South Shore Dive Sites

YO-257 & San Pedro Wrecks

The YO257 gets its' name from the call letters given to this 110 ft. vessel  that was at one time working as a yard oiler stationed at Pearl Harbor. It was sunk in 1989 to provide an artificial reef for a submarine company.  Sitting in 100ft of water she has been covered by beautiful snowflake coral. Massive schools of taupe, black triggerfish, and millet seed butterfly fish school the massive deck.  When the water is clear, divers can see the sister wreck, the San Pedro about 50 yards away. Don't be surprised to hear and see Submarines filled with tourists peaking out of the windows. Plan to see the San Pedro first so that you can return to the YO257 with enough air for your ascent and safety stop.

 

The Pinnacles

This dive site is about 80 feet deep with many small rock formations sitting on the ocean bottom housing a large variety of the different eel species that reside in Hawaii. There are two large lava formations in the shape of a figure eight. These formations (the pinnacles) sit at 80 feet but the tops of them rise to 65-75 feet. Added to these pinnacles are overhangs that give an added feeling of excitement to the natural beauty of this site. This dive site provides good opportunities for glimpses of a wide variety of fish including those endemic to Hawaii. Many good photo opportunities as well.

 

Sea Tiger Wreck

The Sea tiger sits just outside Kewalo Basin and the visibility is usually excellent. The 170 ft vessel was built in Japan as a fishing vessel and sits at 120 ft on the ocean floor. Federal marshals seized the boat which was transporting illegal Chinese Immigrants. Voyager Submarines then sunk the vessel as an artificial reef to be enjoyed by their passengers. At this time, they have abandoned this route and only divers frequent The Sea Tiger. Cauliflower corals grow on the deck and marine varieties are beginning to take hold. Scrawled filefish congregate above the teak deck and sometimes white tip sharks, stingrays, and turtles are seen. The bridge equipment is in Japanese.

 

Nautilus Reef

Nautilus Reef is a collection of finger reefs that are found in 30ft of water. This is a great second dive of the day and after a nice long relaxing surface interval you should have plenty of time to explore this reef. Keep your eyes posted for those reef inhabitants such as the lizard fish, nudibranch, and eels. Turtles, eagle rays, sting rays and white tip reef sharks can be encountered occasionally on this dive as well. Schools of taupe, grubs and milletseed butterfly fish are often seen in during this dive.

 

Kewalo Pipe

This dive site begins where an old unused steel pipe ends, at about 60 feet. As you follow the pipe along to shallower water (to about 35 feet), many eels, octopus, families of porcupine puffer fish and more can be seen. There are several coral reef patches on the sides of the pipe that provide many small homes to the native fish. Keep your eyes peeled for nudibranch, lizardfish and hawk fish. You can often find a small white tip reef shark sleeping in the end of the pipe.

 

Turtle Canyon

This is a shallow reef dive, very close to waikiki - you can almost see the sunbathers on the beach! Turtle canyon is just that, a mini canyon made of a rocky reef with turtles, turtles and more green sea turtles. There are many other fish species to see in this area, although the turtle encounters seem to get most of the hype when returning to the dive boat. A nice second dive and a nice snorkel spot as well.

 

100 foot Hole

This reef dive used to be a popular fishing "hole" for the local Hawaiians, thus the term "hole". There is no hole that you dive into, just a very beautiful reef. Also, it is not quite 100 feet, the reef here sits at about 83 feet deep. The 100 foot term is from the fisherman - and a pretty good "guesstimate" on their part. This reef is teeming with life, many schools of fish, white tip reef sharks, octopi, a variety of eel species and more. This reef provides ledges and caves and small swim throughs' to add to the underwater activity. One of the best reefs on the south shore.

 

Runway Reef

This reef dive is named for its location just south of the Honolulu International Airport. The dive site includes a long ledge and reef system about 25-35 feet deep. It is rarely dove and in very good condition still. Very large areas of coral are found at this site including tall antler coral heads. Many large (4"+) Tiger Cowries and checkered Cowries can be found scattered about, as well as a few small teenage green sea turtles that seem to call this reef their hang out.  Keep your eyes peeled for the Eels and Octopi hiding in the reef as well!