Lana'i diving

[divnmyk]

Hello all.
I've been diving in Maui on more than one occasion, but this trip, my buddy and I are going out to Lana'i. Would love to see Cathedrals but here's the catch. Since the wives are going, we didn't want to spend all day on a boat dive. Is cathedrals too far of a surface swim. For what it's worth, we're used to surface swims in Monterey, Pt. Lobos and Monastery beach in Carmel. So if anyone is familiar with those areas, you know what kind of surface swim I'm talking about.
Thanks for any advice.
Mike

 

[KrisB]

You might be able to swim it (well, first cathedrals), but I'm not aware of any dive ops on Lanai from which you could rent gear (eg tanks).

 

[diversteve]

You're going to have to swim from the south end of Hulopoe Beach to it. I believe 1st Cathedral is one of the two spots I marked in red. I say that because one is marked that on a Google Earth dive site listing that I have and if you zoom the area in Google Maps you can both see a dive boat there and someone has linked to an image of "surfacing from a dive" there between the two spots.

Conjecture on my part so maybe verify it with someone at Trilogy - I've only dove Cathedrals from the Maui boats.

Assuming you can hug the shore line around the point, Google Earth puts the distance at .53mi. - . 67mi to the 2nd circle. The way I remember that area I think it's the 2nd circle - I don't remember the beach/that large pinnacle north of the first location I circled.



If you noticed the small beach at the south point - the path on top of the cliffs to it is...on top of the cliffs. Here's the obvious problem with that entry...lol If you've not been there yet, most of Lanai is similarly too tall to allow for water access elsewhere on the island.


One thing Kris may not be aware of is that there's a Trilogy shop at the Manele Bay small boat harbor and they rent tanks for shore diving in Hulopoe Bay just off the resort. It's a shallow dive but it is a dive. .: Trilogy Ocean Sports Lanai - Scuba Diving on Lana`i, Hawai`i :.

Rental Equipment - Scuba and Snorkel

Our dive shop is conveniently located at the Manele Bay small boat harbor, so, as soon as you depart the Lana'i/Maui ferry you are literally just yards from our store. The best snorkeling on Lana'i, and one of the best beaches in the US, is then only about a 200 yard walk from there. There are a host of world-class dive sites beyond First Cathedrals and Second Cathedrals located only a few minutes from our Dive Shop on Lanai

I'd check to see if they're still there also - Trilogy also brings divers over on their Cats from Maui. Over the years I've heard there is/isn't always a shop open at Manele Bay.

Good luck, let us know if you do it. I'd be interested in going out there with scooters possibly in the future if it's doable.

 

[KrisB]

I knew Trilogy had a location there, but wasn't aware of any gear or tank rental. I thought it was only for their land-based excursions.

That said, a number of the Maui-based dive ops have been known to pick up divers from Manele Bay harbour on their way by... Might not hurt to enquire of Extended Horizons or Hawaiian Rafting Adventures (Dive Maui).

 

[divnmyk]

Ok. Cool. Thanks for the info.
We are traveling over there with Trilogy to hang out on the island all day. So I know we can get gear from them, but as I mentioned, we didn't want to leave the wives alone all day while we were on a boat.

It does look like a good swim out. I'll give it a good look before we decide.