OAHU DIVING

Oahu diving is awesome thanks to the lava that has poured into the ocean for centuries creating lava tubes, arches, caves and caverns, canyons, crevices and pinnacles. There are also sunken vessels around Oahu. The clear warm water and abundance of colorful fish and sea creatures make Oahu the perfect place to dive.

If you are a certified diver, you can rent equipment at numerous dive shops and then go out on your own, or you can arrange for a chartered excursion. Chartered excursions are run by local Oahu diving professionals who know where Oahu’s best dive spots are located.

If you are not certified or are just a beginner, local dive shops offer introductory dive courses that take about four to six hours. You will learn the rules of the deep and how to get comfortable with the equipment. The beginner dive course is usually a two tank dive, no deeper than 30 feet and only four students per instructor. This is relatively inexpensive.
Aqua Zone offers a free scuba clinic for people 10 years of age and up. Oahu diving is a thrilling experience.

BEST OAHU DIVE SPOTS:

1) Ala Moana Beach Park

Ala Moana Beach Park has an Oahu diving spot called Rainbow Reef. The reef is accessible by land or boat and the fish are used to being hand fed. The sea life spotted here are: puffer fish, moray eels, Moorish idols, turtles, colorful invertebrates. There is another Oahu diving spot here at the same beach called Magic Island. Here you will see the same sea life and maybe even some porcupine fish.

2) Hanauma Bay

Although Hanauma Bay gets crowded, there are really great diving conditions that are accessible by land or boat. The sea life you will see are: Large resident eels, spotted Eagle Rays, Octopus, green sea turtles and about 100 other species of tropical fish. You may even see a humuhumunukunukuapua’a, Hawaii’s state fish.



SOUTH SHORE

Oahu’s South shore has a bunch of dive spots clustered in close vicinity. They include:

Kahala Barge
Fantasy Reef
Turtle Canyon
Hundred Foot Hole
Big Eel Reef

Any dive shop will tell you where these spots are located.

3) Corsair Plane

This is a World War II plane that crashed in the ocean. You can see most of the plane including the cockpit and instrument panel. Sea life seen here include: Green sea turtles, rays, white tip reef sharks, sponges, and anglerfish.

On the north shore of Oahu there is a spot located near Mokule’ia this is called:

4) Kahuna Canyon

Kahuna Canyon has lava formed walls that rise steeply and resemble an underwater grand canyon.

5) Sharks Cove

This dive spot has lots of lava tube and caves and a lot of different eerie formations caused by the lava. The sea life seen here are: leviathan shells, Eagle rays, parrot fish, turtles. This dive is considered the second best dive in Oahu and it is located right off Sunset Beach Fire Station. The name sharks cove comes from the formation in the caves that look like sharks. Sharks do not frequent this area.



On the east shore there are also a few good dive spots. One of the better spots is:

6) Makapu’u Point

There is a lot of coral outcroppings and lava sloping into the ocean. Make sure that you check conditions before diving at this site because sometimes the wave conditions can be ferocious. Sea life seen here include: Lobster, triton trumpets, helmet shells, and trumpet fish.

On the west side are some more sites that are considered some of the best dive spots on Oahu.

7) Makaha Caverns

8) Ma’ili Point

Ma’ili Point is just south of Wai’ane on the west shore of Oahu. While diving at this spot you will see the wreck of the Mahi, a sunken 185 foot mine sweeper built in 1939. This dive is considered the fourth best dive site in the United States. In this area is also a shipwrecked navy vessel and a crashed fighter plane. These wrecks are in only 90 feet of water. Sea life seen here include: Spotted eagle rays, white tip reef sharks, large yellow head Moray eels, snowflake coral, red and yellow sponge, puffer fish, schools of millet see butterfly fish, trumpet fish, and humpback whales and whale sharks in the winter. This is a great spot for some awesome underwater photography.

9) Seaplane wreck

North of Ma’ili Point, directly off of Poka’I Bay, lies a twin engine Beechcraft that was sunk as an artificial reef project. The engine and propellers have been removed but you have a good view of the instrument panel. Sea life seen here include: crustaceans, tropical fish, yellow margin moray eels, viper moray eels, goatfish, pink tail durgons, millet seed butterfly fish, scorpion fish and humpback whales from December thru April.

If you enoy diving, the Oahu diving sites listed above are just a few great ways to Discover Oahu underwater.

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