georgec02
Registered
Hi all,
My family just returned from a week in Waikiki. We were out there for a wedding, but my wife and I decided to squeeze in some dives. We have about 50 dives under our belt, but this was the 1st time diving in 5 years since having kids and the grandparents were around to help watch them for a few hours while we got some underwater time. (It had been so long that I think my scubaboard login had been deactivated.) Thought I'd write up our experience.
We wanted to dive 2 days. After researching the board, I contacted Gabe at Kaimana Divers which had number of positive references here. He responded quickly to email, and was responsive to all my questions. They do their shallower dives in the afternoon and typically do deeper, morning wreck dives. We decided to do shallower dives on Monday to shake off the rust, and a wreck dive on Wednesday. It sounded like they'll dive all over the island, but we were staying in Waikiki and wanted to minimize time away from the kids. So, we dove out of Honolulu.
Day 1:
Drew was our DM the 1st day. Our boat was Kilikina with Liv captaining and also a deck hand. It looked like the boat could hold 12 or more divers counting the tank racks, but there were just us and another couple. I had read on the board that the afternoon dives often had intro/new divers which I was ok with this given these were meant to be refresher for us. However, the other couple was fairly experienced. I also heard that they dive different boats depending on the day/location.
1st Dive: Horse Shoe reef with a bottom at 47 feet with a total dive time of 48 minutes. There were eels, turtles, a scorpion fish, as well as all the other requisite sea life. We dove big and little horseshoe, which you can imagine the shapes by the name. Nice leisure pace, we had time to explore the different nooks and crannies.
2nd Dive: Turtle Canyon with a bottom of 32 feet with total dive time of 49 minutes. We could have gone longer with over 1200 in the tanks, but my wife was cold, and one of the other divers was low on air. No surprise, lots of turtles with a giant one hiding under a ledge.
Day 2:
We had Kevin as our DM, with Elle, a DM in training. Liv was captaining the Kilikini again. We were the only ones out diving this morning which made for a great private dive.
Dive 1: Dove the Sea Tiger wreck which had superstructure at 70-90 ft and the deck at about 100 ft. Bottomed at 101 and total time of 33 mins. I think it rests at around 120, but we didn't go down that far, spending most of our time around the superstructure. There are many points for penetration. You can buy a dive information card at the local shops with detailed information.
There were two other larger outfits at the site, but we were the first ones in the water which was great because there were some large schools of fish on the way down the anchor line. We swam around the deck, penetrating one side companion way, and then through the superstructure below the wheelhouse and later through the other companionway. There was a turtle watching all the action as well as an eel poking out from the side of the ship. A lot of fish and other things to see.
Elle led the dive with Kevin following up the rear and we had a great time (hey, you can't complain about a private dive experience). The other outfits didn't seem to keep as close tabs on their divers, as two divers from separate boats followed us up when we surfaced.
My wife also tried out the GoPro2 for the first time, shooting video which worked out well. Nice and compact, easy to use. I was a little worried as the latch felt like it had a little give to it, but there were no leaks at depth. Video came out well, even at 100 ft. You can hear the inhale/exhale and bubbling of the regs even through the case.
Dive 2: Dove Nautilus reef after a long surface interval and snacks. Bottomed at 38 with total time of 51 mins we both had ~ 1200 left in our tanks, and Kevin asked whether we wanted to dive longer, but we opted to head up for the warm sun. Saw some neat things on this dive. Two white tipped reef sharks hiding under a ledge, eels, a crab, and two colorful imperial nudibranches next to each other on some coral.
General Comments:
My family just returned from a week in Waikiki. We were out there for a wedding, but my wife and I decided to squeeze in some dives. We have about 50 dives under our belt, but this was the 1st time diving in 5 years since having kids and the grandparents were around to help watch them for a few hours while we got some underwater time. (It had been so long that I think my scubaboard login had been deactivated.) Thought I'd write up our experience.
We wanted to dive 2 days. After researching the board, I contacted Gabe at Kaimana Divers which had number of positive references here. He responded quickly to email, and was responsive to all my questions. They do their shallower dives in the afternoon and typically do deeper, morning wreck dives. We decided to do shallower dives on Monday to shake off the rust, and a wreck dive on Wednesday. It sounded like they'll dive all over the island, but we were staying in Waikiki and wanted to minimize time away from the kids. So, we dove out of Honolulu.
Day 1:
Drew was our DM the 1st day. Our boat was Kilikina with Liv captaining and also a deck hand. It looked like the boat could hold 12 or more divers counting the tank racks, but there were just us and another couple. I had read on the board that the afternoon dives often had intro/new divers which I was ok with this given these were meant to be refresher for us. However, the other couple was fairly experienced. I also heard that they dive different boats depending on the day/location.
1st Dive: Horse Shoe reef with a bottom at 47 feet with a total dive time of 48 minutes. There were eels, turtles, a scorpion fish, as well as all the other requisite sea life. We dove big and little horseshoe, which you can imagine the shapes by the name. Nice leisure pace, we had time to explore the different nooks and crannies.
2nd Dive: Turtle Canyon with a bottom of 32 feet with total dive time of 49 minutes. We could have gone longer with over 1200 in the tanks, but my wife was cold, and one of the other divers was low on air. No surprise, lots of turtles with a giant one hiding under a ledge.
Day 2:
We had Kevin as our DM, with Elle, a DM in training. Liv was captaining the Kilikini again. We were the only ones out diving this morning which made for a great private dive.
Dive 1: Dove the Sea Tiger wreck which had superstructure at 70-90 ft and the deck at about 100 ft. Bottomed at 101 and total time of 33 mins. I think it rests at around 120, but we didn't go down that far, spending most of our time around the superstructure. There are many points for penetration. You can buy a dive information card at the local shops with detailed information.
There were two other larger outfits at the site, but we were the first ones in the water which was great because there were some large schools of fish on the way down the anchor line. We swam around the deck, penetrating one side companion way, and then through the superstructure below the wheelhouse and later through the other companionway. There was a turtle watching all the action as well as an eel poking out from the side of the ship. A lot of fish and other things to see.
Elle led the dive with Kevin following up the rear and we had a great time (hey, you can't complain about a private dive experience). The other outfits didn't seem to keep as close tabs on their divers, as two divers from separate boats followed us up when we surfaced.
My wife also tried out the GoPro2 for the first time, shooting video which worked out well. Nice and compact, easy to use. I was a little worried as the latch felt like it had a little give to it, but there were no leaks at depth. Video came out well, even at 100 ft. You can hear the inhale/exhale and bubbling of the regs even through the case.
Dive 2: Dove Nautilus reef after a long surface interval and snacks. Bottomed at 38 with total time of 51 mins we both had ~ 1200 left in our tanks, and Kevin asked whether we wanted to dive longer, but we opted to head up for the warm sun. Saw some neat things on this dive. Two white tipped reef sharks hiding under a ledge, eels, a crab, and two colorful imperial nudibranches next to each other on some coral.
General Comments:
- Kaimana felt like a very safe and friendly outfit with experienced DMs who kept good tabs on the group and made sure to understand different divers comfort levels.
- We had fresh pineapple and munchies waiting between dives, as well as water and sodas.
- We dove 3mm fulls which I would recommend if you get cold. Even so, we got a little cold on both of our 2nd, longer dives before getting low on air.
- Our dives were out of the Kewalo Basin Harbor. There is plenty of self-pay parking. Bring $1s or change, as these are the old-school slotted self-pay boxes. Also, there are some small dives shops within 5 minutes of the harbor if you need to pick up any last minute gear.
- All the Honolulu side dives are only a few minutes out from the harbor.
