Diving Oahu And Kona

[Zeke XA3]

Sooo, planning a lot of diving in the next few months and first stop is Hawaii, any advice, thoughts etc will be welcomed

Im landing at 6am in May in Honolulu after that i have soo many options.

I want to dive the North Shore for the lava tubes (been told these are the best), any recommendations? Ive taken a look at websites but seem a little hard to find times without booking on a few, can i get 4 dives in in a day? A lot seem to have 7-11ish dives and 10 -2 dives so i could only get one double tanker in! Id look at spending 2 days diving on the north shore.

I will be in Honolulu / Waikiki for a few days too, if i go straight from the airport.....could i make a 10am dive? how far is the airport from Waikiki travel wise, i found one place doing a 1pm shallow dive? And of course is it worth diving south shore? I love my wrecks, and i love my little things (and caves etc but dont think any on the south side??). Not so fussed about white tips,turtles etc.

Im dropping an email to Ocean Legends out of Honolulu they seem to offer very cheap shore dives ($65 for 2 tank compared to others at $100+) as well as lava tube dives and tech friendly.

After that diving and a day at Pearl Harbor ill be heading to the Big Island for the Manta ray night dive and black water dives. My operator will depend on days as i can only find two of them and they do the Manta/black on different days but want to give myself the chance to do it twice in case it is bad weather or i really like it. So maybe up to a week there with some volcano viewing etc thrown in. Any other must see dive sites around Kona? and/or tech friendly outfits, i found an old thread from 2008 on here and cant find much on google.

Thanks in advance!

Z

 

[jonhall]

Here's a copy and paste of what I wrote in another thread related to this:

"As a diver, I did the Manta Ray Night SNORKEL because of who I was with. Tried to imagine at the time if the dive would have been better. Think the only difference is you're going to see the rays coming down as opposed to up. Not a big difference to me. There will be many more snorkelers than divers, so more crowded at surface. Still I got great pictures and video at the surface. Diving has you pretty much resting on the bottom; not really a dive as you basically stay in one place. You also will save about $30 a person by snorkeling. Don't think you get anything better by diving."

In case it wasn't one of your operators, Jack's Diving Locker, in Kona, does both dives (manta and black water) on different days.

Be optimistic - count on good weather as Kona is on the non-rainy side of island. Golden Arches was a nice dive in Kona for me, but that's only because about 100 spinner dolphins swam by and about 6 broke away and swam to within 15-20 feet of me.

 

[IslandDiversHI]

Friday May 6th, two tank night dive with one wreck and a reef - fireworks too. Out of Honolulu Scuba Company
Sunday May 8th - 3 tanker - 2 wrecks and a drift - Island Divers or Honolulu Scuba Company
These might suit - but as you said - lots of option on Oahu.

 

[Zeke XA3]

Thanks Jonhall, i kinda like the idea of one of each so one trip ill dive and the second ill snorkel, best of both maybe!

IslandDiverHI, sounds good but i dont land till 22nd!But will check out both those companies.

 

[kerrycorcoran]

Will be watching this post. The wife wants to head to Hawaii and this should be some good information so we can get in some good diving while there.

 

[DeltaBruin]

I had a great time with Kaimana Divers. They go out of Waikiki and will pick you up I believe. Great company. My profile pic is from Turtle Canyon on Oahu.

 

[AZTinman]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but the night manta dive is an incredible experience. Yes, divers are sitting or on their knees on the bottom. Mantas typically engage in close passes over or through the groups of divers. I didn't mind when they rubbed their bellies on my head or top of my camera rig. Occasionally, getting smacked in the head by their wings didn't bother me a bit.

I've never done the night snorkel with mantas so I don't know how that thing goes. If you're a diver and on the Big Island, I highly recommend the night dive with mantas. I'll be there in July and plan to do the dive twice.

I've never done the blackwater dive. I thought about it, but was dissuaded when another diver told me he crapped in his wetsuit when some Oceanic Whitetips showed up. He obviously survived and was no worse for wear other than needing to clean his wetsuit throughly after the experience. (LOL) I'm sure his experience was not the norm!

-AZTinman

 

[diversteve]

if i go straight from the airport.....could i make a 10am dive? how far is the airport from Waikiki travel wise,

20-30 min. Also factor in the car rental shuttle as some of the lots are along H1 just NE of the airport.
And the tour buses loading in Waikiki early morning but that's pretty efficiently managed.

 

[Oldbear]

Friday May 6th, two tank night dive with one wreck and a reef - fireworks too. Out of Honolulu Scuba Company
Sunday May 8th - 3 tanker - 2 wrecks and a drift - Island Divers or Honolulu Scuba Company
These might suit - but as you said - lots of option on Oahu.

I would like to try and make the Friday night dive...my wife finishes her class on Wheeler that day so we shall see

 

[IslandDiversHI]

The Friday night dive is actually a 2 tanker, dusk and night. Been filling up lately with the rebreather students. Probably a good idea to book ahead. 808 220 0577 is the shop running that charter.

I would like to try and make the Friday night dive...my wife finishes her class on Wheeler that day so we shall see