Where to Night Dive in Kauai

Jess: Local Knowledge

Entry at Koloa Landing, Kauai

   For shore diving the south side of Kauai there is one solid option that will satisfy beginners and experts alike.The name of the place is Koloa Landing. Located in between the resorts of Poipu and the famous blow hole, Koloa Landing provides an easy boat ramp access and gravel parking lot right next to the water. My friend Jess has been working as a dive instructor in Kauai so knows the waters pretty well. She agreed to take me out for a crepuscular/night dive to see what kinds of interesting creatures we could find.

Potter's Angelfish

  After a very easy entry and a short kick out we submerged to a find a large school of blue stripe snapper. Large boulders were strewn about the site with some nice looking coral sporadically among them. It was in and among the coral and crevices that we wanted to search for the rarer species.

Leaf Scorpionfish

Jeweled Anemone Crab

  And fine them we did. An unusually bold Potters Angelfish stayed put long enough to get a couple of shots, and then a jeweled anemone crab ambled over the top of a rock. It didn't really know which way to go when I put my light on it, which gave me the chance to get a few shots of that as well.

  Leaf scorpionfish hid in plain site, while goatfish and parrotfish tried to sleep without being eaten. Predatory eels were out and about, possibly on hunt for octopus or sleeping fish.

Eared Sea Hare

  An eared sea hare crawled around near a pin cushion sea star. I looked to see if the sea star had any commensal shrimp living on it but I didn't find any. And all this time we spent searching the cracks and crevices were we very aware of the presence of camouflaged scorpion fish and hiding moray eels that could prove a danger for a misplaced hand. A couple of times throughout the dive we also came across resting sea turtles. It seemed that night time meant sleep for them as well. 

Eel on the Hunt

Grumpy Devil Scorpionfish

  While I don't think the overall diving in Kauai is quite up to that of Maui or the Big Island, there are still some hidden gems to keep the avid diver busy. I feel like many more rare species could be found just at this spot alone. I am looking forward to diving here again, but can't wait to get some nudibranch diving in back in Maui in a few weeks!

 Check out some other awesome night dive locations in the Hawaiian Islands:
Kona Manta Ray Night Dive
White Rock, Maui
Night Muck Dive, Maui