Why is Niihau one of the top dive destinations in Hawaii?

[evilclown]

What in particular makes it so special? Is it the seals? Fish variety, number, coral, topography???
What is the best time of the year to go?
If i'm already in kona, should i hop on over?
thanks

 

[diversteve]

This explains it better than I can: SEASPORT DIVERS #1 on Kauai and Niihau - Scuba dive on Kauai and Niihau, Shore Dives, Boat Dives, and Nitrox.

If you "hop over" now, it would be a waste of time, the boats don't start making the trip over till late spring.

 

[beasleym]

Niihau is inhabited by only a few local hawaiins. It's a long run out and even in the best of weather it can get really choppy (deep water and nothing stopping the waves for thousands of miles). From that you should take away that it's a full day trip and you can be really uncomfortable on the return leg back. This from someone that's been out a lot. There's just nothing worse than 4-7 breaking waves for 4 hours continuous to make you uncomfortable.

That also means not a lot of people around, literally no pollution, or people fishing out the area. That in turn means crystal clear water (as in seeing the bottom at 125 feet with no problem), and lots of varied and big wildlife. It means you will also be doing drift diving and, if anything goes wrong, you are a long way from anywhere.

My point is that this can be a wonderful experience, but like anything else there's flip side. As long as you are mentally and physically prepared to get there and do the dive you will likely have a fantastic trip. If you aren't you will likely be at least uncomfortable and maybe at risk. Perhaps not as much a risk as here in the northwest at times, but even paradise can have its surprises.

 

[nematoid]

Niihau is all that and more. Its seasonal , May through October. The trip over takes an hour and a half...easy crossing. The trip back can take 2 hours and on some boats alot of banging. I have dove Palau and Niihau is still on the top of my list. No risk if you go with a reputable company. They will cancel if the conditions are not safe. There are great drift dives but not all the sites have current. Again its worthwhile to get with an experienced dive company to fully enjoy Niihau.

 

[smellzlikefish]

In short, see this thread:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hawaii-ohana/270050-todays-haul-five-caves-will-never-end.html

Less fishing, less tourism, fewer people means more pristine reefs. It is the closest you will get to the northwestern Hawaiian Islands without actually going, so you still have a lot of the big predators and rare fish that have vanished from the lower islands.

 

[AquamanKauai]

The chance to reply to this makes it feel like X-mas morning!

As a DM who has led many dives out at Niihau/Lehua I could make a long list of reasons that I feel that Niihau is unreal-fantastic-unique-jaw dropping-must do-unforgettable diving!

The diving at Niihau/Lehua gives you the opportunity to have multiple encounters with the Hawaiian monk seal! Monk seals are one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world, so this is an amazing opportunity. They have very curious behaviors and respond/react to divers very differently than they do on Kauai were they are occasionally seen underwater. It is not uncommon to have a seal(s) with you for 75% of the dive or more.

A combination of things also bring many other large critters to the area. This past season large Galapagos sharks were a highlight on many of the trips. Gray sharks and whitetips are very common and the gray sharks are often seen in groups. Hammerheads are spotted time to time along with blacktips, sandbar sharks, and an rare tiger or two over the course of the season. Mantas and eagle rays are also common to see along with both spinner dolphins and bottlenose. While it is a summer dive - if you get a early run in May it is possible to catch some of the last Humpback whales of the year. Other critters I have seen include the Hawaiian Grouper, sailfish, marlin (1), lagerhead turtles (2), TINKERS BUTTERFLY FISH!! the list goes on...oh, and giant Ulua's (trevally/jack) are amazing!

Critters over there on the whole just seem to be a diver rewarding combination of curious and territorial. Remember, they dont get to see divers very often.

All this and I haven't mentioned reef animals. If you can somehow look down and not out into the blue (I have a real problem with this) you will see countless eels, octopus, nudibranchs, flatworms, cleaner shrimp, banded coral shrimp, red lionfish... It is a naturalists dream location! Any photographer will also think they went to heaven.

Topography is pretty spectacular and the vis' is consistently well over 100ft though mother nature does occasionally throw a curve ball Niihau's way. The "Niihau Arches" dive in particular can be lower vis but still gets you into some 8-12 caves/archways/caverns that you'll ever see in Hawaii. The black coral and longnose hawkfish are incredible inside - along with ghost shrimp, sponge crabs and much more.

As far as the travel to and from Niihau it can be rough but not always. You can sleep on the way over it is usually so calm so that isn't an issue. Coming back can be a kicker but this past season was actually very mellow and I only had 3 rough crossings the whole season. I am not making light of the trip as it is a long day on the ocean with a long trip home - but as a California diver it isn't much different than some trips you may have made to Catalina or Channel islands.

Hope this helps. If I can help anyone with any Niihau questions I am more than happy to do so.

Have a good one! Aloha

 

[discdogs]

I concur w/ AquamanKauai.

We were greeted by a Monk Seal and on the last dive were in a cave w/ over 16 lobsters (I quit counting there were so many).

The ride to is great and the ride home is pretty bad, but the joy of the dives overpowers my recollection of how bad the ride home was.

I had over 200 dives in the 2.5 years I lived in Hawaii (only place I had ever dove at the time) and I thought Niihau was the best dives I ever went on.

 

[ae3753]

Niihau is the best diving I've done in Hawaii (Kona, Maui, and Kauai), and easily ranks in the top open water dives. Rough return crossing, but worth it. Even the surface intervals we were treated with pods of dolphins, migrating whales, and amazing views.

Here's some video to add to everyone's descriptions:
Monk Seal at Niihau:


Niihau Arches:

 

[AquamanKauai]

Going out of Port Allen will save you over 1 hour on the round trip which is a consideration as well. That is probably worthy of note at least. The best suggestion I can give to anyone is to make sure you are going with experienced crew. Some guides can offer between 5-15+ years of Niihau diving experience!! Ryan with Sea Sports is a great guide who has at least 5 seasons of leading tours there and I can say he is GREAT! Joe at Bubbles Below has a number of years as well and is a first class DM with great knowledge. Linda of course (also Bubbles) is the most experienced DM/Instructor actively leading tours at Niihau. At almost $300 per diver you should be able to request and get one of these DM's.

 

[REFLECTIONPOOL]

Niihau is great diving for all the reasons you mention and more. I would encourage you to go with Bubbles Below as well. It's the shortest trip with the most experienced Niihau DM's on the island. Linda knows more sites than anyone out at Lehua/Niihau partly because she was partially responsible for finding most of them - but also because she takes time with crew to explore and find new sites out there each year! I also agree with the previous posts in regards to experience going a long way in terms of safety. Diving remote sites like this requires lots of knowledge that only years of experience can get you. Niihau "can" have very challenging conditions/currents etc. It's good to be with someone who knows how to go off the beaten path and develope a new game plan on the fly when Niihau's usual sites are not diveable.