Oahu diving

I'm going to Palau next month and am going to stay 5 days on Oahu on the way back. I've decided to do some diving there to complete my trip. What dive sites, dive shops do any of you recommend? I'll make sure to post a trip report when I return and hopefully I'll have some great UW pics.

Thanks in advance

I just moved to Oahu about 6 weeks ago, and haven't been in the water yet. But on previous visits here, I did some diving with Ocean Concepts and like them. In fact, I just joined their local dive club.

They have a WEB site, but don't have the address handy. Just do a search for Oahu dive shops and they should come up with quite a few others.

I agree with Ali- Ocean Concepts is an operator I usually recommend - nice bunch of people and very organized (I hate showing up at the dock and everything is chaos). I also belong to their dive club.

Island Divers is another operator I recommend - they're much smaller and don't dive on as many sides of the island as Ocean Concepts, but they're a really friendly bunch of guys that just LOVE diving.

Both have websites.

Great bunch of people who care about the oceans.Plus one of my old teachers DMs out of there.She gives a great tour of Sharks Cove.Her scuba diving life started there.Incase you want to check out their page there's the link.Happy and safe Diving.

Jen

http://www.1-scuba-diving-hawaii-scuba-diving-tours-dive-travel.com./

Another company to check out is www.captainbruce.com. I lived in Hawaii for 3 1/2 years and used them sometimes. They offer diving on the east and west sides of the island.

West Side: Some of the best diving is out of the Waianae Boat Harbor. There's a good wreck dive (Mahi) and lots of great dive sites for the second tank.

East Side: My favorite dive on the east side is near Koko Head. It's an F-4U corsair laying flat in the sand at about 90 ft. You can sit in the cockpit for a great photo op--unless the big eel is in there. Also, it's one of the only sites on Oahu where you can find garden eels surrounding the wreck. For a second dive, the outside wall of Koko Head is usually a good drift dive. The underwater topography is different than most of the other dive sites on Oahu.

There are also some wrecks closer to Waikiki--Sea Tiger and Y0250. These were both sunk as artificial reefs for the tourist submarines. The tourists seem to get a kick out of divers who wave at them...

If you're on the island in the summer, there's great shore diving on the North Shore. Sharks Cove, Fire House, and Three Tables are all easily accessible shore dives. If you go there, go early since the parking is limited.

I will be in Oahu for 2 weeks in June - but working most of the time . I do plan to get some dives in over the weekend. Any other operator or location recommendations? From the posts I've seen here and a few website visits, Deep Ecology looks like a good choice...just torn between the boat dive and the night shore dive. Guess I'll have to do both !

My 14yr old and I dove Oahu with Island Divers...

Matt, the guy who runs it is a Ph.D who loves diving so much he does this instead...

Jo was the instructor who gave my son the intro dive...(I'm certified, with approx 40 dives, mainly in California)

You can't fail with these guys...(Our trip was two weeks ago...)

http://www.islanddivershawaii.com/

Shore dives I would recommend:

North Shore (shore dives):
Shark's Cove...to the right of the parking lot go out on the rocks and you can enter through the "elevator" as longs as its flat...or just jump off the ledge. From there if you head along the wall to the right you'll find tons of pukas...also in front of the pkg lot is a beach..but thats where alot of classes go.

Firehouse: Between 3 tables and Shark's cove..parking lot adjacent to (you guessed it) a firehouse. If you go out from there (there is a little sandy path to the right of the pkg lot) and head straight out there is what is dubbed the "cathedrals"..good sized swim through with all the holes and such that the sun filters through..nice. Also a neat night dive as there is always some critters there..not as dove as sharks and 3 tables...never seen a class here.

West
The Mahi (boat dive) wreck. I like go out with Capt. Scotty (used to book through HSA, but I think you can go indep. as well. Small 6 pack. Tekies use him alot.

Makaha Caverns (boat or shore). Ok..not my fave, but a good 2nd dive after the Mahi.

A few other boat dives that I can't recall names, but one was an overhang (100ft range I think)...black rock also as a dive from the boat.

For a shore dive head down to Pray for Sex beach (right before Yoko's). If you go off the finger reef to the left of the beach (don't even bother doing a beach dive here) go straight out and you'll hit the ampitheatre. This is a pretty nice dive...always find lots of cool stuff to look at. Last night dive I did there before moving we saw a helmet conch eating a crown of thorns and then a little tako (octopus) came over and tried to eat the helmet before deciding it was bigger than he was by far.

Blowhole can be a nice dive too, but all depends on the water conditions.

As far as ops, I did NOT like Ocean Concepts (didn't like the owner, found their prices higher than other shops and the selection no where what I wanted and wasn't happy with their service). Now I was a local diver not a tourist so this might make a diff. I used Hawaii Sea Adventures in Pearl City (behind the mall sort of on Moanaloa..by Buzz's). Aside from Scotty's boat for the west, they book charters for the Waikiki dives like the Sea Tiger and the YO (ok wreck dives as far as Oahu goes...the Mahi is better IMO).

Have a great trip!


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