Diving Kona, Hawaii

[ScubaRok]

I went to the Shorediving web site. Really great information. Thanks for the suggestion...

[ScubaRok]

I am starting to get a pretty good file together with information about Kona, thanks to responses like yours. It seems like there will be so much to do, and so little time. Listened to the music, really puts you in the mood for the Islands. Any other info you might want to pass my way would be appreciated. Thanks...Scubarok

[Ditherfish]

We just dived the Big Island the first two weeks of November 2011, and did a Manta Ray night dive with Kona Honu. We didn't get mantas, but the crew and boat were great, and we did a tour of the reef for a night dive instead.

We did shore dives at Puako and Two-Step/Place of refuge. Shorediving website was helpful, and I will add our dives there. The boulders and reef to the left of Two Step were fantastic, and the spinner dolphins in the bay at Two Step were great as well. There's also a few spotted eagle rays that hang out at Place of Refuge. Boat traffic was a bit of an issue at Place of Refuge. Over all, we preferred Puako, but both sites were fun and easy diving for two novices.

[Laurent Pilotte]

Hi my name is Larry. Great place to dive.! I spent 10 years on the Big Island Diving. There is one great spot to dive offshore. Just south of Kona you can drive(8miles) to Puohohohanna Nau place of refuge . It doesn't cost anything and it probably is the best offshore dive in the world. Depths range from the lava ledge 12ft to 100+.. The coral reef is amazing. A much more wild dive is north of Kona (5miles) Kiholo park Wave activity can limit you if surf is up. I would visit a chiroprator business named "Lisa Dinatale LLC" who is located right in the center of town. 808-938-0910. She will give you directions etc. If you decide to charter a dive boat I highly recommend using "Sandwich Isles Dive Store".. You won't be disappointed!.. Larry

[TracyN]

I went there before I was a diver and did the manta ray snorkel. Even on the surface the mantas were amazing and very graceful. It was awesome to see a huge mouth coming up straight at you only to turn at the last possible second. The divers on the bottom had the best experiences though. I usually never pay money to get the videos after things but this was so awesome that I had to. I totally forgot about the camera I brought. :-)

[friscuba]

There's lots of good dive operators in the Kona area. On elevations, you're indeed looking at over 4000' to get to the volcano from the south, barely under that from the north. Waimea center of town is sitting at 2000-2500 feet depending on who you read, you're heading uphlll as you leave town but I think it tops out around 3000'. Waikoloa Village is listed at 400-450 feet. It seems higher than that to me. From the Place of Refuge you can hit 1500 feet in nine minutes if you go straight up highway 160, if you drive the narrow lane to Kealakekua Bay first you'll still hit 1300 feet in about 15 minutes. I usually take a break after a tank or two from there before heading anywhere. I'd treat Saddle road as an airplane flight. If you go to the NOAA dive and elevation after diving tables online and do them for a couple conservative dives you'll be surprised at how much time you should take before heading to elevation. I don't like to do Hilo side the same day from any direction after a dive.