Oahu scuba diving Nautilus Reef located off of Oahu Hawaii.

Nautilus Reef SCUBA Location

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Oahu dive spot which I personally like, cool easy-to-do dive site ! Located here in Hawaii just 5 minutes out from Kewalo Boat Basin Oahu to the east, this little Oahu scuba diving location reef will offer you loads of diving fun - First time / beginner divers and advanced divers -welcome to Nautilus Reef. Scuba diving in Hawaii !

Happily named after the glass bottom boat Nautilus 1( which was relocated to Guam) that used to take customers on a fantastic top view ride over the reef area.(Oh stop it , I know)

The Oahu scuba dive itself is a combination of 2 reefs that lay in about 25-40 feet. Old lava rock is  the foundation of this reef with beautiful hard corals attached; truly making this reef a wonderful dive. Dive times can be anything from 30 to 45 minutes. After all this dive is not so deep.

Currents are not usually strong here however it is a good idea to use the decent line to allow plenty of time to clear your ears. As you decent you will soon notice exotic millet seed butterfly fish ascending up to great you along with a huge school of silver chubs. Obviously these fish are well feed and expect hand outs from you so please be prepared. Once on the reef you notice the typical Hawaiian marine life found in the Oahu waters. Plenty of triggerfish, various butterfly fish and the occasional sea turtle will be seen .We also have seen stingrays , dolphins, various types of sharks including the dreadful tiger shark and eagle rays so you never know what will show up !Actually I seen a monk seal here if you can believe that.

Boat Dive Vis 70-100 feet Temp 75-81 F Max depth 45 Average depth 40

 

Heading to the east side of the main reef take a look underneath the lava ledges. There you can usually find whitetip reef sharks snoozing away waiting for the big night hunt. If you lay on your belly and crawl up to the sharks you can usually get some good pictures, just breath slowly and don't make a sudden moves. The bottom composition is sandy in this area so pay close attention to your buoyancy so as not to silt up the area. Nothing worse than having a shark swimming around you when you can't see.

As you swim towards the south end of the reef you might be able to bottom out around 45 feet. In this area look in the sandy rock area. We sometimes see octopus perching up on the rocks. Octopus have an uncanny way of blending right into the rocks therefore overlooking these magnificent animals  is very easy. Octopus in Hawaii do have beaks that are used for cracking various shells open. However handling octopus shouldn't be a problem, they only use their beaks for dinner time.( very rarely do octopus bite, they usually just try to swim away after inking you)

Be aware that parts of these reefs are a slight distance away from the mooring lines used by the boats. Therefore any ascent away from the main mooring line is extremely dangerous. The proximity to the boat channel should be a concern

 

With parasail boats and weekend warrior fishermen speeding around the potential for a serious injury is unfortunately present. Dive boats, pleasure boats and sail boats for some strange reason like to cruise very close to us as if to say " hey I make monthly boat payments too !" Therefore do not ascent away from the mooring line, remember sail boats are very quite and you will not hear it coming.

Start making your return in the general direction of the dive boat at around 1000 PSI. This should allow you to return without making a surface ascent and give you plenty of time to check out some cool Hawaiian fish that you might have over looked before.  

In all, Nautilus is a great dive for beginners and experienced divers alike. Take your camera; I am sure you will get some great pictures. Don't forget , listen to your divemaster/instructor to get the most out of this dive. And as always , watch those gauges.

Thanks for visiting Oahudiving.Com scuba diving Oahu, Hawaii.

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