Hawaii Liveaboards

I'm playing around with going out to Hawaii in October to meet up with some relatives that will be vacationing there.

My thought was to do a week on a liveaboard and then meet up with them on land for a week.

With that said I had two questions;

1) Is October a good time to go...Cyclones, Hurricanes, tigers, viz, marine life, etc
2) What other liveaboards operate out there beyond the Aggressor boat?

Thanks for the help,

Jeff

JRO:

I'm playing around with going out to Hawaii in October to meet up with some relatives that will be vacationing there.

My thought was to do a week on a liveaboard and then meet up with them on land for a week.

With that said I had two questions;

1) Is October a good time to go...Cyclones, Hurricanes, tigers, viz, marine life, etc
2) What other liveaboards operate out there beyond the Aggressor boat?

Thanks for the help,

Jeff

Click to expand...

Hi Jeff!

Kona Agressor is the only real liveaboard I know of in Hawaii, and it only does the Big Island coast. I think you would really enjoy it...
October is excellent time to visit Hawaii.... water is at its warmest, 78-80, and it is between summer 'family' season and winter 'whale watcher' season, so not crowded at all. Also, since it is before winter season, water is calmer. Fishlife doesn't really change - other than mantas show up when there is lots of plankton, and whales show up in winter. Seeing things like sharks and other big things is very hit or miss. You would definitely see turtles though.

robin

Big Island diving is top shelf!

We did same thing a couple years ago, met the family for a week then did the Aggressor for a week. Aggressor is the only choice I know of. Hawaii is actually far from my favorite diving but we were there anyway and the Aggressor still made for a great all around trip. I much prefered doing a liveaboard there over day boats. October should be very good.

I have lived in Hawaii 10 years - all as a diver. You'll be doing boat diving so all dive sites will be pretty good conditions in October - water temp good as well. In my opinion, even though Kona Aggressor is the only liveaboard, the Kona Coast is where all the best diving is anyway. I'll let you know what the Kona Aggressor is like, I've never done a liveaboard and I'll be doing it 8/1-8/8 - one more week baby! WOOHOO!!

Don't wear the crew out : ) We'll be hopping on The Aggressor on 8/22. Been practicing my Manta backward rolls!!

octopuppy & ewaiea:

I'll be very interested in your reviews of the quality and quantity of the reef fish life on the west side of the Big Island. I have considered doing the Kona boat, but have put it off for now. Recently there have been a number of posts and articles about the decline in reef fish off Kona due to harvesting for the aquarium trade. Sounds much like the lionfish problem in the Carribean where the reef fish pop is way down in some areas, esp. the Bahamas.

The Aggressor boats are always first class, but it's all about the diving. I could care less about the amentiies, like hot tubs!!!

JRO: Once in Hawaii, Fiji isn't that far away. Try the Nai'a

Thank you all for the input, I look forward to the trip reports eaiea and octopuppy.

You bring up an interesting concept divengolf...something to think about, when you put it that way it's not all that much farther to Palau. Being unemployed does have some advantages....much free time =) This will be my first foray into the Pacific, been wanting to do it for years and just couldn't make the time so I have traveled much of the Caribbean instead.

If you have the time and money, definitely look into heading to Palau or someplace else in the Pacific.

I actually tried to do that a few years ago and discovered it was harder than you would expect to get a lot of places from Hawaii - you'd think great, I'm halfway there, it should be easy and relatively inexpensive to keep going and add on some other destination, but not so much. A lot of flights don't go through Hawaii they are straight from places like LA. Palau/Yap on Continental Micronesia is a good option though, though not cheap as they have a monopoly. You might also find some longer routings to other places that might be better deals, I remember looking into the Phillipines some. If you can, keep flexible for now on whether you do it before or after Hawaii.

You might even consider using a good dive travel agent familiar with the region, it won't cost more and may get you a better deal. I don't usually use agents but if I was doing this again I would just call someone like Reef and Rainforest and tell them you want to add a week someplace onto a week in Hawaii and see what they come up with.

I have been doing research for next years dive trip. This year we are doing the Belize Aggressor III. Next year being my 60th birthday I want to do something really special. Here is what I have noticed:
1. Liveaboards all run about the same price. ( add in all the fees and taxes and you'll see they are within a couple hundred dollars of each other)
2. The kicker is airfare and time getting there. It takes much longer and cost more to get to Palau and Chuuck than it does to Fiji. Fiji is $887 round trip out of LA, 10 hrs. Palau and Chuuk were running about $1400 plus 24+hours and several stops.
3. I have learned to always add a day at the destination before boarding. An overnight hotel room is MUCH cheaper than a water taxi out to the Liveaboard (If you can get one).
4. It takes just as long to get to Fiji from Seattle as it does to go to Belize or the Caymans.
5. 60th Birthday, Fiji, the Nai'a, booking after my Belize trip. Dependent on the diving Fiji may become a habit.
6. Take this as Gospel, no matter what anyone says, the best diving in Hawaii is Niihau. Long boat ride, seasonal, advanced, beautiful. There use to be an operation on Midway Island (I think that is part of the Hawaiian chain) I heard that the diving there is awesome and virgin. Second best Kona. The rest average. Just my 2 cents.