Dive Review of Explore Kauai Scuba in
Hawaii/Kauai

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Explore Kauai Scuba: "Ni'ihau SCUBA Bucket List Fullfilled", Aug, 2024, by David Steinberg , OR, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 13014.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Twenty years in the making and I finally checked off diving Ni'ihau. After careful research online and the 2024 Chapbook, I chose Explore Kauai Scuba. The business is owned and operated by Jessie and Nick Croft and each hold boat captain licenses and are PADI instructors. The good: I found the 28 foot six-pack boat to be immaculate and well organized for safety and experienced scuba divers, including onboard O2. We had a thorough dock side briefing of all the boat features and safety precautions due to the 3+ hour round trip open ocean crossing. We were provided with ample drinks and food for the ~8 hour day. Explore Kauai provides and fits all the gear, right down to snorkel, mask and fins; optional $10 for a light and $50 for a GoPro and you get the memory card. Though I had my own gear, I observed their newer Cressi-sub equipment as being well maintained with Jessie even examining each scuba kit while assembling it. At the helm captain, Nick's boat operational skills were near flawless. He guided the deep hull boat over 1-6 foot swells very smoothly using an engine gunning technique that felt more like a bicycle coasting over gentle speed bumps. We made the west crossing in about 45 minutes and return trip in 75. At the first dive site, Vertical Awareness, Jessie gave a thorough briefing that was interrupted first by a curious monk seal then again by a pair of dolphins. Pretty nice sightings before donning our tanks! The site topography was incredible, resembling an underwater Grand Canyon and must be experienced to appreciate. I noted the coral was sparse on the horizontal planes, however, close inspection showed it very healthy and the reef itself was pristine overall. With 100+ feet visibility, fish life was everywhere, from sharks to small bait balls and even a monk seal played in the distance. Octopuses, lobsters and shrimp were found on both dives and ~10 baseball size pristine cowry snails, another indicator of a healthy reef. My dive time was 60 minutes on an AL-80, max depth 82', Jessie, diving with an AL-63, still had 1500psi! During the 60 minute surface interval we enjoyed food and beverages while captain Nick putted around the Lehua Crater while Jessie pointed out individual species of the protected bird population inhabiting the 700' cliffs as monk seals basked in the sun at the base. Dive two was Fish Bowl which boasted a number of large and small caverns and swim throughs; glad I brought a light! Shrimp, lobsters and eels infested this topography. I sighted two fish schools, jacks and chubs, and usual endemic Hawaiian fish darting here and there. As I spend more time looking at macro critters, I often miss out on larger fish, which included a barracuda and a grey reef shark as I found out topside. Dive two was 65 minutes with just Jessie and I finishing the last 10 minutes together. Thoughtfully remembering where she found a Triton's Trumpet snail, she carefully moved a crown of thorns nearby serving a nice dinner to the snail. Of course she spotted an octopus as my tank dipped below 400 psi. The Croft's marine ecosystem knowledge is exceptional as they were able to answer everyone's questions and expand our awareness. Captain Nick even performed a mooring line repair during the surface interval. Overall, I was very impressed with Explore Kauai Scuba in every aspect of my experience and thoroughly enjoyed my time with Jessie and Nick. The bad: N/A
Websites	Explore Kauai Scuba
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Puget Sound, Vancouver Island, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Cozumel, Palau, Turkey, Belize, Hawaii, Florida, Papau New Guinea, Indonesia
Closest Airport	Lihue	Getting There	Hawaiian Air from Portland through Maui
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	80-84°F / 27-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	return for safety stop at 500psi
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	The 6-pack boat deck is too small to have a camera table, much less a fresh water bucket for a strobe housed setup. Plus the rough crossing to Ni'ihau, even with captain Nick's navigation skill, could be risky for a larger camera. A GoPro or compact camera is best suited for this dive site.

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Dive Review of Explore Kauai Scuba in Hawaii/Kauai

Explore Kauai Scuba: "Ni'ihau SCUBA Bucket List Fullfilled", Aug, 2024,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Explore Kauai Scuba in
Hawaii/Kauai