I Get One Dive Spot. Help

[diversteve]

I'd go with the Big Island. Do two tanks with one of the good local operations - most leave from the harbor just north of Kona/Kailua for accommodation selection. Lots of condos/resorts just south of town.

We liked Kona Diving Company but there's other choices (Big Island Divers, Kona Honu etc.) My buddy did boat dives with them and at one they had a 4-500 Spinner Dolphin escort for most of it. Off the coast near Captain Cook - IDK the site name.

Then relax for a couple hours/have a meal then:


It's one of the top 50/100 dives in the world depending on whose list.
50 Best Dive Sites in the World
Revealed: the World's Top 100 Dive Sites

On a non-dive day you can tour Volcanoes N.P. - even drive down to the black sand beach before/after. It is a long day of driving though - they call it the Big Island for a reason. All to the south of Kona. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

 

[jonhall]

Agree with the 2 previous posts. Although I favor the caribbean as a whole, not much can top the 100 spinner dolphins that swam by with strays coming right to me at different times when I was on the Big Island in Kona. The manta ray night dive is fantastic but, since you're wife may not be into the night dive, can be enjoyed JUST AS MUCH as a snorkeler.

 

[IslandDiversHI]

We do a 3 tanker on Sundays out of Oahu. Most Oahu charters are 2 tanker, 2 deeper dives with long surface interval, then a drift. Might be a good way to squeeze in some extra dive time.

 

[ZzzKing]

I had a similar situation a few years back. Dove the Molokini crater off Maui. Compared to Coz, it was a big yawn. No pretty coral, not many fish, though the ones I did see were quite pretty. From what I could find out before the trip, Hawaii didn't seem like that great a dive location, compared to Coz or Belize as examples.
That being said, the Manta night dive from Kona looks like fun, and I'd love to try the "black water" night dive.

I see a lot of folks extolling the wonders of Cozumel also. I rate it below the Galapogos (significantly), below Sipadan (also, significantly), below Belize, about even with the Bahamas, and above Oahu and California. So, about in the middle. The dives seem highly similar and repetitive to me.

Now I was only there for a week so didn't see everything but I also wasn't excited enough about it to go back either. The fact that I'm not a big fan of drift dives may bias my rating of Coz also.

I am headed back to Hawaii however based on feedback I have gotten about the difference and diversity of the diving on the individual islands. YMMV.