2 Tank Ni’ihau (Forbidden Island)

Experience Ni’ihau Diving

Why dive Ni’ihau with us? Fastest crossing and closest harbor! With a 1 hour crossing you will literally cut your travel time in half. 6 customers max. Small groups while scuba diving is key to a truly enjoyable dive. Your crew will be Nick and Jessie. We are experienced captains and dive leaders. 

We dive Ni’ihau year round. September through May it becomes more difficult to get the right conditions to dive it. If you book this tour, be advised it may get rerouted to mana crack or south side local boat diving (If this happens you will be refunded $200 plus tax per person!).

We generally  run this tour on Sunday’s and Thursday’s but can open up other days upon request! Text me at 808-977-8643 for special requests!

Our two-tank Ni’ihau tour is by far our favorite tour. Visibility is usually 100’s of feet and you are likely to have up close encounters with the critically endangered and endemic Hawaiian Monk Seal! Close up encounters with multiple species of large sharks (sandbar, white tip reef, galapagos, grey, tiger). Bait balls getting hit by tunas and jacks is another common thing to see. We have the closest harbor and fastest travel time to Ni’ihau. Prepare yourself for a long day and bumpy ride. We will provide breakfast, lunch, water, fresh fruit and snacks.

On this tour, we meet at 6:30 a.m. at Kikiaoloa small boat harbor in Kekaha. Gear will be fitted in the morning at the dock that way you do not need to come in the day before! It takes about an hour to cross to Ni’ihau and on the way there it is our favorite time to look for rare toothed whales like pilot and false killer whales. When we get to Ni’ihau a lot of people are surprised that we actually do most of our diving around Lehua Crater, an extinct tuff cone volcano and now a seabird sanctuary that is home to at least 16 different species of seabirds. We always try to dive Vertical Awarness first because this is one of the best sites Ni’ihau has to offer. It is a pinnacle that runs from 300 ft at the bottom to 45 at the top! Sharks, bait balls, and seals frequent the area. 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 2nd dive is usually a wall dive (if current we drift) filled with beautiful schools of fish, sharks and seals! The ride home is anywhere from one hour to an hour and 45 minutes depending on weather.

-4 Diver minimum to run this tour,  6 divers max!

-72 hour cancellation policy

Amenities

-Enclosed cabin for shade from the sun and protection from wind spray!

-Bathroom (head). Not to worry, yes, we have a small bathroom that you can use during the tour!

-Free parking. When you arrive at the harbor you can park any where on the right hand side in the grassy field.

-Lunch provided. On tours lasting longer than 5 hours we provide turkey or ham sandwiches. If you have any food allergies or dietary restrictions please put that on your reservation when you make the booking. There is a section to enter medications and food allergies.

-Stay hydrated with complementary water and juice.

-Snacks! Fresh fruit, cheese, hummus, and guacamole is always provided after dives. Tortilla chips for dipping. Cookies and crackers are available too!

-Gear rinse- If you bring your own gear we will set up a tub of water to rinse off the salt when we get back to the dock!

-defog

-rainjackets are available if its raining or if we get wind spray on the crossing home from Ni’ihau!

FAQ

*Do you offer Nitrox? At this time, we unfortunately do not offer Nitrox. In between our 2 dives we explore Lehua Crater (an extinct tuft volcano). We looks for dolphins, whales (November-may), and seabird watch! With a long surface interval, nitrox is not necessary!

*How deep will we go? We generally don’t pass 70 feet. I spend most of my time in between 20-60 feet where you will see most of the cool topography and marine life! With a buddy you are welcome to go deeper if you are trained to do so. On some of the dive sites the bottom is at 150-250 feet!