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Dive Hawaii: Scuba Diving Hawaii Volcanoes

| Published On November 22, 2010
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In this underwater photography gallery, explore how the violent creativity of Hawaii's volcanoes has created a bounty of scuba diving adventures on Maui, Lanai and Molokai.


READ MORE: The 50 Best Dive Sites in the World


scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

Lanai's Second Cathedral dive site is the result of molten rock exploding in the ocean.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

Tracing Maui's last lava flow to its azure terminus, La Perouse Bay.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

Pur'u Pehe, or "Sweetheart Rock,' is just one of the many dramatic volcanic features on Lanai.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

Scuba diving the shadowy interior of Lanai's famed First Cathedral, a dive site as aptly named as they come.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

Countless black-eyed squirrelfish and other shy, shelter-loving species are on display in Lanai's First Cathedral.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

With enclaves on every side lined with shelves and deep crevices encrusted with carpet sponges, Lanai's First Cathedral is the perfect environment for shelter-loving species like the hairy yellow hermit crab.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

The longfin anthia is just one of the fish species that scuba divers may encounter in Hawaii's many volcanic-created dive sites.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

The best way to reap the benefits of Maui's volcanic origins is by getting underwater, and Molokini, the submerged caldera of a once-active volcano, is the place to start.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

Whitetip sharks lurk in the shelves and crevices of Lanai's First Cathedral.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

A green sea turtle in Hawaii

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

The current-swept location of the Black Wall — one of Hawaii's most famous and most popular dive sites — gives it the alluring promise that something rare and impressive could show up any time, from burly tiger sharks to graceful manta rays and even massive whale sharks.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

Damselfish gather on the reef off Hawaii

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

Sometimes schooling by the hundreds, Molokai's scalloped hammerhead sharks are a main attraction for divers.

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scuba diving hawaii volcanoes

Ornate leaf scorpionfish are just one of the awesome inhabitants scuba divers encounter at Shark Fin Rock, an ancient lava flow formation off Lanai's west coast.

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