Puako Church

Wow! So many lava tubes and caverns and pukas. Awesome structure! Slide into one hole, out and through another. And turtles everywhere. I dove here 4 times, two different days and never saw another diver. My wife and I had this romantic, secluded beach all to ourselves. This is what diving Hawaii is all about. The dirt road down to the beach has been closed, so there is now a short hump of your gear, which may be why we had the place to ourselves (easier access a mile down at Puako Village End). Also, at low tide, the swim over the shallow reef through the surf can definitely be a challenge. And it is a long way out to the drop-off and the good structure. There are buoys planted out there, and the best stuff is between them. On the second time we went here, while enjoying a lunch of left-over ono on Hawaiian Sweet Bread between dives, we saw humpback whales playing out about 200 yards beyond he reef. Then during my second dive, I could hear the whale's song for the entire dive. Wonderful! I kept waiting for one to swim up and visit me, but no such luck. On the way back in, I saw the biggest Morey I'd ever seen. Out of 16 dives in 8 days at 9 different sites, this was my favorite dive.