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Blackwater Diving Experience
Looking for a more advanced dive? Blackwater diving is a unique night dive that will take you miles offshore where you will hang, suspended from a 60ft tether over 4000ft of water to watch open ocean pelagic animals drift by. You will be part of the world’s largest migration of animals. You’ll have the opportunity to see animals ranging from perfectly clear larval fish and invertebrates to siphonophores, and even cephalopods (octopus & squid) out in the deep. If you want to observe something you have never seen before, this is the dive for you! Our divemasters are still surprised by new and exciting creatures in the deep.
Dive Requirements
- This dive is for a confident diver that has excellent buoyancy skills and is self-reliant
- You must have at least 50 logged dives to join us on this adventurous dive
- You must have been diving within the last 6 months (pool refreshers do not qualify)
- 18 or older – under 18 considered with a JOW Rescue Diver Certification
- You must be in good health and have NO heart conditions
- You must be able to converse in English
- You must remember there are other guests on board that are looking for a premium experience so our standards MUST be met. Kindly be a responsible and considerate diver and respect these standards.
What to bring?
- Seasickness and anti-nausea medication is highly recommended for this dive due to the higher than normal motion as well as lack of objects to help coordinate motion.
- A full wetsuit with a hood will help protect the body from jellies floating by
- A BCD with a bladder. This will better allow you to achieve the neutral buoyancy necessary to hover effortlessly among the pelagic critters leading to a longer lasting and more enjoyable dive.
- For photographers: A macro lens (50-60mm for crop sensor and 90mm for full frame) and a strong bright light
Listen to Experiences You Should Have Podcast to learn more about the Blackwater dive in Kona!
“I’m told I’m first. The dude says “GO” and I suddenly see my fins flip over my head, quickly followed by a beam of light, and SPLASH, I hit the water and begin to sink into the abyss. It’s just about 8:30 pm and the only thing between me and the bottom of the ocean is a water column of 3000 feet. There is no reef. It’s pitch black, save for my dive light, and the only point of reference is a nylon cord tied to the boat with a weight hanging off it at 45 feet. I am tethered to this line by another 3 foot tether so I don’t sink to the bottom….I watch my bubbles rise in a shaft of light as I adjust my buoyance to neutral so I can float around 25 feet below the boat. I wrestle with my dive light, camera, inflator hose, depth gage, octo, and tether, trying to keep them from tangling in each other while slowing my breathing down to the pace of a zen buddha master, and clearing my ears at the same time. It’s a lot to keep track of in the total darkness of the Pacific. My dive torch immediately attracts plankton and soon out of the murky depths bioluminescence creatures appear to feast upon said plankton. This is the coolest thing I have ever done. We see Boliopis Vitrex, Cestum Vererus, Nanmia CF Bijuga, Club Hooked and Purple Beaked Flying Squid, and Pelagic Sea Horses. Its hard to describe the sensation of this dive, watching Sea Horses the size of my pinky float by, or watching neon blinking gelatinous creatures pulsate in and out of view, or watching color-changing squid leave trails of ink in their wake. The pictures can’t begin to relate the 1000 words needed to explain what I have seen. Amazing, Out of this World, Rad, Creepy…. Oh the weird and wonderful! After 63 minutes I surface and have problems communicating with human life after seeing all the glow in the dark alien creatures. 6 excited divers shared photos on the ride back to shore and the knowledge that we are the few in the world to experience these creatures in their natural environment. Our Dive Guide Jeff Milisen literally wrote the book for this kind of Blackwater Diving and we bought an autographed copy as a souvenir. I can’t recommend the team at Kona Honu Divers enough! They are both professional and fun. The dive briefings were outstanding. If they were doing another Blackwater Dive during the time of my trip I’d gladly jump on board!”
– Beth Castroll, May 30, 2021
Directions to the Boat
About Black Water Diving
The blackwater dive Kona’s most unique dive is only available off the western coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Other dive operators around the world have begun offering their own versions of this dive after Kona created it but they don’t have the depth offshore and the abundance of marine life we have here in Kona. Between the alien-looking creatures and large animals, Kona’s blackwater is tops in the world.
If you’ve dove the manta ray night dive and Kona’s reefs this is a completely different experience from anything you’ve dove before. Imagine floating in outer space with alien creatures drifting gently by. From the fast moving squid to the bobbing jellies and twitching larval fish there’s an abundance of life in the water as the world’s largest migration of sea creatures travels the distance from to depths to feed and visit the shallows. Many of these animals are adapted to live in the dark depths of the ocean and never touch the bottom. They grow special appendages to float in the dark sea. The blackwater dive Kona is one of the most unique opportunities to see these elusive organisms
While it’s rare, it’s possible to be visited by large animals on this open ocean dive. We’ve encountered, dolphins, sharks, billfish, and even whale sharks! While it’s rare to see large creatures when you so spot one it makes for a sincerely memorable experience. Fortunately, the small critters more than make up for the lack of large pelagics as there can be a soup of creatures floating by. With so much to look at it’s difficult to choose a critter to focus on.
The blackwater dive Kona requires excellent buoyancy skills as there is little to orient to. You’ll be tethered to a 60-foot (18-meter) line to keep you near the boat but your depth can be a challenge to control with no immediate point of reference as you drift miles offshore in the dark, clear, warm Hawaiian waters. It’s a good idea to wear a wetsuit as it’s possible to encounter jellies floating by. We’ll provide you a bright light to find the critters and our divemaster, an expert at finding creatures will point out anything worth looking at.
Our divemasters are some of the best in the world having done hundreds of blackwater dives counting critters for science and collecting new specimens for identification. We will also host scientific expeditions to collect animals for scientific discovery. While it doesn’t happen every night we do find new species on occasion. One of our divemasters has even written the definitive guide on blackwater diving! KOna Honu Divers specializes in this unique dive offering the most skilled crew to ensure you have the most unique and enjoyable experience underwater.
Frequently Asked Questions
The ‘Blackwater Dive’ was developed in Hawaii. It requires the diver to be out at night in deep water. The deeper the water the better. This enables the diver to see the largest migration of animals on the planet. Every night billions of animals from the ocean depths move to the shallows. This means that while the bottom of the ocean may be incredibly deep the diver only has to be near the surface to experience the majesty of what this dive brings to the surface.
In our blackwater dives we secure the diver to the boat with a tether that allows the diver to drift securely with the boat and venture from to surface to 60 feet (20 meters) deep while observing some really interesting and often strange-looking creatures.
Strange and unique creatures are the highlight of this dive. Pelagic, or open ocean, critters including squid, larval animals from the reef, and jelly-like creatures that drift with the current.
The most common animals spotted can be:
- Jelly-like animals (Salps, comb jellies, siphonophores)
- Cephalopods (squid and octopus)
- Larval Fish
- Seahorses
- Larval Crabs & Lobster
While rare, it is possible to spot a large animals such as dolphins, sharks, or even billfish! Only the luckiest of divers has seen the elusive cookie cutter shark. Some of the cutest critters often spotted include the bobtail squid (pictured above), baby Thornback Cowfish, and the endemic Pelagic Seahorse.