Diving out of Turtle Bay?

[chepar]

Ok guys, thinking about doing a shore dive out of Turtle Bay. Saw blue magoo's comment in another thread about the outgoing rip currents and also read a review on shorediving.com that alluded to the same thing (and it also mentioned there was little sea life to see).

So, is this a dive site worth visiting, or does it fall into the "eh . . . " category? I'm undecided if it's worth a try, or if I'd rather stick with the tried and true Three Tables (my favorite) or Shark's Cove.

It's been forever since I've been down to Turtle Bay - how much is the parking and how close is the parking area to the beach?

Also, has the labor dispute continued to affect the traffic in that area? I know last month the traffic was backed all the way up through Haleiwa because they were picketing the entrance to the resort. Not sure if they've been picketing since then.

 

[bluemagoo]

I did try snorkeling Turtle Bay after some friends got caught in the rip. I'd call it an "eh..." site; wouldn't burn a tank on it; the area might've been wasted during construction. Nice beach and lagoon. And the rip was as advertised; I got in by riding the whitewater over the shelf near the exit on the far rightside of the beach. I'd compare it to trying get back into Halona Cove (surface swimming/bodysurfing is the usual option; there's no grip on the sandy bottom and the only rocks are too close to the cliffs). Or maybe it's like the rips at Three Tables when waves are surging over the Tables.

Also tried snorkeling the Pipeline break by Ehukai Beach. Predictably, there's almost nothing there; everything's scoured clean by the surf. It's almost all bald, hard rock with deep clefts; no wonder surfers get broken or killed from getting stuffed into, or their leashes snagged on, the rock channels. It's shallow, 6-8ft; you gotta have the biggest and hairest ones to ride here when it's cranking.

There's a nice spot about center-right and 100yds outside of Waimea Bay, just about where the surfers would ride the rip to get out to the break outside of the point. We went with a friend's boat and so I don't know how a shore dive would work. I guess that before, you could park along the cliffs or guardrail by the church and enter at the rocky spot they call "Pinballs" but I don't think that's an option now with the new roadway. I've never been on the other side of the bay.