DETAILS

• **Average Water Temperature: **Mid-70s F in winter, low 80s in summer
• What to Wear: 5 mm wetsuit in winter, 3 mm or shorty in summer and fall
• Average Viz: 80 to 150 feet
• When to Go: The winter months feature migrating humpbacks; summer months have warmer water temps.

MAIN ATTRACTIONS

• **Pelagic Magic: **Journey 3 miles offshore — where it’s more than a mile deep — for a night dive with weird creatures you might never see anywhere else.
• **Kona Mantas: **Easily one of the world’s best night dives, dozens of mantas come in to feed on plankton. The buildup is almost as much fun as the dive itself.
• **Devil’s Doorway: **Steep, sloping reef covered in hard corals, the highlights are the fish, with schooling raccoon butterflyfish preying on damsel eggs, and Moorish idols in the blue.

TRAINING

• **Night Diver: **Two of the world’s coolest night dives are here. Learn more, enjoy more. Go to padi.com for more info.

CAN'T MISS NONDIVING ADVENTURES

• **Summit Mauna Kea: **Bring your own parka and rent a car for the three-hour drive to the peak of Mauna Kea, or pay a little extra for a comfortable bus ride to the top — where they’ll have blankets, parkas and hot chocolate to warm you up. (Because of the height, you’ll need to summit Mauna Kea before you start diving.) harpershawaii.com
• **Ride the Lava: **It’s a fast, bumpy and spray-filled 30-minute boat ride along Hawai’i’s southeast coast to the spot where lava from Kilauea enters the Pacific. Better than the hike in because you get close enough to feel the heat, smell the sulfur, see the crackling “logs” of lava, and are back in time for happy hour. lavaocean.com
• **Whale Watchers: **From December through March, humpback whales migrate along Hawai’i’s west coast. If the weather is good, you’ll have a tough time finding a better way to spend your dry day (although you might get a little wet). captainzodiac.com

Want more? An Inside Look at Big Island Diving | Hawaii Destination Guide