Aloha! There is soooo much to see and do on the Big Island and a week was just not enough time. We really could have used at least 3 more days, but unfortunately, a week was all that we could spare right now. Sorry if this gets a bit too long and boring. There have been people asking about this hotel and dive op so I want to give you a good idea of what you'll get.
We spent 5 nights at the Outrigger Keahou. This hotel was perfect for us and I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. Great location, nice property and the tidal pools were just amazing and teaming with life. We had a deluxe ocean view on the 7th flr overlooking the tide pools. First morning, from our balcony, we saw 12 good sized turtles, a large puffer fish and an eel. Walking around the pools we also saw lots of crabs and a ton of medium and small fish and really small translucent shrimp. Our room was a good size w/ king size bed. The bathrooms are a bit odd with the sliding door and mini-tub, but the tub was great for rinsing gear. The rooms are kept clean but they are a bit warm with some dents and scrapes in the furniture and walls. Breakfast at the hotel was good, pretty quick svc ordering off the menu (buffet also available) and reasonably priced. We had one dinner which was also good, and one sunset at the Verandah Bar with awesome views and good, but pricey, drinks. The Outrigger is not a luxury resort but is a solid 3 star and the property, location and great staff could make a lower 4 star. The drive to the marina was never more then 20 minutes.
In the Kailua-Kona area we had dinner at the Kona Inn (make reservations for a water side table), tried to go to Sibu for Indonesian but they had an unscheduled closing so we did Thai instead. Don't remember the restaurants name. We also went to the Mauna Kea luau. Food was really good and good variety. Show was typical for a luau. The frozen mochacinno at Island Java is the best and was our daily post-dive treat.
With only a week and wanting to see some of the Hilo side too, we only scheduled 3 dive days. We booked with Konaquatica for 2 morning trips and a night trip. This was my first time diving in Hawaii so I don't have any other dive op experience to base my opinion on. I have dived in Mexico, Cayman, the Keys, Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Australia.
Konaquatica. I think they've got the potential to be a great operation but they're still new and not quite there yet. Jim, the owner and our DM, is very friendly, knowledgeable and sincerely interested in giving everyone a really good diving experience and providing personalized service. We met at the marina at 8:30am and returned around 2 or 2:30pm. The boat is a 30 ft with a max of 6 divers. It is very well equipped w/ a built-in camera rinse tank, large swim step and really good ladder. With 6 divers the deck can get tight to gear up. There is no shaded area on the boat and the captain insists on people sitting up front on the bow which is an open area. The cabin is quite large but is a designated dry area and hot. Not an alternative for staying out of the sun between dives. Two people in our group were renting all their gear and were very pleased. Everything is brand new and top-notch. Sandwiches and plenty of water, juices and soda are provided which was very nice. The boat also has a handheld shower for rinsing off. The only real negative we found was the Captain, who also doubles as crew to change out tanks and help divers off and on the boat. He was fine at handling the boat but his attitude and people skills are not an asset to an otherwise decent operation. I don't feel that it would be fair to go into detail. Possibly the guy was just having a bad week so I'd rather give him the benefit of the doubt. And, if what we experienced is his usual charm, then hopefully he's soon replaced by someone who shares Jim's vision, enthusiasm and interest in providing friendly, personalized service.
The dive sites we visited were Kaiwi Point, Eel Cove, Hoover, Suck 'em up and our sunset and manta dive were done at Manta ray Bay. Jim gave a good pre-dive briefing and in the water he lead the group but not in a "follow the leader" style. You are free to explore at your own pace. He was most often quite a ways ahead of the group and the 6 divers were pretty spread out. We're never ones to stick to right close to the DM, so I'm really not sure he gave us so much space and didn't really point out many things because it's his style or he felt we didn't want it. I'm sure that if you told him you wanted to be closely guided and have things pointed out the whole way then that's exactly what you'd get.
On all the dives we were amazed at the viz. Easily 100ft+. The healthy reefs and abundant fish life was also a nice surprise. It was interesting to see so many fish we don't see anywhere else, and lots of them. Almost everything is in schools. I knew there are no soft coral or sponges, but never having dived where reefs are strictly hard coral, I wasn't sure what to expect. There was more color then I expected and allot more fish, and more eels then we usually see elsewhere. I personally do miss the soft stuff. I enjoy all movement and variety of corals and sponges found in places like Coz and Cayman so reefs of only hard coral didn't completely do it for me.
The sunset and night dive were the best dives of the 3 days! On our first tank we had 2 mantas swim by us. When we got in for the manta dive we had 3 of them right at the boat and they spent quite a bit of time with us before heading off to the main site. That was very cool. We had 4 or 5 for the actual manta feeding. All I can say is WOW! It was the coolest experience I've ever had and will be hard to top. They are so large but very graceful and gentle. It seemed like they'd orchestrated a performance for us the way they loop around each other and swoosh in and out. They also seemed to give about equal time to each of the groups at the site. It would have been great to have more time on the reef pre or post. There was so much going on. We saw a spotted moray stalking and then devouring a yellow tang. Felt kind of bad for the little guy, but not our place to interfere with nature.
Our remaining 3 days were spent in Hilo. We stayed at The Inn at Kulaniapia Falls, about 15 min outside of Hilo in the middle of a 2000 acre macadamia nut plantation. The Inn has 4 rooms and there's a 220ft spectacular waterfall on the property. Also a perfect view of Hilo and the Bay. We did a volcano & waterfall tour with Paradise Helicopter, drove to Volcano National Park at night to see the lava flow, went to Waipio for the lookout of the valley, visited the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens and the Saturday Farmers Market in Hilo. On the 4 mi scenic drive that leads to the Gardens, What's Shakin Smoothies is a must. Papaya Paradise and Bananarama were yummmmy! Cafe Pesto was a good dinner and Ken's (a 24 hr diner) was an experience but the food was pretty decent. Everything closes at 9pm and Ken's was our only option after our night volcano drive.
We spent 5 nights at the Outrigger Keahou. This hotel was perfect for us and I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. Great location, nice property and the tidal pools were just amazing and teaming with life. We had a deluxe ocean view on the 7th flr overlooking the tide pools. First morning, from our balcony, we saw 12 good sized turtles, a large puffer fish and an eel. Walking around the pools we also saw lots of crabs and a ton of medium and small fish and really small translucent shrimp. Our room was a good size w/ king size bed. The bathrooms are a bit odd with the sliding door and mini-tub, but the tub was great for rinsing gear. The rooms are kept clean but they are a bit warm with some dents and scrapes in the furniture and walls. Breakfast at the hotel was good, pretty quick svc ordering off the menu (buffet also available) and reasonably priced. We had one dinner which was also good, and one sunset at the Verandah Bar with awesome views and good, but pricey, drinks. The Outrigger is not a luxury resort but is a solid 3 star and the property, location and great staff could make a lower 4 star. The drive to the marina was never more then 20 minutes.
In the Kailua-Kona area we had dinner at the Kona Inn (make reservations for a water side table), tried to go to Sibu for Indonesian but they had an unscheduled closing so we did Thai instead. Don't remember the restaurants name. We also went to the Mauna Kea luau. Food was really good and good variety. Show was typical for a luau. The frozen mochacinno at Island Java is the best and was our daily post-dive treat.
With only a week and wanting to see some of the Hilo side too, we only scheduled 3 dive days. We booked with Konaquatica for 2 morning trips and a night trip. This was my first time diving in Hawaii so I don't have any other dive op experience to base my opinion on. I have dived in Mexico, Cayman, the Keys, Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Australia.
Konaquatica. I think they've got the potential to be a great operation but they're still new and not quite there yet. Jim, the owner and our DM, is very friendly, knowledgeable and sincerely interested in giving everyone a really good diving experience and providing personalized service. We met at the marina at 8:30am and returned around 2 or 2:30pm. The boat is a 30 ft with a max of 6 divers. It is very well equipped w/ a built-in camera rinse tank, large swim step and really good ladder. With 6 divers the deck can get tight to gear up. There is no shaded area on the boat and the captain insists on people sitting up front on the bow which is an open area. The cabin is quite large but is a designated dry area and hot. Not an alternative for staying out of the sun between dives. Two people in our group were renting all their gear and were very pleased. Everything is brand new and top-notch. Sandwiches and plenty of water, juices and soda are provided which was very nice. The boat also has a handheld shower for rinsing off. The only real negative we found was the Captain, who also doubles as crew to change out tanks and help divers off and on the boat. He was fine at handling the boat but his attitude and people skills are not an asset to an otherwise decent operation. I don't feel that it would be fair to go into detail. Possibly the guy was just having a bad week so I'd rather give him the benefit of the doubt. And, if what we experienced is his usual charm, then hopefully he's soon replaced by someone who shares Jim's vision, enthusiasm and interest in providing friendly, personalized service.
The dive sites we visited were Kaiwi Point, Eel Cove, Hoover, Suck 'em up and our sunset and manta dive were done at Manta ray Bay. Jim gave a good pre-dive briefing and in the water he lead the group but not in a "follow the leader" style. You are free to explore at your own pace. He was most often quite a ways ahead of the group and the 6 divers were pretty spread out. We're never ones to stick to right close to the DM, so I'm really not sure he gave us so much space and didn't really point out many things because it's his style or he felt we didn't want it. I'm sure that if you told him you wanted to be closely guided and have things pointed out the whole way then that's exactly what you'd get.
On all the dives we were amazed at the viz. Easily 100ft+. The healthy reefs and abundant fish life was also a nice surprise. It was interesting to see so many fish we don't see anywhere else, and lots of them. Almost everything is in schools. I knew there are no soft coral or sponges, but never having dived where reefs are strictly hard coral, I wasn't sure what to expect. There was more color then I expected and allot more fish, and more eels then we usually see elsewhere. I personally do miss the soft stuff. I enjoy all movement and variety of corals and sponges found in places like Coz and Cayman so reefs of only hard coral didn't completely do it for me.
The sunset and night dive were the best dives of the 3 days! On our first tank we had 2 mantas swim by us. When we got in for the manta dive we had 3 of them right at the boat and they spent quite a bit of time with us before heading off to the main site. That was very cool. We had 4 or 5 for the actual manta feeding. All I can say is WOW! It was the coolest experience I've ever had and will be hard to top. They are so large but very graceful and gentle. It seemed like they'd orchestrated a performance for us the way they loop around each other and swoosh in and out. They also seemed to give about equal time to each of the groups at the site. It would have been great to have more time on the reef pre or post. There was so much going on. We saw a spotted moray stalking and then devouring a yellow tang. Felt kind of bad for the little guy, but not our place to interfere with nature.
Our remaining 3 days were spent in Hilo. We stayed at The Inn at Kulaniapia Falls, about 15 min outside of Hilo in the middle of a 2000 acre macadamia nut plantation. The Inn has 4 rooms and there's a 220ft spectacular waterfall on the property. Also a perfect view of Hilo and the Bay. We did a volcano & waterfall tour with Paradise Helicopter, drove to Volcano National Park at night to see the lava flow, went to Waipio for the lookout of the valley, visited the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens and the Saturday Farmers Market in Hilo. On the 4 mi scenic drive that leads to the Gardens, What's Shakin Smoothies is a must. Papaya Paradise and Bananarama were yummmmy! Cafe Pesto was a good dinner and Ken's (a 24 hr diner) was an experience but the food was pretty decent. Everything closes at 9pm and Ken's was our only option after our night volcano drive.
Glad it did...also seems to me that you might be coming back for another round of Aloha 
