. I was also thinking about practicing running reels out there, do you think it would cause any problem with OW divers getting hung in it or just cutting it because they don't know what it is.
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Surf News Network is predicting some pretty good surf up there this weekend; 3-5ft Sat, 6-12ft Sun.
There doesn't seem to be any MLCD rules against running lines. Probably nobody even thought about it. But the aesthetics of running line around in a marine reserve doesn't sound right.
Just a thought but why not practice at Ala Moana Beach Park? On the Diamond Head end, there are a line of large boulders, paralleling the shore, about midway to the reef, at about 15ft. Almost nobody knows they're there. But they're magnets for reef fish; you'd be surprised; butterflies, moorish idols, domino damsels, eels, assorted tangs, banded coral shrimp. Some really nice, branching lace coral too. One of the boulders is home for one of the two turtles in Ala Mo. Go about straight out from the guard tower to a bit less than midway to the reef, on the 15ft contour, and swim a search pattern; you'll pick one up fast. The rest (I found 5 but there maybe a few more) are roughly in a line parallel to shore. Good practice in limited viz; 10ft on a good day; a little more on a spectacular day. And if that's not enough, go at night.
There doesn't seem to be any MLCD rules against running lines. Probably nobody even thought about it. But the aesthetics of running line around in a marine reserve doesn't sound right.
Just a thought but why not practice at Ala Moana Beach Park? On the Diamond Head end, there are a line of large boulders, paralleling the shore, about midway to the reef, at about 15ft. Almost nobody knows they're there. But they're magnets for reef fish; you'd be surprised; butterflies, moorish idols, domino damsels, eels, assorted tangs, banded coral shrimp. Some really nice, branching lace coral too. One of the boulders is home for one of the two turtles in Ala Mo. Go about straight out from the guard tower to a bit less than midway to the reef, on the 15ft contour, and swim a search pattern; you'll pick one up fast. The rest (I found 5 but there maybe a few more) are roughly in a line parallel to shore. Good practice in limited viz; 10ft on a good day; a little more on a spectacular day. And if that's not enough, go at night.
bigblue_hi
Registered
I don't see a problem with running a line, especially if you were exploring the small caves. Granted there's usually good visibility and they're not particular dark but if you feel you want it.. do it. I dive with 160' on a finger spool for such occasions though I admit I seldom use it.
As murfef said, I'd be more concerned with some joker coming along and unhooking it or cutting it. Maybe if you put a tiny dive flag on the end people would realize what it is? As much as I complain about tourists at shark's cove I will miss the 'easy' factor of going there now the winter swells are kicking in.
As murfef said, I'd be more concerned with some joker coming along and unhooking it or cutting it. Maybe if you put a tiny dive flag on the end people would realize what it is? As much as I complain about tourists at shark's cove I will miss the 'easy' factor of going there now the winter swells are kicking in.
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