Haleiwa, Hawaii, United States

Sharks Cove

Sharks Cove is a small lava-rock cove on the North Shore of Oahu, inside the Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District where fishing and collecting are prohibited. The cove is protected from prevailing trade-wind swell by an offshore reef and is dive-able only in the summer months from roughly May to September; in winter, the famous Banzai Pipeline swell wraps in and the site becomes dangerous. The name refers not to live sharks but to the cove's shape from above. Underwater the reef is a maze of arches, caves, lava tubes and ledges from 3 to 14 metres of depth, with a sand-floored amphitheatre on the outer edge. Resident species include green sea turtles, white tip reef sharks resting in the lava tubes, octopus, schools of yellow tang, milletseed butterflyfish, parrotfish and the Hawaiian state fish, the humuhumunukunukuapua'a (reef triggerfish). Entry is over slick lava rocks; reef shoes and a calm-day window are essential.