Tom’s Tips – Oahu Shark Diving Tours

Aug 5, 2022 | Activity Information

Our Oahu Shark Cage tour page tends to illicit a sharp reaction from our visitors. This is an activity that splits the general public right down the middle. Either they are so excited about it that they can’t wait to make a booking or there is no way on God’s green earth that they would ever consider doing this. Evidently there are enough people on the first side of the equation that have an interest in doing this because these tours are very often completely sold out so please make your bookings early.

A couple recurrent challenges we continue to have with these tours have to do with their location on the North Shore. The first challenge deals with the fact that not everyone has a rental vehicle allowing them to drive out there on their own. Transportation can be provided but it’s an additional cost to the tour. Secondly, the wind and wave conditions can be difficult along that shoreline (after all the North Shore is the place that is known for the monster surf you see in the surf magazines). We have had instances recently where they have had to shut down due to surf conditions for four of five days straight. The wind can also be a problem and that can cancel trips as well. If this is the case the high winds will generally occur in the later mornings or early afternoon.

So here is the takeaway. If you want to book this activity please make your booking early and set it up for as early in the day as you can. Remember that Haleiwa Harbor is about an hour drive from Waikiki so you will need to factor in drive time. Regarding the wave conditions, there is really nothing you can do. If it happens it happens. If you were waiting until you were assured that the waves will be good for a period of time in the near future, you would not be able to get on anyway because you would have waited too long to make the booking and it would be sold out. Generally speaking however, the big surf comes in the winter months with the summer months being less effected by difficult surf conditions (however the wind can still present a problem so you want to book those early morning departure times).