The L.S.U or Landing Craft Unit is
one of those dives that is seldom advertised to the general public. It
is located just off the coast of Hawaii Kai, a bit west of the
mini barge and east of Diamond State Park. Why ? Well, first it is kind of
out the way from the Corsair plane wreck
location which is highly
advertised and most dive companies would rather not traverse there due
to the expense of fuel. Although not requested much I still enjoy taking
customers this interesting Oahu diving location.
Oahu scuba diving
The landing craft sits upside down in
about 80 feet of clear blue Hawaii water. Currents can be tricky here so
we will use the line to make our accent down the line. The mooring line
is actually attached to the stern prop area of the lsu. The lsu lays
upside down so it looks kind of weird the way the landing craft is
situated. At this point we like to drop down to the 80 foot area then
head to the mid-ship location for an easy entry. Since the landing craft
is upside side it is reminiscent of a accident of some sort, in other
words this wreck was not precisely planted underwater.
Once inside you will notice a bunch
of white tip reef sharks relaxing in the large shaded area made by the
main cargo bay stretching overhead. This is the best area of the wreck
in my opinion. Various small rooms are accessible however again since
this landing craft is upside down is is very strange to get a good
"navigational" feel for this area.
Boat Dive
Vis 70-100 feet
Temp 75-81 F
Max depth 80
Average depth
75
Monitor your gauges at all time in
this area. Remember there is a huge steel boat above your head so you
must not forget this ! After penetrating the landing craft lets head
back out and finish up on the outside of this shipwreck. The one thing
that you most likely noticed was these huge concrete wall sections
scattered around the bottom. There must be over 100 of these wall
sections down there and were placed there for the acumination of reef
fish. Remember I said this
dive location Oahu is not heavily
advertised with scuba divers. However on the other hand fisherman love
this area. Those concrete wall structures bring in tons of reef fish who
use these man made walls for shelter and breeding. Poking around this
area you will sometimes find lobster. Although I notice a lot of
snapper, butterfly fish and trigger fish. On the outside of the landing
craft I have seen Galapagos sharks. Not everyday but more than the
average Oahu
shipwreck dive.
On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd say this
dive is a , well, a 6. My reason for this is I just don't like square ,
90 degree angles while scuba diving. Is that strange ? Maybe it is just
me. Customers do enjoy this dive, I also enjoy it but rather dive on the
Cosair or
YO-257 shipwreck.
