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Scuba Dive at Ni’ihau: Best in Hawai’i
5.0
17 Ratings
Kekaha
Dive Ni’ihau’s crystal-clear waters with expert guides. Encounter rare wildlife, explore Lehua Crater, and enjoy a swift, scenic boat ride. Book now!
Dive Ni’ihau’s crystal-clear waters with expert guides. Encounter rare wildlife, explore Lehua Crater, and enjoy a swift, scenic boat ride. Book now!
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- 72JX2W52+PJP - Exclusively for certified scuba divers. Experience diving in pristine, remote waters with breathtaking landscapes and abundant marine life. Expect to encounter large sharks, monk seals, rays, and big predatory fish! It is recommended to have completed at least 15 dives before participating in this adventure. Why choose to dive…
- 72JX2W52+PJP - Exclusively for certified scuba divers. Experience diving in pristine, remote waters with breathtaking landscapes and abundant marine life. Expect to encounter large sharks, monk seals, rays, and big predatory fish! It is recommended to have completed at least 15 dives before participating in this adventure. Why choose to dive Ni’ihau with us? We offer the fastest crossing and the nearest harbor! With just a 1-hour crossing, you can significantly reduce your travel time. We accommodate a maximum of 6 customers, ensuring small groups for a truly enjoyable diving experience. Your crew will be Nick and Jessie, both seasoned captains and dive leaders. The tour begins at 6:30 am at Kikiaola small boat harbor. At the dock, gear fitting will take place before departure! The journey to Ni’ihau typically takes 1 hour. At Ni’ihau, we will explore 2 different dive sites, selected based on dive site/marine life preferences and conditions! Between dives, enjoy a tour of the stunning Lehua crater while having lunch. Lehua is an extinct volcano, now a seabird sanctuary. The return trip takes between 60 to 90 minutes, depending on conditions.
What's Included
- Use of SCUBA equipment
- Lunch
- Snacks
- Bottled water
- Bathroom
- Use of SCUBA equipment
- Lunch
- Snacks
- Bottled water
- Bathroom
Additional Information
Ni’ihau is known for being the best scuba diving in the state of Hawai’i! The scuba diving sites have vertical walls with seemingly endless bottoms and crystal clear visibility. Large wildlife sitings are common and include sandbar sharks, Hawaiian monk seals (found no where else on earth), walls of butterfly fishes, and manta rays. We do two dives….
Ni’ihau is known for being the best scuba diving in the state of Hawai’i! The scuba diving sites have vertical walls with seemingly endless bottoms and crystal clear visibility. Large wildlife sitings are common and include sandbar sharks, Hawaiian monk seals (found no where else on earth), walls of butterfly fishes, and manta rays. We do two dives. Jessie will be your dive guide underwater to keep you safe and point out wildlife! In between dives we serve lunch and do a tour of Lehua Crater pointing out all our favorite seabirds and showing off the beautiful “Keyhole”. We usually look for dolphins and manta rays as we do a mini tour around the Lehua crater. The boat ride to Ni’ihau is around one hour. The ride home is anywhere from one hour to an hour and 45 minutes depending on weather. The commuting time to Ni’ihau and back is almost half the time compared to other shops! Book with us if you want experienced crew, small groups and a shorter, faster boat ride!
- If there is bad weather this tour may get rerouted to south side local diving. Prices will be adjusted
- Kindly provide us arrival date/departure date
Location
Kikiaola Small Boat Harbor
Kekaha Road
Please arrive NO LATER THAN 6:30 am.
When you pull in to the harbor park on the right hand side in the grassy field. Walk over to the dock and look for scuba tanks! We recommend wearing hat, sunglasses, and a sunshirt or jacket to cover your skin.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(17 Ratings)
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B8108pylenab
Sep 10, 2024
Fantastic adventures - This dive experience was one of our best! Captain Nick and Jesse are an awesome team and they made our experience exceptional. The pace was not rushed at all and stress-free, which made for a very relaxing and enjoyable experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
468vickies
Sep 9, 2024
Best Dive Ever in our 150+ dives - These were the most amazing dive ever. Nick and Jess are just awesome all of the way around. My husband and I both had minor gear issues and Nick fixed them right away. They are very knowledgeable of the fish and the birds in the area. If you are a birder, Jess is the one to talk to. We saw so many beautiful fish, a manta ray, 3 species of sharks, turtles, and monk seals. The visibility is 100s of feet. We dove 20-60 feet most of the time. The wall is filled with interesting small sea creatures. You could easily drop below 100 and not even realize you were that deep due to the extreme visibility even at depth. I HIGHLY recommend Explore Kauai Scuba.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jloddy
Aug 21, 2024
Nick and Jessie run a top notch dive operation - I have been on many large and small commercial dive operations, and I think that I can say that Nick and Jessie run the best overall outfit from a safety, customer accommodation, and wildlife spotting perspective.
There were a lot of little things that they did working together that others maybe not having experience with other operations would not appreciate. They scouted a couple different spots checking for current and visibility before picking out dive, to find the spot that would make for the most enjoyable dive. As we were gearing up, they brought us the gear, but they talked through the check list so we could double check all of the settings (I see air at 3400, you confirm, take a couple deep breaths, make sure the needle is not jumping, good, indicates full tank). Would tell us that current is strong, so drop in, immediately kick to front of boat and hold on to line until we are ready to ascend. Will use current to drift, so will stop off here, and pick up at new place so we won’t fight current. These are little things that they are thinking about to make the dive go smoothly.
They also knew how to adjust the dive for the different skill levels of the group. We had some relatively inexperienced people who went through their air quickly and needed to surface first. Another group who got cold and did not want to do a long dive. A third group that wanted to stay down as long as possible. Jessie, made the route work so the first two groups hit the anchor line at the time they needed, but the group the wanted to stay down could keep going. Really a talent to plan dive times and routes that work for different groups.
They also spent a lot of time going over the natural topography, the fish in the area, what was normal, what was endemic, etc. Jessie took a writing board and wrote quick notes to point things out along the dives.
They thought of little things like where to sit in rough water. They had rain jackets for water spray on the crossing. Good spread of sandwiches and snacks and drinks.
Very nice couple, running a family business and doing it very well. Highly recommend diving with them. You won’t be disappointed.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
442garretm
Aug 5, 2024
Best Ni’ihau Dive Operator on Kaua’i - Yesterday I finished a 2-tank dive at Ni’ihau. Wow, what a fantastic dive and with fantastic dive operator! Nick & Jessie are amazing dive precessional and guides who know all the best spots to dive. We saw several Monk Seals, one before even got into the water. The 6-pack boat which is beautiful allows for a very personal experience. Also, since they operate on West Kaua’i/Waimea, it’s a quick boat ride!
I’ll definitely come back and dive with them!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Seaturtle19
Aug 3, 2024
Dive trip - What a great trip. They made us feel like family. They really care about what they do and think about all the divers on the trip. It’s a 17 mile out there, but it’s worth every single minute. You love it. We both been diving for years and are pretty well adapted, but they are so attentive and concerned. We saw a lot of really cool sea life. Seals starfish you name it. Plus, look up the history of the forbidden island. The crater is incredible. These are memories for a lifetime. When we go back, we’ll be getting in touch with them again and dive with them.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
I1501lvjohns
Jul 21, 2024
Always an amazing experience - I dive with Nick and Jessie whenever I go to Kauai - they are outstanding - and I had numerous dives with them this last trip! There are three aspects about diving with Explore Kauai SCUBA that are most important to me, and EKS meets each of the criteria. Adventure and seeing things that you have not experienced before is always something they will look to deliver. They are educators; they teach about the ocean, provide diving tips, and not only tell you what you saw, but also explain the behaviors of the species you see - why the creatures do what they do. However, most important, they ensure a safe dive.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
459christena
Jun 24, 2024
So much wildlife! - Jessie is a great divemaster. I told her I hoped to see octopus and she spotted several and made sure I got to see them. She finds so much cool wildlife and write out what you're looking at. Ni'ihau was so much fun I can't wait to come back and dive it again thank you Jessie & Nick!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joel
Jun 15, 2024
Spectacular Niihau Dive! - Absolutely wonderful morning diving Niihau with Jesse and Nick. A 5 star experience from beginning to end. First, because they dock their boat at Kekaha, the ride out is half the time out and back, which is always a plus. They know they area well, know what and when to dive, and give great pre-dive briefings. Also have more food on board they you can eat.
But oh, the dive! Stunning topography, surrounded by an array of marine life, including monk seal, rays, sharks and several more rare fish I whose names I can't recall, but Jesse is a wealth of info in that dept.
Highly recommend Explore Kauai for their expertise and accommodation.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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