Do note that this approach may very well DOUBLE your cost to get certified...
- Many "local/home" shops charge the same for an OW course whether you do the OW dives with them or not. (Sometimes it might be a few bucks cheaper, but not much; though I've also heard of those shops charging you a few dollars to process the referral paperwork.)
- Most "resort" dive ops (especially in Hawaii) charge about the same (or sometimes more) for referral dives as your "local/home" shop charges for the full OW course.
In fact a quick google search reveals...
- Bamboo Reef Scuba in San Francisco charges $349 for the full course, including four OW dives.
- Lahaina Divers in Maui charges $349 for just the four OW checkout dives.
So if you do the full course at home it will cost you $349 to get certified. However, if you do academics and confined water at home, and then do referral checkouts in Maui it will cost you $698 to get certified.
Personally, I would consider fully completing your full OW course at home, and then simply DIVING when you get to Hawaii. When I got certified years ago, I had planned to do referral dives in Hawaii. However, after talking to a few folks I decided that instead of "wasting" great Hawaiian dives doing mask skills, CESA's, etc I opted to get certified BEFORE going to Hawaii. Then, when I went to Hawaii I did my AOW in Maui...
Ray