Flying from Kona to Oahu

[OH2OD]

We are planning a dive trip to Kona in May 2008, but also want to travel to
Pearl Harbor one day. Does anyone have experience doing this?
Would we be better to fly to Oahu the first day after arriving or at end of trip?
We don't want to miss too many diving days.

Randall

 

[DiveWestOahu]

Aloha airlines is the prefered divers airlines because they pressurize their cabins to 2000ft, the fly persons with non life threatening dive injuries on Aloha for just that reason,,, personally i like "Hawaiian" airlines cause they got the convertable section!!

 

[KrisB]

Convertible section? What's that?

I've had good luck with go! airlines as well.

Remember that the no-fly refers to ascent above 1000' elevation, so while 2000' is better than 8000', you still need to heed the warnings.

 

[lawofgravity]

This is doable as a day trip. A LONG day trip but doable. Flights from Kona to Honolulu can be had for $39 O/W. At Honolulu airport, take a taxi or the #20 bus to Pearl Harbour (20-30 minutes). Whatever time you think you need at Pearl, double it because the later you are, the later your ticket is for the ferry over to the memorial. If you plan to see the Missouri (well worth it), add another 3-4 hours. Then take the taxi or bus back to the airport for your return flight. You have to factor in the no fly rule obviously, but try to do Pearl on a weekday. Good luck.

 

[KrisB]

This is doable as a day trip. A LONG day trip but doable. Flights from Kona to Honolulu can be had for $39 O/W. At Honolulu airport, take a taxi or the #20 bus to Pearl Harbour (20-30 minutes). Whatever time you think you need at Pearl, double it because the later you are, the later your ticket is for the ferry over to the memorial. If you plan to see the Missouri (well worth it), add another 3-4 hours. Then take the taxi or bus back to the airport for your return flight. You have to factor in the no fly rule obviously, but try to do Pearl on a weekday. Good luck.

If you watch for the seat sales, you can find airfare as low as $9 one-way. Sign up for the notices on the three inter-island carriers: Aloha, go! and Hawaiian.

If you'd rather not plan your itinerary, and money isn't a big deal, I believe Polynesian Adventure Tours offers some inter-island tours that include airfare, airport transfers, etc. to go visit the Pearl Harbour sites and other Oahu places.

 

[friscuba]

Convertible section? Aloha flight 243 apparently had one, not sure if any of the airlines are offering them anymore.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Aloha airlines is the prefered divers airlines because they pressurize their cabins to 2000ft, the fly persons with non life threatening dive injuries on Aloha for just that reason

Is that just insider knowledge or is there some public documentation? I have looked at their web site and only find one 8,000' cabin pressure statement covering all routes and all planes. I've heard it before but would really like to see something from Aloha Air themselves.

 

[Teamcasa]

If was me,
I would fly to Oahu in the afternoon, go to Paradise Cove for a Luau, hotel for the night. Visit Pearl Harbor first thing in the morning.
Fly to Kona and do the Manta night dive and spend the rest of the trip diving with Big Island Divers!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Remember that the no-fly refers to ascent above 1000' elevation, so while 2000' is better than 8000', you still need to heed the warnings.

Revised Flying After Diving Guidelines

The following guidelines are the consensus of attendees at the 2002 Flying After Diving Workshop. They apply to air dives followed by flights at cabin altitudes of 2,000 to 8,000 feet (610 to 2,438 meters) for divers who do not have symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS). The recommended preflight surface intervals do not guarantee avoidance of DCS. Longer surface intervals will reduce DCS risk further.

For a single no-decompression dive, a minimum preflight surface interval of 12 hours is suggested.

For multiple dives per day or multiple days of diving, a minimum preflight surface interval of 18 hours is suggested.

For dives requiring decompression stops, there is little evidence on which to base a recommendation and a preflight surface interval substantially longer than 18 hours appears prudent.

When I called DAN asking about living in Pukalani and working as a dive instructor/guide, above 2,000' we recommend same as flying was the answer (or was it 2000' and up).

 

[Wildcard]

Don't waste your money on the Aviation museum if you go to PH, what a pathetic joke.