Best Scuba Diving in Hawaii
Why dive in Hawaii? Warm water, awesome visibility, endemic fish (species found only in Hawaii), lava tubes, mantas, hammerheads, tiger sharks, Hawaiian Monk Seals, turtles, turtles, turtles, volcanoes (yes, you can dive one), beautiful lush scenery with waterfalls, pristine beaches, fantastic food, etc. Have I piqued your interest? I had to stop because the list is too long!
From my own experience, I have traveled to the islands of Hawaii (the “Big Island"), Maui, and Oahu. I have been diving in Kona (the Big Island), Maui, Molokini Crater, Molokai, Lanai.
On the Big Island, the diving is centered along the Kona coast. I found the diving we did was along sloping reefs with myriads of colorful fish. We usually started the dives deeper looking for specific, rare, fish and then shallowing up to complete the dives. We generally stayed pretty shallow to find most of the best sea life and dive through the lava tubes. This allowed us to make 90 minute dives the entire week. During our dives, we spotted a Hawaiian Monk seal (endangered and rare) and a tiger shark that had been hanging out in the area. Kona also has a world famous night manta dive. It's an opportunity to see perhaps a dozen or so mantas up close and personal.
On Maui, there’s a chance to dive several nearby islands. Just off shore from Maui is Molokini Crater, a crescent-shaped, partially submerged, volcanic crater that juts vertically 161 feet out of the ocean. Diving can be done either inside the crater or on the outside of the crater wall. It seems that snorkelers mostly do the inside. We dove the back wall. Really nice vertical wall diving with lots of fish and turtles.
Dive boats leaving from Lahaina Harbor on Maui are able to cross the Pailolo Channel and take you to an area just off the coast of Molokai which is famous for Hammerhead sharks. This trip is for advanced divers with iron stomachs. The crossing can be very rough due to strong wind and waves. The diving is all drift diving from a live boat in choppy, mostly blue water. “No problem” you say? Great! Because it’s all worth it. We saw schooling Hammerheads swimming below us on both dives!
Boats from Lahaina can also take you to Lanai for diving. We did a 3 tank trip, all drift diving, off the far side of the island. Beautiful diving in an area that doesn’t have a lot of pressure from divers. After the diving, the weather was so good and the sea like glass, the crew gave us a boat tour around parts of the island that are rarely seen by small boats because of bad conditions.
I could go on about diving, but you can see how diverse the dives can be.
Top side activities are just as diverse as below. You can visit volcanoes, pristine beaches, world-class restaurants, hike to waterfalls, and do any watersports you want. This is definitely a destination for the entire family. All levels of divers will be thrilled by the diving and non-divers will have plenty to keep them busy. Before you leave be sure to try popular local foods like poke, shave ice, SPAM musubi and loco moco. You'll love Hawaii above and below.
