Wrecks off Big Island?

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Rock2r

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Location
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Tried a search on this and found nothing specific to the Big Island.

Any reachable wrecks (or intentionally sunks) worth diving off the west coast of the Big Island, and if so, which is the preferred operator to go with?
 
Hi Rock2r,

I'd recommend Mahukona as an easy shoredive to the remains of a wooden steamship. From the National Park Service:

"Off the island of Hawai‘i, the sites of two steamboats and one Hawaiian sampan have been documented. At the turn of the 20th century, steamboats came into use for inter-island transport of cargo, passengers, sugar, and cattle. About the same time, the Hawaiian sampan was introduced for use in the tuna fishing industry. The wooden-hulled SS Kauai was lost off Mahukona Port in 1913 and the iron-hulled SS Maui wrecked on a reef at Makalawena in 1917. The sampan Fuji Maru, which had been purchased by the United States Navy and converted to patrol vessel YP-183, grounded in Mahaiula Bay in 1943."

Here are some links:


http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii/TBI/Mahukona/index.htm

Mahukona Harbor - A Darker View

LET'S GO SHORE DIVE'N' on the Kona Coast

The Mahukona dive is a great shore dive when the weather is good, but can experience significant surge during the winter months. Check the weather first.

Best wishes.
 
I can't help you with wreck info, however I've been to Kona twice and dove with these guys. I can recommend them as a shop and day boat. Was very happy with them.

I also get the sense that even if you're not diving with them, they'd know about, and point you to good info about wrecks.

Good luck.
 
There is also the airplane wreck up north a ways, forget what the site is called, maybe "Airplane Wreck"? Jack's took us there, dove "Touch of Grey" same trip.
 
I think that "lady" is pretty old by now :wink:
 
The Naked Lady is a sailboat sitting more or less upright in 115 FSW in the Kailua Harbor. It's a square dive to that depth, and by comparison to the wrecks off of Oahu (don't even get me started on Truk...) it's barely qualifies as a "wreck dive". It is somewhat photogenic, and there can be interesting ambush predators lurking about on some of the related debris in the area.

Nearby is the Predator, an LCU sitting upright in 90 FSW. Again not much of a wreck; some days there's all kinds of other interesting stuff there (sharks, male Whitley's Boxfish, the Atlantis Submarine...) but other days it's a small and not terribly interesting hunk of slowly rusting metal.

The airplane wreck is just north of the current Kona airport (KOA), sitting upright in 115 FSW. It's an old Beechcraft, and is only partially intact.

The wreck(s) at Mahukona are pretty well buried at this point. I've found some odd bits of debris, and have heard rumors of some large anchors in the area, but have yet to find them swimming around down there. Better luck with the scooters, and when I get a break from teaching I'll probably be up there looking further afield.

There used to be an organization here (WHARF, West Hawaii Artificial Reef Foundation) with the aim of getting the USS Mauna Kea sunk here as an artificial reef. There was so much local opposition (even from some local dive operators) that the project is essentially dead at this point.
 
That Beechcraft might be worth taking a look at. I'm assuming all the local dive ops have it plotted on their GPS?
 
Keep in mind that it's in 115 feet of water & most ops carry groups of mixed abilities. One or two divers won't necessarily decide where the boat dives on any given day. I think Jack's is still doing "advanced" dives on occasion & they're big enough they might be able to find enough interested divers to make it happen. None of the "wrecks" are dove often.
 
Keep in mind that it's in 115 feet of water & most ops carry groups of mixed abilities. One or two divers won't necessarily decide where the boat dives on any given day. I think Jack's is still doing "advanced" dives on occasion & they're big enough they might be able to find enough interested divers to make it happen. None of the "wrecks" are dove often.
Yeah, it was a Jack's "advanced" dive when I went there. They post the upcoming advanced dive trip and wait to see if they get enough divers.
 
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