When scuba diving off of Oahu , the Corsair plane wreck is not to be missed; this site is not too far from the Yo-257 shipwreck scuba dive. OahuDiving.com is the perfect choice for wreck diving in Hawaii and other scuba adventures. Deep dives like the Corsair,
Sea Tiger, Mahi and the YO-257 are made daily.
When scuba diving in Hawaii you should visit the WW2 era Corsair airplane wreck, located in Maunalua Bay just a quick boat ride from Hawaii-Kai. Oahu scuba diving wouldn't be complete without visiting one of the most famous Oahu shipwrecks (well, it's actually a plane wreck scuba diving adventure) . Close to Honolulu, this is an advanced scuba dive of Hawaii. A brief story about theCorsair wreck -- it crashed in 1946 on a routine training mission.
Rumor has it the pilot is still alive and living well in Hawaii , however it's just a rumor, folks. Also he swam back! OUCH! But yes, he definitely made a water landing. Check the propeller out! The props are bent back indicating a water landing. It actually is quit amazing the plane stayed intact upon impact. It is a perfect site for diving in Oahu.
Corsair Wreck
The Corsair wreck is strictly an advanced boat dive. Getting setup before departing the boat docks should cut down on any problems with getting sea-sick and is highly recommended. The ocean in this particular area is a little rough and this is the reason why you don't want to start assembling your gear there. The ride itself is out to the Corsair plane wreck can be extremely bumpy so if your prone to seasickness I would suggest either skipping this dive altogether OR take some natural ginger tablets. You know I'm not a doctor so I can't tell you to take motion sickness medication.
"The first US combat aircraft to exceed 400mph"
The Corsair sits in 115 feet of absolutely beautiful blue
Hawaiian Pacific waters. A free descent down to the wreck is discouraged do to the erratic currents that plague the area. Use the line
to help you get to the plane. Free descents will only cause you a number of problems,
plus the mooring line is not connected to the main frame of the
Corsair therefore you will have to swim over to the Corsair about 30
feet away. The old days the mooring line actually was attached to
the prop shaft causing stress on the plane.
Boat Dive Vis 70-100 feet Temp 75-81 F Max depth 115 Average depth 115
Bottom times are
usually around 14-16 minutes. Visibility should be better than your local swimming pool ! (80-100 feet).
Keep your eyes on your gauges, air goes extremely quick and this
place has been known to give divers trouble. Thankfully it was not
with us.
The Corsair has a lot of cool
Hawaiian reef fish. The first thing you will notice is the plane is
surrounded by yellow stripe snapper with squirrel fish peeking their
big eyes from inside the plane. I have seen everything from huge Hawaiian stingrays to
passing Galapagos sharks ; friends of mine even had the fortune of
encountering a humpback whale !
Obviously you can
cover the whole area of the Corsair in 1 minute, it's just a plane
right ?
So have fun, be creative. Try jumping in the cockpit,
this can be a thrilling adventure in itself taking you back to the
WW2 days, then of course a
butterfly fish will swim by which will give you a reality check.
Small note- just take a good look around before trying to
play Pappy Boyington. Moray eels love to hang in this area and are not to
keen about getting a temporary roommate with big feet shoved in
their face. Opps !
It is not just the life in and around
the plane that is exciting. A quick look around into the abyss you
will notice spaghetti like white strings waving from the sand. Upon
further investigation this isn't mama's spaghetti, little
buggers quickly hide in the sand before you can get a good look at
them. These are one of Hawaii’s neatest marine life fish called the garden eels. I recommend laying on your chest in the sand, breath slowly and stealthy crawl towards the eels.
You might get a cool picture. ( I can never get a good picture, if
you have any please send em' to me, I'll post it)
Also, fish that you might have scared
away when you showed up such as amber jacks and stingrays usually
will hang around the perimeter of the Corsair waiting for everyone
to leave. I noticed divers really fixate on the wreck and seldom
actually look around. Keep those eyes moving. These big animals
don't make noise !
As I always say, WATCH your gauges ! 1000 P.S.I. is a great time to start your ascent back up. DON'T DO THE 500 P.S.I. dash for the boat, it is unsafe and very unprofessional
and you might find yourself in a bad position. The only drawbacks I
have with this scuba dive is the fact that you do not have an upper
deck, say like the
Yo-257
in which you can hang out to get more dive time. The Corsair is just
deep, 115 foot the whole time.
Ok times up
on the computer and it's time to start making the ascent . Once back on the mooring line pay close attention which line
let that air out of your BCD and start making a relaxed control
ascent back up to 15 feet for your safety stop. 3 minutes there then
slowly head back up. our one. Very important, once your back to the boat ladder grab firmly
then take your fins off. Remember the currents are sometimes brutal here.
Be bad to throw your fins up on the deck only to need them to get
back to the boat.
In summery the Corsair is a great dive.
As a matter of fact an excellent dive. I'd say 9 out of 10, doesn't
get my full10 because the surface conditions are mostly rough. This dive is strictly for advanced divers so be sure to be honest with yourself and of course
with us. Don’t do this dive unless you're qualified. This is not a
place to practice your diving skills, you should already be good and
confident underwater. We scuba dive the Corsair regularly and would love to take you on
this Oahu Hawaii scuba diving adventure .Feel free to call us about
this wreck.
CORSAIR FACTS -The Vought F4U Corsair was used in the military by both the Navy and Marines. It is a radial engine fighter known for both its bent wings and its unique sound. The corsair was 33' 4" long, 16' 1" high and had a wingspan of 41'. It had an empty weight of 8,982 lbs and a gross weight of 14,000 lbs. The f4u corsair used one Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine which produced 2200 - 2300 hp. The corsair had a cruise speed of 182 mph, a max speed of 417 mph and a max climb rate of 2,890 ft/min. The corsairs maximum range was 1,015 miles. This airplane was mostly a carrier based airplane however it was also used from land based runways in the pacific by now well known pilots like Pappy Boyington of the Black Sheep Squadron.
Thanks for visiting Oahudiving.Com
shipwreck
scuba diving Oahu, Hawaii. Daily trips to the Corsair plane wreck
scuba location. When scuba diving Oahu please consider us.
Boat Dive
Vis 70-100 feet
Temp 75-81 F
Max depth 115
Average depth 115
