Haleiwa: North Shore Shark Cage Diving Experience｜United States

Begin your adventure by meeting your guides, Kala and Makua, both Native Hawaiian big wave surfers and professional watermen. As you motor just three miles out from Hale‘iwa, listen to stories about the shark God Kamohoali`i and learn about the cultural significance of sharks in Hawaiian history.

Once you reach the dive site, enter the cage and come face-to-face with the sacred and culturally significant mano (shark), a powerful apex predator. Hawai‘i is home to approximately 40 different shark species, all of which serve as caretakers of the ocean by removing sick, injured, and deceased animals, thus maintaining a balanced ecosystem.

Not only are sharks essential players in healthy marine life populations, they are ‘aumākua to many Hawaiians— a family god, a deified ancestor rebirthed in shark form. There are many beautiful legends in Hawaiian history of sharks acting as spiritual counselors, protecting family members from drowning, or aiding in food supply to fishing families, and even a central figure in the Hawaiian Islands’ creation story.

Learn that when sharks were killed in ancient times, the shark’s skin was used to make drums for music and cultural ceremonies, the teeth were used to make traditional weapons like clubs—everything was used and the mana (energy) would live on in other forms.