MaunaLua Bay Dive Sites

The Corsair Wreck

This site is the only true wreck dive on Oahu. The F4U Corsair rests on the bottom of the ocean floor at 107 ft. a mile off Portlock. This WW II single engine Navy fighter plane was ditched in 1945 during a training flight when the pilot, Lt. Holden experienced engine trouble. The cockpit is home to a large moray eel and orange encrusting sponge covers the fuselage. The surrounding sandy areas are host to fields of garden eels that hang ten in the current ready to withdraw to their holes if approached. It is not uncommon to see a large school of taupe making the plane their residence. The visibility here is consistently excellent and this is a fun dive for the intermediate to advanced diver.

Divemaster Pearl's top pick as she mentions "the color of the water in this area is an amazing deep blue, when you hop in the water and see the plane - 107 feet down, the descent is one of the most enticing on the island"!

China Wall

China Wall is located just at the mouth of Maunalua Bay and provides one of the best dives on the South shore.  Usually protected from the trade winds, this area of three hundred foot volcanic cliffs continue underwater where they drop to about 90 ft. and the bottom then levels out. This dive is usually done as a drift and divers see an exciting array of turtles, fish, caves and ledges.

 

Sea Cave

Sea Caves are along the south edge just outside the bay.  Here, divers enjoy a huge cavern that runs back under the cliffs about 100 feet. Occasionally the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals are spotted and local divers consider this a much anticipated encounter.  There are smaller side caves which can be explored; usually as part of a drift dive and White tip sharks are often spotted resting under the various ledges.

 

Spitting Caves

The spitting caves are located approximately 200 feet from the Diamond head side of China wall. It includes several small caves carved out by wave action over the years that provide a great little playground for divers when conditions are right. This dive site is also home to the resident Monk Seal, Erma, as well as several 4 foot White tip reef sharks and many many green sea turtles. You will also find Octopus, eels, large trumpet fish and scorpion fish at this location. The depth here is 45-55 feet.

 

Fantasy Reef

Fantasy Reef has a well defined 40-80 ft topography and is considered one of the prettiest dives in the Maunalua Bay. Animal life is plentiful and the arches and ledge formations give refuge to large turtles and an occasional spotted eagle ray. There are even a few cave swim-throughs at this site. If there is a light current, there is a shark cave often housing sleeping white tip sharks about 100 feet past the first rock formation. Eels, octopi, and plentiful schools of fish make this an easy and fun night dive. Fantasy Reef is a great choice for either a first or second dive.

 

Anglers Reef

This reef is actually more than a reef, but a mini wall. This ledge/wall runs north/south and provides a very easily navigable diving excursion, especially for night diving. The reef wall/ledge drops off to a sandy bottom between 2-5 feet. This dive site provides many holes and crevices for eels, slipper lobster, and octopi. The depth is approximately 48 feet deep and makes a nice first or second dive out of Maunalua Bay. Keep your eyes posted for frogfish as they are very commonly found at this site.

 

Baby Barge

Baby Barge was a trash hauling vessel that went inter-island at one time. Sunk as an artificial reef, she sits in 65 ft of water and almost always has a resident turtle population. White tips are often milling around near the barge, which rests upside down on the ocean floor. There is a large area that is safe to peer inside and sometimes sunlight entering the overhead “hatch” casts beautiful shadows on the interesting architectural elements within. You can see a great photo of that in our Wreck Dives Photo gallery.

Divemaster Mike's top pick due to the combination of great fish life, a shark cave, turtle cave, and oh yeah - the wreck!

 

LCU wreck

The Landing Craft Unit (LCU) was a military amphibious landing craft used at one time by the Navy. Placed in the Maunalua Bay as an artificial reef, marine habitat increases yearly. Positioned upside down, coral fields are beginning to take hold on the surface and fish occupy the darker internal vaults below.  White tip sharks are encountered at least about one third of the times, so pay attention on your descent, as other divers sometimes cause them to leave the resting position of the ledges under the overhang.  Divers tell of a Galapagos shark of similar description being seen occasionally cruising the area of this site.  Just shoreward is “Tire-Reef” which was placed by University of Hawaii and hosts and abundant population of fish and eel varieties.

 

Kahala Barge

Kahala Barge is in 85 feet of water south west of the wreck alley of LCU and Baby Barge. It is a great dive to see large white tips and many large (3'+) hawaiian fish inside. We also frequently see the larger Galapagos Sharks on this dive. The barge can be explored inside but you have to have good buoyancy and lights are a must. Generally, if possibly drifting after exploring the wreck, is the best way to do this dive, as you will be able to see the tire reef and concrete reef that now are home to much fish life. You can sometimes also catch what is left of the 600 automobiles that were dumped as a reef in the 60's (not done any longer). All that remains are an occasional axle and steering wheels, and their new resident fish.

 

Hana'uma Bay

Fantastic beach snorkeling spot. Hanauma bay is a volcanic crater that that filled with water. This used to be a very popular fishing hole for the Hawaiian Royal family. In 1967 this bay was deemed a nature preserve and with that has brought us one of the best snorkeling locations on the island. It is not just the fact that you can see over 100 different fish species, green sea turtles, and octopi, but the size of these fish. In this protected habitat the fish,eels and turtles really have an opportunity to enjoy their reef life. Often fish will ignore you as you swim closely beside them, it is as though they know you are just visiting and mean them no harm. This site is a perfect opportunity to really enjoy the different varieties of fish, work on your fish identification skills and get to know the fish endemic to Hawaii.

 

KoKo Craters

Koko crater is named for the large Volcanic Crater Kokohead, which overlooks the entire Maunalua Bay area. This is truly a perfect second dive of the day. This is a shallow reef dive that contains a series of small crater shaped reefs at about 35 feet deep, thus providing ample dive time. There are large resident green sea turtles at this site, as well as many schools of fish, eels and more. Ask your divemaster to introduce you to the Buddha statue that sits watching over the divers and Koko's underwater craters.

 

Keanu's Reef

Keanu's Reef is named after the small teenage green sea turtle that calls this Reef his home. The turtle was named by local fisherman and has become a companion to free divers and scuba divers alike on their visits to the reef. The reef sits in about 45 feet of water. There is 1 long ledge with 2 fish traps on it and a fairly extensive reef system to the north of the ledge. Many big octopus and eels are found here, as well as the ever present Tridents, Trumpets and their food; the Crown of Thorns. With the right current you can turn this dive into a drift and almost make it to the corsair or Koko Craters.

 

Bay Drift Dives

Many of the above mentioned SCUBA diving sites make for a terrific drift dive if the currents are right. The drift dives in this bay are quite a treat and tend to occur mostly in the winter/spring seasons when the current is substantial enough to allow you to fly along the oceans bottom.