Kauai diving late May '24

[seaj]

My family will be in Princeville for a week this May and I'm looking for guidance on good dive operators on the island. My wife and two sons are OW with limited experience diving (primarily S Fla). I've trained to DM and categorize myself a competent diver. Wife and boys will dive one or two days, tops. Depending on feedback I may make the trip over near Ni'ihau. With that background here are the questions:

1) Are there any shore dives wirh reasonable vis and sea life?
2) Is there a "must see" site and what operator would you recommend?
3) Any thoughts on the dive trips over Ni'ihau?
4) Operator recommendations?

I know that's really subjective, but with the time constraints and available options, it would be great to hit the highlights.

Thanks for any thoughts you take the time to share!

 

[TheScubaDirectory]

Here's a list of shore dives you could check out:
Kauai Shore Dives

 

[GlenElectronic]

I've been to Kauai a dozen times. The best shore diving is Tunnels Reef. Lots of turtles, lava tubes and depending on the season seals. Tunnels beach is one of the best on the island so pack a lunch and drinks to stay the entire day. Parking can be a problem if you don't go early in the day. Summertime only as the North shore gets huge wave action in the winter. There are no diver operators on the North Shore. You will need to rent equipment from someone on the East or South side. Would be best if there was a guided dive at tunnels that you could reserve through a dive shop. Then they deliver the equipment to the location.

The trip to Ni'ihau is fantastic (I've done three times) as the marine life has very little exposure to humans. Seals will swim right up to you and you typically get larger fish & turtles. Everything is monochromatic underwater so set your expectations to different shades of grey (no colorful soft corals).

Seas Sport Divers does the trips weekly based on weather & reservations. (you need to have over 30 dives logged to do this trip or advanced certification) The boat ride to Ni'ihau is long (85 miles and one way is 1'45" to 3' based on weather) and depending on the wind direction seas can be rough.......be prepared and take sea sickness medication prior to getting on the boat. And if your staying in Princeville you will have to get up very early in the morning to drive to the South side of the Island (Poipu) to get your gear at Sea Sports Divers at 6am and go to the marina for departure.

Here is a go-pro video I made in 2012 of one of my Ni'ihau trips

 

[jonhall]

Will piggyback onto previous posts. Most dive ops and dive sites are on the south side of the island in Koloa/Poipu - about a 1+ hr drive from Princeville. Nice link from @TheScubaDirectory. A consideration will be getting to a dive shop in the morning during rush hour, plus through any construction there may be. The drive itself isn't bad though - we dove from Kapaa which was about ½ hr drive.

A popular shore dive is Koloa Landing. Good for 2 dives as you can go East and West - both about an hour dive with a max of 45-48 ft. Be sure to wear booties as you have to wade/swim out to a buoy before donning fins and it is a rocky bottom. The only shore dive close to you is at Tunnels Beach. Because of its location, as I recall, the op may meet you there with gear. It runs on the high side - Fathom FiveDivers charges $185 for 2 dives there. May is the beginning of the season when that site is dived, so weather dependent.

The Niihau trip is a whole day affair (10-11 hrs) and also weather dependent. That trips season also begins in May. Cost is ~$400+ per diver. As mentioned by @GlenElectronic it is a long boat ride and can be rough waters. I was told by a DM that there was someone - maybe a dive op - on the SW side of island that used a RHIB and could cross much faster than the boats most dive ops use - not sure if that's true or not but that would be even a longer drive for you.

Fathom Five is a good op, but, this from a Fathom Five DM, all of the ops are good. FF had good communication and DM's were really good. Other than seeing a humpback whale about 50 yards away on my first dive (a definite highlight as the whales were supposed to be gone in April), I don't recall or have any notes about anything else being special about the diving. Saw some large frogfish on the Koloa Landing shore dives.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Rick Brant]

Both Fathom Five and Scott Bacon/Kauai Scuba Adventures lead dives at Tunnels. There is no way a visitor could dive Tunnels without a guide and expect to see much. I have dived that site 20+ times and still do not have it wired. Fathom, KSA, SeaSport, Dive Kauai -- they are all great IMO.

Tunnels and Koloa Landing are very different dives. The Landing has a ton of wildlife. I have counted 50+ different species in a single dive many times. You will see turtles for sure and once in a while something unusual will turn up. It is also a very easy entry and exit and is not very deep. Tunnels on the other hand has very little wildflife, but does have cool lava tubes to explore. Much more about the topography than the wildlife.

Niihau would be for you only. It is deeper diving and I think any operator will ask for AoW and lots of dives. You must book this in advance although May is not usually that busy.

 

[seaj]

Wow, thanks to each of you for the time you took sharing all that great information! I'm encouraged that the shore dives are worth the time for the family and that Ni'ihau will be a good adventure for me! I'm sure my wife and the boys will find something to do that day;-) Now it's time to start calling shops and getting dives on the calendar!

Thank you again for all your help!

 

[bperc]

Wow, thanks to each of you for the time you took sharing all that great information! I'm encouraged that the shore dives are worth the time for the family and that Ni'ihau will be a good adventure for me! I'm sure my wife and the boys will find something to do that day;-) Now it's time to start calling shops and getting dives on the calendar!

Thank you again for all your help!

I did the Ni'ihau dive last August with Fathom Five and it is amazing.
Another great dive operator is Explore Kauai Scuba. They are a husband and wife team. I have gone out with them several times and they are wonderful. If you want another amazing dive go with them to Mana Crack. It's on the Napili Coast.

 

[AquamanKauai]

Excited for you and your upcoming trip. Looks like you are already getting some good leads. Of important note - Tunnels is no longer available to dive commercially. This is new this summer as no permits were issued for diving to any commercial operators (at least not from shore). It is quite possible that this will be long term or permanent. Due to the nature of the diving it's not suggested to dive it without a guide which I am hoping doesn't lead to issues up there. Anyway, I did want to pass this on to you right away as it will likely mean you will be driving south for all your diving. Koloa Landing was also devastated last week with very heavy rains/flooding. We're in the early stages of assessing how bad it is underwater but it will take some time to return to normal. I you'd like to use me as a resource for conditions please feel free especially as your trip gets closer. I've been diving here professionally for over 20 years so I'm close to the situation daily. Sorry to pile on the tough news - it's been a very tough week or so from boat and shore alike. The boat will certainly have cleared from this event by your arrival.

Niihau is simply amazing. The first charters are going next week and all the companies are excited for the season to begin. While it's not anywhere near as far as I saw in a previous post ... it is a long day for sure and precautions for seasickness are prudent if you've EVER had your sea legs fail you. It's heartbreaking to see what could have been a day of awesome diving memories ruined by people be sick and stuck on the boat for 10 or more hours. While it makes for a long trip coming from the north shore - countless divers make the early am drive. A couple of the boats go out of their way to make sure once you board you can relax and or even sleep in a bean bag chair or Tommy Bahama beach chair. The trips over are generally just fine as if there is any morning wind it is at your back for the crossing. Encounters with the critically endangered monk seal are very common and incredible. Sandbar sharks, gray and whitetip reef sharks are common. Rays, knifejaws, endemic Lionfish, dolphin, Bluefin Trevally ..... you'll be stoked if the Sea-stars align (sorry, couldn't help it) and you can make this trip.

I think you'll be impressed by the professionalism and quality of DM's and Captain's on some of these operations with many of the crew being in Hawaii for long periods of time and still being very passionate about what they do.

If you are looking to get the family excited about what they may see underwater take a look at marinelifephotography.com. We have the highest endemic ratio of fish anywhere in the world! The turtle encounters in Kauai are numerous and unforgettable. Some of our "Honu" are well over 250 pounds! You'll also see numerous octopus, moray eels and fantastic nudibranchs.

Probably getting a little long winded, but I'm replying to my first several Niihau inquiries this week. It's also fun trying to help out divers with their plans. Feel free to send me a PM if I can help you out with anything further. Best wishes with your planning and upcoming visit to Kauai!
Cheers, A

 

[jonhall]

Even though I don't have plans to return to Kauai in the near future, how nice to have a reference like @AquamanKauai willing to share his knowledge and the current conditions on the island!