The island of Niihau is nicknamed "The Forbidden Island" for good reason -- casual tourists aren't allowed to go there. Lying at the western end of the major Hawaiian Islands chain a couple hours sail to the southwest from Kauai, Niihau is thus sufficiently off the beaten path to ensure minimal human impact on the ocean environment and much more sea creatures in the water for divers who can make it out that far. Next-door Lehua Rock is the Niihau equivalent of Molokini crater and provides exception vertical wall diving. It is without doubt the best scuba diving site in the state of Hawaii.

Combining the two hours to sail there, two hours to get back, three separate dives, and the required surface intervals in between, dive trips to Niihau & Lehua Rock are all-day affairs. But surely the effort is worth it. Lonely Lehua Rock is dramatic enough from above the waterline as layers of lava sediment from eons past are clearly visible.

---------------------------------------

We sailed from Kauai to Lehua Rock at dawn. The light from the early-morning sunrise pierces the water here with the perfect angle to create a breathtaking other-worldly effect; descending into the depths here was like lowering oneself onto a curtain of shimmering light. Visibility was an astounding 200 feet as we followed the shafts of light lower, creating feelings of near free fall and vertigo.

---------------------------------------

The stacked layers of lava are visible and pronounced even far beneath the ocean surface. Gliding along the massive lava protrusions made all of us feel so small; it was like happening by chance upon the ruins of an ancient civilization.

---------------------------------------

From the moment one enters the water, one is surrounded by teeming sea life. Massive schools of pennant butterflyfish near the surface give way to larger life forms as we go lower. Eventually, we encounter swarms of gray reef sharks that keep everyone's adrenaline on high.

---------------------------------------

Diving off Niihau brought me face to face for the first time with one of Hawaii's signature marine mammals, the endangered Hawaiian Monk seal. We saw so many of these throughout the day that it was hard to believe they are rare everywhere else in the state. They are curious creatures; often a seal would swim down to us just to observe what we were looking at.

---------------------------------------

Niihau Arches is a dive site known for numerous caves and swim-throughs.

---------------------------------------

So-called "TV Cave" for the enchanting effect that can be had by swimming into the cave to the far back wall, then turning around to face a giant rectangle of blue ocean. You can relax and watch the underwater world pass by.

---------------------------------------

Emerging from the back of TV Cave at the end of the dive day with the perfect exclamation point on how marvelous diving here can be: a family of four spotted eagle rays glide by in graceful, perfect unison.