Page 170 - Hawaii: Diving, Surfing, Pearl Harbor, Volcanoes and More

n the big island of Hawaii, Spanish underwater vistas for scuba diving. Several depth coral and lava banks, allow you to
O dancers, rare juveniles, and lionfish dives shops have packages to Turtle Canyon see it up close and personal. The range of
are regulars. Diving is mostly lava flow dives and some of the more popular locations Coral in the region is unique to the Hawai-
with little coral cover, but the tropical fish such as The Sea Tiger wreck, 100ft Hole, ian Islands. Instead of sponge and coral
are colorful, unique, and generally plentiful. Kingman’s Reef, YO-257, San Pedro wrecks associated with older coral reefs, you will
There’s access to good shore diving. Kauai and Kewalo Pipe. get to see a large amount of Cauliflower
reef diving is passable, but the attraction is coral, which is the predominant coral in
unique trips available only in the summer. aui diving and Molokini Crater are the region. Two uncommon species of coral
Maui’s diving is often to the backside of M home to about 250 species of fish - you may encounter in the reef bench zones
Molokini or Lanai. some of which are found nowhere else on of the Islands include the Leptastrea and
earth. Molokini’s back wall sharply drops off Pavona corals. Common sea life ncludes
ea Turtles are common, and occasional to depths of 300 feet. In the center is a lush dolphins, sea turtles, angler fish, moray
S white tip shark adds to the fun, and reef area with excellent viewing up to 150 eels, and Humpback whales. Boring Ur-
the reef fish are colorful. Most reefs around feet. The island can only be reached by boat. chins and Surgeons are two species of fish
Honolulu and Oahu have declined consider- that are also plentiful here. Lobe Coral and
ably, but there is some decent diving toward e included sepaarate sections on Wreck Finger Coral are also present in abundance.
the north side. Nine months a year expect W Dives and Shore Diving to provide basic The diversity of life, and the incredible
clear water, visibility that’s usually better informaiton to allow you to do more in depth scenes that you encounter scuba diving in
than the Caribbean -- around 100 feet -- research as you plan your trip. This Guide also Hawaii makes you realize that half of Ha-
and air temperatures in the low 80s. Water includes a few of the Franko Maps Guides as a waii’s stunning beauty lies just beneath the
temperatures hit the low 70s in January and starting point to plan your diving experienc.e waters surface.
February when storms can last several days
and cut visibility. eeing the Lava tubes and other unique
S geographic features is perhaps the
urtle Canyon in Oahu is a well known most popular style of scuba diving Hawaii
T for providing some of the most scenic offers. These features, ranging from shallow