Cave Diving at Pupukea (July 10, 2011)

Pupukea and Sharks Cove is a great place for people to scuba, snorkel, swim, or even just tan on the beach… and is quite well known for it’s sea caves.

The area is also a marine life conservation destrict (MLCD), where removal or harm of it’s inhabitants are regulated or restricted… and therefore is a great place to view a “more natural” abundances of coastal resources. The MLCD is located from the Wananapaoa Islets (West of Waimea) to Kulalua Point (East of Shark Cove).

In addition to the activities mentioned above, there is one less publicized, one many locals don’t even know about. The shoreline reef area contain several underwater sea caves of various lengths and depths.

Some are able to accessed by snorkeling/free-diving, while others require scuba.

Taking the opportunity to show that the Lost Trailblazers do not only get lost on land, we riled up the troops (Troy Takara, Lance Fujioka, and Jennifer Liu) and set out to conquer, video and photo the caves (not Jen Liu pictured, lol).

Being the first time here for everyone, aside from myself, I instructed the LTs to where the entrances and exits were for each cave… as well as how long they’d expect to hold their breaths for. Troy diving into “blue room,” a short 15-20 second swim (above).

Once in the cave, you will be amazed by the vivid blue color of the walls and floor of the cave coming from the opening on the other side.

Lost Trailblazers popping out on the north end of Blue Room at Pupukea MLCD.

The reverse route is just as fun, heading in the “mauka” or “mountainous,” inland direction.

There is entrance to another short cave near the exit of blue room (left), which exits into a large tidepool inside the reef… Jen Liu exiting (right).

Be careful if you do this one, it’s a tight squeeze and you can easily scrape yourself or hit your head on the roof of the cave.

The tidepool leads into a large pool that has several caves in it. Lance and troy ready to swim through another wormhole-like, deeper route (above).

I explain to my friend Lynne how the initial entrance was small, and how to invert oneself after getting down about 10-12 feet, and to use the cave ceiling to pull through…

and leads into a large pool to exit, not far from the start point. There are several cave entrance/exits in this larger pool, including Level 2 (right and in the first photo).

Jen, Troy and Lance at the start AND subsequent finish of the “Elevator” like caves. Level 1 (~20 ft) is just below Level 2 (~12 ft). If you feel ambitious and can hold your breath swimming > 60 seconds, you can loop/combine two caves (stay tuned for the video), haha!

Another “wormhole”-like and more challenging cave is located further down the coastline and requires you to dive down into a small, dark hole in the reef for about > 20 ft… In the darkness, you turn north and look for the blue light coming from the exit. You will have to hold your breath < 45 seconds on this one, depending on how fast you swim. The exit shouldn't be more than 25-30 feet on exit.
Lance and I inspecting the exit of “Elevator,” in < 30 ft in depth.
There are several other caves here,

…some which are not described above.

You may just have to find them for yourselves.

After we wrapped up the diving, it was time to pop open some ice-cold boddingtons and relax in the sunshine. What a great day. NOTE: Please exercise caution while consuming alcohol during physical activity. Alcohol can dehydrate you and affect your ability to hold your breath, as well as exhibit poor decision making… especially in the dark.

If you decide to do the sea caves, I’d highly recommend a guide or someone who has gone through the caves before. Make sure you are comfortable with your swimming ability and holding you breath under high anxiety. Holding your breath and swimming for 30 seconds is not the same as holding your breath and swimming through a cave for 30 seconds. Make sure to bring a well-fitted mask/snorkel, fins (shorter are better to push off cave walls and walk to some of the cave entrances in the reef), diving gloves, and maybe a rash-guard or wetsuit (to protect you from getting scratched). Be careful and have fun out there!!!

To view this location on a Google Map also known as my “Adventure Map“, Click Here. For more adventures of the Lost Trailblazers, either look at my other blogposts or “Adventures with the Lost Trailblazers” photo gallery.