Staying Home Sucks, home
Waikiki Coast, Honolulu (503280)
Turtle Canyon. Photo: Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Turtle Canyon

Dive site · United States

Open Water divers and up

Scored for Advanced divers

Is it worth the trip?

83Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

Best on Sun 8: Sea 0.6 m, Visibility over 30 m, Water 26 °C

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 81 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
16 kn
Gusts
22kn
Air
26°C

Tue 3 · 83 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
15 kn
Gusts
19kn
Air
26°C

Wed 4 · 82 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
16 kn
Gusts
20kn
Air
26°C

Thu 5 · 81 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
15 kn
Gusts
20kn
Air
26°C

Fri 6 · 83 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
15 kn
Gusts
19kn
Air
26°C

Sat 7 · 82 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
16 kn
Gusts
22kn
Air
25°C

Sun 8 · 84 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
14 kn
Gusts
19kn
Air
26°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 183, good
  2. Mon 281, good
  3. Tue 383, good
  4. Wed 482, good
  5. Thu 581, good
  6. Fri 683, good
  7. Sat 782, good
  8. Sun 884, good
  9. Mon 984, good
  10. Tue 1086, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 14 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Open Waterand up
  • Water 26 °C3 mm wetsuit
  • Faces SWswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at Turtle Canyon
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Sun 1Nov83, good0.6 m2 kn6kn26°C
Mon 2Nov81, good0.7 m16 kn22kn26°C
Tue 3Nov83, good0.6 m15 kn19kn26°C
Wed 4Nov82, good0.6 m16 kn20kn26°C
Thu 5Nov81, good0.7 m15 kn20kn26°C
Fri 6Nov83, good0.7 m15 kn19kn26°C
Sat 7Nov82, good0.7 m16 kn22kn25°C
Sun 8Nov84, good0.6 m14 kn19kn26°C
Mon 9Nov84, good0.6 m14 kn19kn25°C
Tue 10Nov86, good0.6 m13 kn17kn25°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovLow 00:58 −0.2 mHigh 09:04 +0.3 mLow 16:59 −0.2 mHigh 22:36 −0.0 m
  • Mon 2 NovLow 02:48 −0.1 mHigh 10:13 +0.3 mLow 17:39 −0.2 mHigh 23:54 +0.1 m
  • Tue 3 NovLow 04:43 −0.1 mHigh 11:16 +0.3 mLow 18:13 −0.2 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

No month stands out

Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan6of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb6of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May7of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug7of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep7of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov6of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
  12. Dec6of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.

Map

the site, its town, photos

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Photos of Turtle Canyon

Hawaiian Sunset. Waikiki beach.
Near Turtle Canyon. Photo: Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
Waikiki Beach - panoramio - tower10
Near Turtle Canyon. Photo: tower10, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Hilton Hawaiian Village from sea, Rainbow tower - panoramio
Near Turtle Canyon. Photo: verygreen, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

More diving near here

5 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Turtle Canyon

A reef dive. It goes down to 14 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces SW: swell from the SW reaches it, and wind from the NE blows out to sea. 4 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 1.4 km away. The sea is about 25°C in January, its coldest month (3 mm wetsuit), and 27°C in August, its warmest (3 mm wetsuit). The town to stay in is Honolulu. Within 5 km we also list 23 surf spots, 3 wind sports spots and 5 dive sites.

  • What it is Reef.
  • How deep Down to 14 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres 4 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 1.4 km away.

Water about 26°C: 3 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility over 30 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Apr, May, Jul and Oct (over 30 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,140–US$2,160 each

about US$1,140–US$2,160 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn ORD to HNL, estimated from distance and season, 2 airlines on the route, with a hold bagabout US$476–US$985
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$20–US$40
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$301–US$502
Food7 days eating outabout US$342–US$636
Totalabout US$1,140–US$2,160

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Honolulu

Closest

Honolulu

7 min by car · 51 places to stay

about US$114/nightcountry average

See 51 places to stay in Honolulu · Booking.com

About Honolulu its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$114 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 12h

About 12h door to door from Chicago

Fly ORD → HNL, direct, then 30 min by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Animals divers and surveys have recorded within 2 km of this site in the last 15 years. A record says someone saw it here, not that you will.

  • Lavender Tang Acanthurus nigrofuscus

    Seen in 28 records, mostly Jun to Aug.

  • Boomerang triggerfish Sufflamen bursa

    Seen in 22 records, mostly Jun to Aug.

  • Saddle wrasse Thalassoma duperrey

    Seen in 18 records, mostly Jun to Aug.

  • White-spotted Puffer Canthigaster jactator

    Seen in 15 records, mostly Jun to Aug.

  • Banded Goatfish Parupeneus multifasciatus

    Seen in 13 records, mostly Jun to Aug.

  • Pycnochromis vanderbilti

    Seen in 13 records, mostly Jun to Jul.

  • Pink wrasse Pseudojuloides cerasinus

    Seen in 12 records, mostly Jul to Aug.

  • Gendarme Fish Acanthurus olivaceus

    Seen in 11 records, mostly Jun.

  • Clown Tang Naso lituratus

    Seen in 11 records, mostly Jun to Aug.

  • Two-spot wrasse Oxycheilinus bimaculatus

    Seen in 11 records, mostly Jun to Jul.

  • Rhinecanthus rectangulus

    Seen in 11 records, mostly Jun.

  • Arc-eye Hawkfish Paracirrhites arcatus

    Seen in 9 records.

Records: OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, IOC-UNESCO), from the datasets named here, CC0 and CC BY records only. Names: WoRMS, through OBIS; common names from Wikidata. Largest datasets here: NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division, National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of reef fish in the U.S. Pacific Islands; A photographically-vouchered global citizen science dataset of sea slugs (Mollusca: Heterobranchia) from the SEASLUG.WORLD platform since 2015. Credits

This week: visibility about 25 m, greener than usual (satellite plankton reading, 24 Oct). Estimated from the month's typical visibility and this week's satellite chlorophyll against the site's normal; heavy rain before a dive can still muddy it.

The current no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.