Tunnels Beach off shore SCUBA

I will be completing my open water dives off of Tunnels Beach in late May.

Does anyone have experience doing this? I know the water will be more rough than my pool/confined dives.

I have done a learn to SCUBA in a really calm ocean before also.

If anyone has experience diving Tunnels, I would be interested in what you experienced. Do you have any tips or suggestions?

I am so excited and can%26#39;t wait!!!

Tunnels Beach off shore SCUBA

May is the month that the boats return to anchor or moor up in Hanalei Bay....the north shore napali sea cave boats start going out of the north shore again.

The seas are calming down....ahhhhhhhhh !

The reef at Tunnels should make it rather protected, and pretty darned calm. Your PADI instructor will let you know about any current problems but you have a very good chance of it being very nice.

We have snorkeled there in june, and in july, and it was great. Our SCUBA diving, here on kauai, has been done on the south shore at Koloa Landing, so cannot tell you about the actual dive.

However, we have seen dive groups, geared up, and enjoying the site. I am sure you will also.

Maybe someone who has actually dove tunnels can give you some more exact scoop on what you will experience after you get thru demostrating your skills.

Denny

Tunnels Beach off shore SCUBA

So has anyone out there done any diving at Tunnels?

Reeflover,

I made several dives at Tunnels a few years ago. I%26#39;m a PADI Divemaster and been diving for close to 20 years. However, the rest of my dive team, my family, were all relatively new divers, including my daughter who had completed OW certification earlier in the week.

I found all the dives to be very easy. The areas where you should be diving are all protected from outside reefs, so we experienced little to no current. I also don%26#39;t recall any waves or surf. The visability was also good for a shore dive. While you can always use currents, surf, depth, etc to determine the challenge of a dive, this site passed my personal test which is having new divers get comfortable to the point they forget about worrying and start enjoying the sights.

The dive itself is primarily on a volcanic reef, so you won%26#39;t get all the colors and coral life, but it is very interesting none the less. The dive starts shallow, but drops off to 60 feet. The reef itself does offer very good vertical elevation, which attracts a lot of fish and sea life (i.e. turtles). There is plenty to see and explore. My best advice to you (and any diver) is go slow, explore all the nooks, crevices, etc. You%26#39;ll see much more this way and experience things that you won%26#39;t if you make the dive into a race.

Since this site can be impacted by high surf in the winter, it is considered a summer dive site. If the surf is up on the day of your dive, the local dive shop you are using will know this (usually in advance) and either reschedule or relocate your dives. Koloa Landing is another shore dive on the south side of the island and would be a great alternate location (or a fun second day of diving). It is a very easy dive with the sights starting within feet of the shoreline.

Enjoy your trip and dives. You%26#39;ll have a blast.

Thanks for the great information!

I am really looking forward to my dives!

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