Books on shore diving (Molokai, Lanai, Kauai)

[khemicals]

Hello,

I am in the planning stages of my trip to Hawaii in July/August 2005 and am trying to figure out what books people like to refer to to find shore diving spots on Molokai, Lanai and Kauai. Basically, I am trying to decide what islands to go to and I think at the moment it is planned to be Kauai and Molokai or Lanai. The determining factor is going to be quantity of quality spots for a beginner SCUBA diver (my Fiancee only recently got certified and feels more confident shore diving).

I have seen a number of books online that may be applicable, but am not sure of the quality of the books and if they have enough information to actually do self-guided dives of the locations (best times to dive the location, where to enter and where to go, etc.).

Are the Snorkel Guides (www.snorkelguides.com) any good for SCUBA diving reference. Obviously a reef at 5 FSW is useless for SCUBA, but has anyone else used these books to dive with. We'll probably do some snorkeling too, but I want to get her a comfortable way to increase the size of her dive log.

How about Diving Hawaii and Midway or Diving Hawaii? I want a good book with solid information on shore dives. Boat diving information would be a good plus but am really more insterested in the shore diving aspect.


Cheers,

David

 

[BDub]

I'm not sure about shore diving on Molokai and Lanai, but I used shorediving.com for a trip to Kauai last year. We did Ahukini Landing, Koloa Landing, and Sheraton Caves as shore dives and had a good time. Ahukini was a little disappointing, but had a great dive at Koloa Landing and it is an awesome spot for newer divers as well. Sheraton Caves is a long surface swim thru some pretty good surf so I would probably avoid that with a newer diver.

 

[justleesa]

I could find something on all Islands, but you might want to take a look at these:

http://www.aloha-hawaii.com/activities/scuba+diving/
http://www.frankosmaps.com/Kauai_Dive_Map.htm

 

[bluemagoo]

You might try browsing the sticky-post on this board. Books specifically for Kauai, Molokai, and Lanai are not very common. Molokai might be a tough island to scuba; I think the dive shop closed long ago but the lone gas station in Kaunakakai used to fill tanks; getting around is tough without 4-wheeling and without knowing the spots. The north coast is other-worldly beautiful but not terribly good for diving; rough surf just scours the rocks clean. The resort at Manele Bay on Lanai supports scuba but Maui shops will make runs to Lanai too.

FYI, for other islands: I kind of like Francisco B. deCarvalho's book, "Oahu Snorkelers and Shore Divers Guide". Dick Dresie has transferred his little book on Kona shore diving to the web http://www.ilhawaii.net/~dpdresie/ . "Diver's Guide to Maui" by Thorne has been around forever; there were other books in the series but they seem to be scarce, maybe out-of-print. John Clark (an HFD deputy chief) wrote a set of terrific books about the beaches of each island (titled "Beaches of ------"); the one about Oahu is scarce and may be out-of-print. Mike Severns' book on Hawaii and Midway might be too broad for your use; it's a nice book tho'.

 

[khemicals]

Sounds like we'll be modifying our plans to go to Oahu and Maui then. I'll look into those books suggested for those islands, if anyone knows of any other's that'd be great. I tend to research things obsessively, so I get it right the first time, though shorediving.com does have a lot available for each of those 2 islands.

Cheers,

David

 

[bluemagoo]

Consider the Big Island also, especially the Kona coast. I think it's tops for shorediving; usually always divable, lots of supporting shops, good spots fairly accessible, clean reefs. Oahu is pretty urbanized (traffic, traffic, traffic) and good reefs hard to find without long surface swims or diving in moody areas. The plus for Oahu is that many beaches are supervised (or very near to one that is) and the lifeguards are fountains of info. Maui and Kauai kind of fall in between. Molokai and Lanai are the wild west. Most likely for any island, you'll be diving the leeward coast. One thing to be wary of (besides the obvious surf) are the tradewinds blowing offshore; surface swimming back in can be quite a slog if the wind's up over the water. Also, be aware that there's a state regulation that requires you to drag along a floater/dive flag; a styrofoam block with a stick and crayon flag is unsightly but meets the requirement -- getting busted without one is rare but does happen (man, you gotta be one unlucky dude). And don't think about sticking a toe in waters near the larger harbors (especially Oahu); the Feds frown bigtime on that.

 

[ShakaZulu]

www.shorediving.com

Have fun.........