Going ship wreck diving Hawaii? Dive Oahu and you will soon hear about "the Y-O", the Yo-257 is perhaps Oahu's best shipwreck scuba dive. And certainly the busiest located right off of Diamondhead State Park Hawaii. This shipwreck dive is the perfect place for a Hawaii scuba diving adventure.
Originally commissioned in the 40s, the Yo-257 was a Navy refueling vessel that proudly served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. It was sunk in 1989 by the Atlantis Submarine Group in an effort to further improve their submarine tour. This had the unexpected benefit of opening up Oahu's south shore like nothing else!
YO-257
The Yo-257 was built in Puget Sounds Washington in the 1940s for the US Navy. She held approximately 200,000 gallons of fuel and was responsible for refueling battleship groups out at sea. Furthermore this old boat proudly served in the WW2, Korean and Vietnam War Theater. With a length of 165 feet and plenty of area to penetrate, the YO is full of surprises. Do you think they would have ever thought this would be a Hawaii shipwreck and a popular dive in Oahu? Ok Hawaii wreck for you hardcore shipwreck scuba divers. The boat ride out to the yo-257 shipwreck dive site takes around 15 minutes from the Kewalo Boat Basin. The ride itself can be a bit rough due to the location of where the yo-257 shipwreck lays at however most of the time it's fairly smooth sailing. Listen to the instructor well; the yo-257 can be a tricky dive. Currents are extremely strong here at times.
Once moored and
ready to go, enter the water then immediately surface swim to
the mooring line. Like I said before the currents can be very
strong. As a matter of fact scuba diving this shipwreck during a
full-moon cycle will have you feeling like a flag on a flagpole!
We skip these days and usually decide on the
Mahi
shipwreck or the
Sea Tiger.
Boat Dive
Vis 70-100 feet
Temp 75-81 F
Max depth 115
Average depth 85
Do not attempt to free decent this
scuba dive
-current can be very strong.
Penetrating the shipwreck is very easy, however
there are a few precautions to be aware of. Be sure to have all your gauges, octopus and other dive related equipment tucked into your BCD before entering the wreck. Pay close attention to the pieces of bent steel all around you. This wreck is very sharp! Even the barnacles are razor sharp!
As far as marine life to be careful of I would honestly say
eels, urchins and the occasional
crown-of-thorns sratfish. Some of the marine life that frequents the YO can be anything from eels to tiger sharks. We have personally seen mantas, tiger sharks,
Galapagos sharks,
white tip reef sharks, dolphins, barracuda, ono and plenty of turtles. I have heard from reputable sources that even Hawaiian monk seals and whales have been spotted here. So in short like I always so it’s like rolling the dice, you never know what you will encounter.
Bottom times on the
yo-257 can vary. The deepest parts of the YO is around 115 feet and the shallowest parts are around 65- 80 feet. A nice all-around 20 minute bottom time should cover you for the dive and leave you with enough nitrogen in your system to accomplish a second dive to 40-60 feet after doing a 30 minute surface interval. Watch your air. Get back on the mooring line around 1000 psi , this will leave you with enough air for the accent and safety stop for 3-5 minutes.
Don't do the 500PSI sprint-for-your-life return. There is no
room for mistakes here.
In all, the YO-257 wreck is a great dive! This is definitely an advanced dive. Watch those gauges and enjoy!
One more thing , as I mentioned earlier. The
Atlantis Submarine cruises around this wreck all day long. Stay well clear of this submarine, it does have several props that could potentially suck you in. The submarine can not stop like a car so if you are in the path promptly swim out of the way , NOT UNDER
(EXTREMELY HEAVY TRIM WEIGHT SLED) OR OVER (2 MID THRUSTERS
COULD SUCK YOU IN OR SHOOT YOU TO THE SURFACE).
So what are you
waiting for? Lets scuba dive the
yo-257 ? Call OAHU
DIVING .COM at 808-721-4210 or request information
SCUBA REQUEST
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