Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
suit you the best. Remember that to avoid decompression sickness, you will not be able
fly, go on a helicopter tour, or go to the top of Haleakala Crater for 24 hours after finishing
your last scuba trip. This is a basic scheduling oversight that many divers forget, so when
booking a dive excursion, check your schedule to see if you have any of these activities
planned for the following day. Due to the shallow depth of only 10-20 feet, these same re-
strictions don't apply to snuba diving.
Dive Sites
While
Molokini Crater
can be a great place to snorkel, to truly tap into the magic of the
crater you need to put a tank on your back and go and see what's down there. For experi-
enced divers, Molokini ranks in the upper echelon of dive locations around the world. For
novice divers who have just been certified, it's a window into a new aquatic universe. Only
certified divers are allowed to dive at Molokini Crater. If you aren't certified but still want
to experience Molokini from below, sign up for a 20-minute snuba dive to depths of up to
10 feet.
What makes the crater such an exceptional dive spot is the combination of two different
factors: Its pelagic location means there is the possibility of seeing anything, and there are
multiple dive spots within the crater that cater to a wide range of ability levels. Novice
divers will want to inquire about trips that go to either Middle Reef or Reef's End, as
depths on these dives don't usually exceed 70 feet. Middle Reef is home to large schools
of pelagic species such as jacks and reef sharks, and the sand channel houses curious-look-
ing garden eels. There's also a huge drop-off at the Middle Reef section where it can be
easy to exceed your dive profile, so keep an eye on your depth gauge when swimming
over the ledge. Similarly, at Reef's End, the dive traces the wall of the underwater cal-
dera to the point where it drops off into the abyss. Since this underwater promontory sits
on the fringe of the crater, this is the area with the best chance of sightings of bottlen-
ose dolphins, manta rays, humpback whales, and even the occasional whale shark. There
was even a great white shark sighting out here captured on video by Ed Robinson's dive
charters, although encounters like this are so rare they aren't even worth worrying about.
While Middle Reef and Reef's End are both fantastic dives, the best and most advanced
dive in Molokini Crater is a drift dive of the legendary Back Wall. Beginning at Reef's
End, divers will follow the current along the back of Molokini where a vertical wall drops
over 250 feet to the ocean floor below. If you're the type of diver who dabbles in nitrox
