kauaibound

I am planning on doing a significant amount of snorkeling and scuba diving on my upcoming trip to Kauai. I know that this is probably a stupid question, but what have your experiences been with sharks (I am particularily frightened of tigers) I know that river mouths are a good place to stay away from, but in general which areas are known to be bad?

Gekko

I've been a scuba diver for 25 years (also an instructor for several) and you're more likely to die in the shower than from sharks.

That being said, sharks generally hunt at dusk & at night, so you might want to confine your aquatic activities to daytime.

flyfaraway

i've been snorkeling twice in Kauai, and I've never seen Sharks..but i also didn't go deep into the water.

logandog

They mostly feed at night on the shallow reefs or when there is cover from detection. Murky water and early mornings are risky.
I've been diving in Maui for years and have only seen white-tip reef sharks. I have never seen any advertising or listings for night dives in Maui, a common activity in other dive areas.

JohnD

Reply to logandog,
I'm just a snorkeler, but came across this and other listings with a search:http://www.scubadivemaui.com/ratelist.html#NIGHT DIVES

Al_LaCarte

kauaibound,

Shark: Any of numerous chiefly marine carnivorous fishes of the class Chondrichthyes (subclass Elasmobranchii), which are sometimes large and voracious and have a streamlined torpedolike body.

Tiger: A large carnivorous feline mammal (Panthera tigris) of Asia, having a tawny coat with transverse black stripes

I think the chances of you running across a tiger while diving are pretty slim!


AL

beentheretwice

Umm, my only advice is to NOT watch "Open Water" before going....

wagonwheel

I second the vote for NOT watching "Open Water" before going.

After seeing it I have decided that only a frigate size ship will do to be out on the water !

lucienne78

Al La Carte: Was that a joke? She's referring to tiger sharks not tigers.

JohnD

Huh?
I thought "Open Water" was in the Caribbean

Wouldn't the water be too deep for scuba in the Hawaiian "Open Waters"

anela

The surfer that was killed last year on Maui was surfing around dusk at a storm drain outlet in very muddy water. So the previous post about dusk and murky water holds true. Also I believe that it was pretty shallow at that beach

Rusty

Those who have had extremely unpleasant shark encounters will not be posting here.

kauaibound

okay... I appreciate all of your amusing and helpful info. I have been in water all of my life, but for some reason this fear has made its way to the surface. I guess that what my real problem is is that I am staying near the end of the road in Anini (shallow reef, near channel) and I would like to be able to go out from the rental house and just snorkel. Do you think that I will be okay?

JohnD

Haven't snorkeled at Anini, but have snorkeled north (e.g. Hideaways, Princeville/HBR Beach, & @ Ke`e) and south of there (e.g. Lydgate, Poipu, Salt Pond) and have not seen sharks, but have heard of other sightings and attacks on the north, east and west shores of Kaua`i. The way we knew that a shark sighting had occured was by reading the warning signs posted on the beaches.

There is some shark attack data for 2003 listed on the website below and interestingly more attacks occured off the coast of Florida than Hawaii.
www.scubaradio.com/gsaf/gsaf2003.cfm

Other posters here have suggested that in addition to hanging out on a surfboard, it is also may be risky to snorkel after turtles, dolphins, or to spearfish.

weimer

I agree with Gekko. Don't go alone and be aware of your suroundings. Chances are prety good that after a week of snorkeling, you will see a few sharks -the small ones are always on the reefs.

I think the roads are more dangerous than the sharks.