Difficulty
beginner
Viz (last reported 59092h ago)
Max Depth
6.6 ft
Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Hanauma Bay
What is there that hasn't already been said about Hanauma Bay? Divers' paradise, excellent diving, friendly marine life, etc. Unfortunately, the
overcrowding of this popular site has caused major environmental impact and has necessitated the implementation of many conservation measures. As crowded as this place is, it now has only one-third the attendance it used to have before restrictions were passed in 1990. Parking, and access to the beach is controlled, and volunteer docents try to educate the visitors so additional damage is avoided. One of our greatest concerns is the trampling of the reef. Although numerous signs are posted, it still constantly occurs. Although there's not too much live coral inside of the reef, other living organisms inhabit the zone, and it is basic diver etiquette to avoid touching any reef.
Take Kalanianaole Highway (72) East to Koko Head. At the top of the hill, turn right into Hanauma Bay.
Access
shore
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Lucien
Nov 15, 2010, 12:00 AM
scuba
Not a bad dive but bad conditions on the day we went. The entry is from the shore. You can put your stuff on at the beach or on the grassy part of the hill. Will go again with better conditions but a day in the water is better than not going at all. When you arrive you will have to either show a local id or military id or you will have to pay $7.50 to go to the beach. Then you will have to drag all of your stuff and watch a 15 minute presentation about how not to touch anything etc. From there you can walk down or pay to take the tram down. I opted for the tram. It cost about $10 for 7 people with 2 divers with 2 tanks. Well worth it considering you have to lug your stuff around. Once you are on the beach go talk to lifeguards as the guy we talked to was very helpful. He gave us a brief on conditions and best way to get out to the outer reef which is where the best scuba was. We entered from the beach in middle to right side and swam through the buoys. Vis was real bad 6-10 feet until we got farther out then it was amazing 40-50 feet and worth the swim. We found the cables on the ground and swam almost due E SE and saw some nice reefs and good amount of fish. We pushed limits on air expecting to surface swim back with waves. Still was very tough going on the return, we wound up too far south. Snorkeled back to middle section of return and swam down for about 100m by witches brew and surface swam the rest. Deepest depth around 60feet. Bottom line: nice dive, watch conditions, check with life guard and cheat north versus south towards outer reef. Make sure you have at least 500pounds of air for swimming underneath the current on the return.
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