Diving on South shore Kauai

[verycoldmonkey]

I was wondering what are good spots to dive at at on the south shore in Kauai. (Preferably in February)

[fisheater]

Shore: Koloa Landing

Boat: Wherever they take you. (Not being snarky. It's just that the dive ops will take you where the conditions are best that day. They don't go to pre-announced destinations that time of year.)

[diversteve]

Sheraton Caverns is the signature dive in the area. Fast Lanes was a good dive also.

[rromero2]

I have to agree with Koala Landing. We dove this area everyday for one week and saw lots of things. Easy entry, boat ramp, even had carpet on it. This is also just minutes from a dive shop that we got our air tanks from.

[cbm32]

In my experience Koloa Landing was just ok. Sheraton Caverns was great! But then I love diving with the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles.

[AquamanKauai]

With the right guide I think you'd find Koloa Landing a fantastic dive. I dove there this am and it was great. We saw several octopus, an endemic Hawaiian Lionfish, numerous green sea turtles, harlequin shrimp, bandit angelfish, spotted eagle ray....

Feel free to pm me with specific questions and I'll be happy to help you out with anything I can...

[vancouverdiver]

Hi there!
I am coming to kauai in March, but can probably only go diving 1 day - 2 dives. I'm an experienced active diver. With limited time, is Koloa landing better than Sheraton? Like the idea of a shore dive as I don't particularly like going on cattle boats unless the boat dive site is by far superior. By chance, anyone diving 3/20-3/22 that I can buddy up with? Thanks, you can pm me if you are available.

[fisheater]

You'll get the most from your dives with a professional guide.

I don't need any hand or gear holding either. However, I was VERY please to have hired Fathom Five to guide me at Koloa Landing. Their briefings and critter spotting are tremendous. For instance, on my first dive there, DM Seth told me about fish behavior that I would see on the dive BEFORE it happened. Then, as the various species did their thing, he could simply point it out.

No way I would have noticed, let alone understood, what was happening and why.

In addition, many of the great local critters are rather cryptic. You have to know where and what to look for.

[halems]

If you want Sheraton, go on a boat. Check out Bubbles Below. Both of their boats are small and they run an excellent operation. I have been diving with them for the past 6-7 years.

[vancouverdiver]

Thanks guys.

[AquamanKauai]

You might find Bubbles less likely to travel all the way up to the caverns so I would check with them if you have your heart set on the caverns. That'd be closer to 20min or more as opposed to the 5 minutes for the other boats. They have a signature turtle dive called Hale O Honu closer to their harbor. I'd say that Koloa is every bit as fantastic as the Caverns but for different reasons. Both have great turtle activity but from there they are simply very different sites. Personally I think it's very hard to beat a personalized tour at the landing with all the incredible life that is there. We are experiencing a extensive period of rain and runoff currently so I hope everything has recovered for you by the time you arrive. If you want to drop a pm as it gets closer so I can provide you with an honest report on conditions. I just had some friends have a terrible experience with one of the companies that led them to believe the diving would be good when EVERYONE else had cancelled knowing it was going to be terrible diving.
Anyway, If you want to save some time you can probably get two tanks in at Koloa at a reasonable pace and also save an hour or even two off your boat time.

Have a great day

[halems]

Thanks guys.

If you want to shore dive Koloa Landing, I am in Kauai on vacation those days and would love a buddy. Let me know.

[vancouverdiver]

Since we hadn't been to Kauai before, we wound up sight seeing, hiking etc, and I didn't dive. I did manage to get some dives in Oahu and it was a lot of fun!

[halems]

The rains early in the month caused so much silt runoff that Koloa wasn't really ideal diving for the whole two weeks. Did both Sheraton Caverns and Hale O Honu with Bubbles Below. Sheraton has the more interesting topography, but Hale O Honu had more turtles. I saw as many as 10 at one time and one of my pictures has seven visible.

Overall, it wasn't the best diving I have had on Kauai due to the silt. Even when the waters were fairly clear, one fin touch on the bottoms and the silt was up and flying again.



You might find Bubbles less likely to travel all the way up to the caverns so I would check with them if you have your heart set on the caverns. That'd be closer to 20min or more as opposed to the 5 minutes for the other boats. They have a signature turtle dive called Hale O Honu closer to their harbor. I'd say that Koloa is every bit as fantastic as the Caverns but for different reasons. Both have great turtle activity but from there they are simply very different sites. Personally I think it's very hard to beat a personalized tour at the landing with all the incredible life that is there. We are experiencing a extensive period of rain and runoff currently so I hope everything has recovered for you by the time you arrive. If you want to drop a pm as it gets closer so I can provide you with an honest report on conditions. I just had some friends have a terrible experience with one of the companies that led them to believe the diving would be good when EVERYONE else had cancelled knowing it was going to be terrible diving.
Anyway, If you want to save some time you can probably get two tanks in at Koloa at a reasonable pace and also save an hour or even two off your boat time.

Have a great day

[Ouvea]

Hi Guys:

I'll be there in May and will be staying at the Prince Kuhio. Would you have any recommendation for beach dives? From the beach, I'll forgo my scuba gear and just freedive. Any special precautions? I lived in the South Pacific mean years ago and the island was very well protected by the surround barrier reef. In addition, most beaches were sheltered by a protective reef. Will I find such topography in Kauai or is fairly exposed?

Claude