Explore Kauai Scuba

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Explore Kauai Scuba 1 hour crossing to Ni’ihau. 6 customers max. Nick and Jessie will be your crew! Scuba and boat tours around Kauai

10/04/2026

Today was our first trip back to Niʻihau and Lehua Crater since Hurricane Lowell hit on September 7th. We were pretty nervous heading out, knowing the storm passed closer to Niʻihau than Kauaʻi.
As we pulled up, spinner dolphins greeted us first, followed by tons of seabirds soaring overhead and manta rays right at the surface. The island looked amazingly green and healthy, packed with roosting seabirds—and the researchers’ house was still standing!
Two monk seals were basking on Lehua Rock.
We were so thankful everything was fine underwater, as well. We saw three individual Hawaiian monk seals, sandbar sharks, gray reef sharks, bluefin trevally, bigeye jacks, and tons of butterflyfish. The coral was completely healthy and unchanged.
In between dives, we checked the Keyhole—totally intact, too!
The only sign of the storm was inside Lehua Crater, where there was a little red dirt runoff and some floating logs. Other than that? You’d never know a hurricane just hit Niʻihau.

We are back open and our booking calendar is live! Thank you for all the friends/ family/customers who have reached out ...
09/23/2026

We are back open and our booking calendar is live! Thank you for all the friends/ family/customers who have reached out to check in! We are specifically eyeballing September 30th, looks like a great day for a Ni’ihau crossing! 30% kama’aina for September 30th. Text or call me 808-977-8643

08/17/2026

Did he just wink at me? 🥹 One of the most endangered marine mammals on the planet, the Hawaiian Monk Seal. Only found in the Hawaiian archipelago where they have been for millions of years. Hawaiians named them ‘ilioholoikauaua (dog running in rough water). After going through all my pictures and photos throughout the years I believe this is a new monk seal (at least for Nick and I). This monk seal was spotted while scuba diving Ni’ihau. I sent the picture of the seal to [email protected] as it helps NOAA scientists with tracking, identifying, and protecting this critically endangered species across the Hawaiian Islands. If you see a seal with a tag or unique scar send pics or tag numbers too! If you love Hawaiian monk seals like we do you can help by giving them space when they come up on the beach to rest. Also there are some great organizations you can donate/volunteer with!

The Marine Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola Monk Seal Hospital - The Marine Mammal Center this group does amazing work to care for and rehabilitate sick, injured and malnourished monk seals. They also do education and outreach and manage monk seal haul outs around the Big Island.

Hawaii Marine Animal Response this is a non-profit that works on Oahu and Molokai for monk seal haul outs and stranding response Hawai'i Marine Animal Response (HMAR)

https://www.mocmarineinstitute.org/ this group is based on Maui and manages monk seal haulouts and stranding response

PMDP - Papahānaumokuākea Debris this is a non-profit that works primarily in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument cleaning up marine debris. They also help out with monk seal conservation work when they are out there.

07/28/2026

Last week off the coast of Ni’ihau, Nick and I watched over 20 Hawaiian monk seals in an open-water mobbing event.
These aggressive mating pileups usually happen when a female enters estrus after weaning her pup. Unlike sea lions with land harems, solitary monk seals mate in the ocean so when multiple males converge on a single receptive female (or even a young subadult male mistakenly caught in the fray), it quickly turns into chaos. Driven by intense competition and elevated testosterone, male monk seals form tight, thrashing clusters, biting, dragging, and submerging the target seal.
While it’s often impossible to confirm the target seal’s s*x from the water during the chaos, these events represent a severe threat to the species. Females reproduce at age 5, give birth to one pup a year, and live 20 to 30 years. Because female survival is the main engine driving population recovery, losing even one female to a mobbing event is a major blow. NOAA has documented many female deaths caused by male mobbing in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It took targeted interventions like relocating overly aggressive males to bring those numbers down and stabilize the populations. Mahalo NOAA
Seeing a mobbing event unfold in real time is a sobering reminder of the harsh survival pressures these ancient, native pinnipeds face every day.
Luckily, after an hour of relentless fighting that eventually moved toward land, this seal hauled out onto Lehua Rock with just a single 4-inch scar(I’m guessing). I’ve had a few people ask how they can help protect Hawaiian monk seals. I reached out to NOAA and they shared several local organizations that are doing real, hands-on conservation work. The Marine Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola Monk Seal Hospital on the Big Island provides critical care for sick, injured, and malnourished monk seals and also leads education, outreach, and haul-out management. The Marine Mammal Center Papahānaumokuākea Debris helps the monk seals by removing fishing gear and plastic pollution in Papahānaumokuākea marine national monument. (Where most of the seals live)

07/25/2026

Yesterday at Ni’ihau we witnessed a rare event- a Hawaiian monk seal mobbing. Please comment below if you have ever seen this behavior before! From a distance, it looked like a classic bird pile with pelagics pushing bait up to the surface and seabirds diving down on it. But as we drove closer, we realized we were actually watching a group of 20 plus Hawaiian monk seals engaged in a rare behavior known as mobbing, all while large sharks (likely tigers) cruised directly beneath the group, waiting for an opportunity.
We kept a safe, respectful distance, documenting the event from the boat with drones, telephoto lenses and our phones. The customers on our boat were authorized by NOAA to use drones. Via the drones we were able to see that there were about 20-25 monk seals in the mobbing event, large sharks underneath, and lots of pink weiners out 😂For over an hour, the males thrashed and moved nearly half a mile across open water before taking the fight onto Lehua Rock, where the intensity continued in the surge. One seal even took a severe gash to its back during the struggle.
While scenes like this can be shocking to watch, understanding the biology behind it highlights just how intense survival is in the wild. In the seal world, males compete aggressively for dominance and breeding rights. With peak pupping and mating season running through the spring and summer months, competition for a single receptive female can spark intense pressure and social conflict among local males.
The presence of the tiger sharks added an extra layer of tension to the scene. In nature, apex predators intentionally shadow these territorial battles, waiting to capitalize on exhausted or injured individuals. Recognizing that mobbing can put monk seal recovery at risk, marine biologists actively track these social dynamics across the islands, occasionally relocating certain males to help balance s*x ratios in high-density areas.

06/05/2026

Today at Ni’ihau a very handsome male Hawaiian monk seal checked us out then proceeded to use one hind flipper to scratch the other hind flipper. Hawaiian monk seals have a single layer of short, stiff, and densely packed hairs that lay completely flat against their skin, creating a sleek, dolphin-like appearance underwater but revealing a velvety, matte coat when dry. Because their stiff guard hairs tightly trap sand, salt, and tiny marine organisms right against their skin, Hawaiian monk seals get frequent, intense itches that require a good underwater stretch and scratch.

This is the first time i have seen this individual this year, and maybe ever. Since it did not have a tag I sent in pictures of scars on the seal to see if NOAA could ID it. If you see a seal with a tag or unique scar send pics or tag numbers to
[email protected]

If you love Hawaiian monk seals like we do you can help by giving them space when they come up on the beach to rest. Also there are some great organizations you can donate/volunteer with!

The Marine Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola Monk Seal Hospital  - this group does amazing work to care for and rehabilitate sick, injured and malnourished monk seals. They also do education and outreach and manage monk seal haul outs around the Big Island.  

Hawaii Marine Animal Response  this is a non-profit that works on Oahu and Molokai for monk seal haul outs and stranding response

https://www.mocmarineinstitute.org/  this group is based on Maui and manages monk seal haulouts and stranding response

PMDP -this is a non-profit that works primarily in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument  cleaning up marine debris. They also help out with monk seal conservation work when they are out there.

05/13/2026

Today at Ni’ihau a whale shark swam past us as soon as we headed down on our dive at the dive site Neon Cave. While they are often associated with seasonal aggregations in other parts of the world, the whale sharks found here in the Hawaiian islands are much more elusive, so was pumped to see this one! Beyond their rarity in Hawaii, whale sharks are fascinating for a few general reasons. They are the largest fish in the ocean, capable of reaching lengths of 50 feet or more, yet they survive almost entirely on tiny plankton. Despite their size, they remain mysterious. Scientists have never documented a whale shark mating or giving birth in the wild. Because they spend so much time at extreme depths and move through open ocean corridors, there is still much to learn about their residency patterns. Researchers with the Hawaii Uncharted Research Collective have identified 510 individual whale sharks in Hawai’i! Regular people like you and me can send in videos or pictures to help discover new ones and help researchers learn about these special animals. If you have any video or photo footage of an encounter, you can contribute by uploading your footage to hawaiiunchartered.org. If your footage happens to be of an individual that has never been recorded before, you may even be given the opportunity to name it for the official database! If you would like to go to Ni’ihau I would recommend our company, Explore Kauai Scuba. It only takes us an hour to get to Ni’ihau because of our harbors close location and fast boat. We only take 6 people max!

05/11/2026

Meet R6FQ, a 16 year old male Hawaiian monk seal. He approached us while we were scuba diving at Ni’ihau. I was able to officially identify him after emailing the NOAA fisheries team at [email protected]. They confirmed his identity based on the distinct battle scars and the identification tag stub visible in the photos. These markings are like a fingerprint for researchers and help track these animals throughout their lives. While Hawaiian monk seals can live to be 30 years old, R6FQ is currently in his prime.
He was incredibly curious and swam right up to sniff the camera lens before continuing on his way. There are only about 1600 of these individuals left in the world.
Reporting sightings is vital for their protection. If you see a monk seal, please keep your distance and email the date, time, location, and photos to [email protected] so the experts can continue their important work. If you would like to go to Ni’ihau, our company leaves from west side cutting travel time to Ni’ihau in half!

05/01/2026

A squadron of 9 spotted eagle rays at Ni’ihau! One of my favorite dive sites, pyramid point, can get strong currents that rush over the walls. The eagle rays love it. It looks like they are working hard but they are actually taking a break. Just like a kite stays up because of the air pushing against it, these rays use the water flow to get lift. By facing the current, they can hover in one spot over the reef without burning much energy. Facing the current also helps them breathe easier. Instead of using muscles to pump water, (ram ventilation) they simply open their mouths and let the current ram oxygen-rich water over their gills. In Hawai’i the spotted eagle ray is known as hihimanu which means magnificent bird.For some families in Hawai’i the hihimanu is more than just a fish. It is considered an ‘aumakua which is a family guardian or an ancestor that has taken the form of an animal to provide protection and guidance. Seeing them in a squadron or hovering in the current is often viewed as a powerful sign of strength and grace.

04/22/2026

Edit: On April 14th RN30, a male hawaiian monk seal born on Kaua’i approached us off the coast of Ni’ihau/ Lehua crater. I originally thought this was a female monk seal based off the mobbing scars. After sending in pictures to [email protected] they explained to me the scars are often associated with females because they result from injuries sustained during a multiple seal mating event that can be extremely aggressive. But we occasionally see males with the same kind of scars.Generally, if you see these scars on a Hawaiian monk seal, they are on females. It is possible though that this individual is a male (mistaken as a female by young male seals) Mahalo for bringing that to our attention! These happen during the mating season when a group of males all try to mate with one female at the same time. The males use their teeth to hold onto her back and neck, which can cause some pretty rough injuries. While the marks look gnarly, they eventually heal into the white lines you see today. Unfortunately, this behavior can be very dangerous; in some cases, the mobbing is so aggressive that the female can be seriously hurt or even killed. Hawaiian Monk seals are one of the most critically endangered marine mammals on the planet and I think worth protecting.If you love Hawaiian monk seals like we do, you can help by giving them space when they come ashore to rest. There are also several great organizations to support through donations or volunteering.
hawaiianmonk

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Waimea, HI
96796

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Monday 7am - 7pm
Tuesday 7am - 7pm
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