Scooter / Car Rental

Sorry for being a bit off topic...but it's kind of related.

My wife and I are cruising to the islands in December. We're going to spend like 12 hours each on Maui, Hawaii, Oahu, and Kauai. To be able to get to dive, I've got to get transportation, and so I'm looking for pointers.

What's the smart thing to do? Rent a scooter/motorcycle? Rent a car?

__Birm

If you are coming to Kauai, then you should rent a car. Kauai is not like any of the other islands. There is only really one main road and it does not go all the way around the island. Speed limit ranges from 25 to 50. It can take an hour to go 30 miles.
If you are going to be diving while visiting Kauai, then you should spend a couple of days in Poipu. Koloa Landing (located in Poipu) is one of the most popular dive sites on the island.
During the winter season diving on the norh shore is hit and miss, so I really wouldn't waste time up there.
If you have any questions regarding diving, need to rent gear or suggestions on where to dive, then I would contact Aquactic Adventures Scuba 808-645-0927. They are located right there in Poipu and I have had nothing but great dives with them.

Happy Diving!

OK... Stupid question, but how are you going to dive if you are only going to be on each island 12 hours? Are you planning to take a ferry or fly? The airport has a decompression chamber, but don't think you wanna use it... Or cruising as in a ship?

A lot of operators will provide transport from hotels on Oahu. Budget is reasonably priced if you feel the need to rent. Scooters are easily had in Waikiki, but doubt you'll be able to carry much.

I agree with what DMJulie posted, don't waste your time trying to dive north. Kauai catches big wave action in the winter and it usually shuts everything down.

On Kauai, your boat docks at Nawiliwili and it's about 15-30 mins. to Poipu from there - on a good day with no cruiseship in port (haha..) If you're planning to shoredive at Koloa Landing it's likely a drive from there to Aquatic(not sure where it is) or Seasports (been there) for tanks/gear rental.

Same advice on Maui with one exception. Most of the boats dock in Kahului which is a 45min drive from there to either South or West Maui where all the good shorediving spots are. If you're early enough to get on a boat, they all leave from Kihei (mostly Molokini) or the Lahaina (for Lanai) area. I don't think you'll be in time though as some leave as early as 6am to beat the tradewinds coming back around noon. A lot of them do afternoon dives closer to Maui so that's another option there. If you're traveling with non-divers, they could shop in Lahaina or Kaanapali while you're gone - the cruiseline likely has buses to there also.

If not, there are some good shore dives south of Kihei in the Wailea area or scattered along the coast from there up to about Kapalua. In the Kihei area, try to hook-up with Shaka Doug, he runs a divebus for shorediving. He's on Scubaboard also. It's about 45mins. drive up the coast from Kihei to Lahaina also, more if whales are spotted along the road - that can slow things way down. (I think they're already in the area now)

The one exception is that I've read that there's at least one cruiseline that makes port in Lahaina now. From there you could walk to Lahaina Divers or Pacific Dive. Mala Wharf is also walking distance from there - maybe not with a tank - I don't remember exactly.

I've never dove Oahu, but assuming that you dock in Honolulu, I know there used to be diveops that picked divers up in Waikiki, maybe they do at the port also. Might be worth checking.

Check out www.shorediving.com for sites on all the islands.

To follow up w/DM Julie and Steve's advice...

I would definitely NOT recommend a scooter for Kauai - it will double the time it takes you to get from Nawiliwili to Poipu where all the diving is. Plus, because the scooters go so slow, you'll have cars and trucks zipping around you like crazy and it just seems pretty dangerous to me. Rental car is the only way to go - especially because if you squeeze in a morning dive, you then can cruise around the island and sightsee afterwards.

In Oahu, my experience has been that pretty much all the dive shops on the south shore offer free pick-up and drop off at your hotel. Not sure if this applies to the cruise ship but I don't see why not. Every single time I've dove there, that has been an option with all of the dive shops I called. So you might not have to rent a car or a scooter there. The Big Island is pretty spread out so I think a rental car would be good there...maybe someone else will jump in w/more info?

There are plenty of posts recommending various dive operations on each of the islands and that wasn't really your question here but I'll go ahead and throw in a few of my own suggestions (hope you don't mind!)...For Maui, I've sent divers to KrisB who is here on ScubaBoard and he was unavailable at the time but was super nice, professional, and has fantastic feedback here on ScubaBoard. Plus, I've had divers who dove with us on our island and then dove w/KrisB on Maui and said he is just the best. I've also sent divers to Maui Dreams who raved about their experience with them. And then I've had divers who dove w/Shaka Doug and they were very complimentary about him...said he was very thorough, safety-conscious and knowledgeable about diving/marine life. For Kauai, I would love to plug our dive shop, Aquatic Adventures...we are in Poipu, right off of Poipu Road in between the Grand Hyatt and Poipu Beach Park.

Good luck with all of your planning and diving!

Thanks all! I very much appreciate the pointers.

It's pretty clear that the consensus is to go with a car (pardon the pun ). For a bit, I was thinking of renting motorcycle for the two of us (I ride a VTX1800), but the rates for those -- and even scooters -- are through the roof. As it turns out, we're going to probably arrange with Hawaii Discount Car Rental to have a car available for the day at each island we visit. If that works out, we're in good shape.

Man...I can hardly wait!

__Birm

You're in luck at Kona! You can walk from the shuttle dock to at least one dive shop in Kailua town, Jack's, and there are others right there I don't recall the names of. Their boats leave from a harbor that is only 15 minutes away. The cruise ship might be able to make arrangements for pickups, or might even have packages to sell.

Check your itinerary for Maui. It is true that most cruise ships pull into Kahului and dock, but there are quite a few that anchor off Lahaina as well. Especially this time of year we see more cruise ships in Lahaina since most lines are repositioning for the winter months.

If your itinerary has you in Lahaina instead of Kahului then you can take the launch to Lahaina harbor where you can make contact with dive shops to arrange your dives. There are also a couple of dives within a reasonable walking distance to the harbor, although it might be a little brutal carrying your gear.

What does the cruise ship offer? That is normally a viable alternative when you are on a tight schedule. Plus you have a safety factor that the ship will not leave without you. Just last week a ship pulled out of Lahaina with a passenger on shore who was out and about on his own. The ship's next stop was Ensenada, Mexico - oops. Haven't heard what the outcome of that mishap was.

Birmbear:

I was thinking of renting motorcycle for the two of us

Man...I can hardly wait!

__Birm

Click to expand...

We had a blast on Maui renting this:


We had a blast riding for two days. We had some great dives as well as saw a few of the touristy areas like Hana and dove Molokini. I can see why you can hardly wait!