Early mooring buoys, both in Hawaii and elsewhere, usually consisted of cast concrete blocks with heavy lock and chain that proved to be neither aesthetically pleasing nor utilitarian. Some may even have caused more damage than they prevented, by smashing into coral reefs during storm events.

Our day use moorings are an adaptation of the Halas method, developed specifically for Hawaii's hard lava substrata by the University of Hawaii's Sea Grant Program and Institute of Geophysics.

The modern mooring buoy consists of a 5/8 inch stainless steel eye bolt about 18 inches long that is cemented into the reef substrate in a 1-inch drilled hole, or a specialized galvanized steel unit that is driven deep into a sandy or soft bottom. Attached to the fixed eye, which is all that protrudes from the otherwise pristine reef or bottom area, is a polypropylene mooring rope (occasionally replaced with cable for larger boats), and the whole rig is topped off with a mooring float. In Hawaii, the buoy is placed about 10-ft. below the surface for aesthetic reasons.

Installing Pin Moorings. Please click on the photos below for a larger view.

Photo Credits
Jack's Diving Locker
Dive Makai
UH Sea Grant
Ellyn Tong