Staying in Kohala Hawaii

My friends and I are getting ready to take off for a couple weeks in Hawaii and staying up at the Hapuna Resort on the Kohala coast. Also considering the Mauna Kea . I was wondering if anyone cold reccomend a good dive operator on the N. end of the island. Or, if it would be to our advantage we would not be against driving down to Kona. Any reccomendations for either would be most appreciated as well as don't misses when it comes to diving /or what ever while in Kona. Everyone has their advanced certification. Thanks.

gtallison75:

My friends and I are getting ready to take off for a couple weeks in Hawaii and staying up at the Hapuna Resort on the Kohala coast. Also considering the Mauna Kea . I was wondering if anyone cold reccomend a good dive operator on the N. end of the island. Or, if it would be to our advantage we would not be against driving down to Kona. Any reccomendations for either would be most appreciated as well as don't misses when it comes to diving /or what ever while in Kona. Everyone has their advanced certification. Thanks.

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I know that there is Kohala Divers up there but I have never dove with them.

The majority of the dive operations are down in Kailua-Kona. Dive Makai and Jack's Diving Locker are the 2 operations that I highly recommend. Dive Makai's briefing's are quite extensive and are more in tune to the eco-adventure minded people.

Jack's Diving Locker is perhaps the largest dive operation on the BI, and they certainly have it happening down there.

The last time I was there I dove with JDL. We went to Kaiwi Point and Lone Tree. Both were very good dives. Lone Tree had a bit of a surge since it was close to shore, but it was WONDERFUL!!

One place you want to go to is the Place Of Refuge below Kailua-Kona. You can't dive in the park area, as it is considered a sacred area, but you can snorkel and dive right outside of the park area.

Hope this helps. If you have any further questions, you can either PM me or post another message.

Have fun!

Randy

gtallison75 [...:

staying up at the Hapuna Resort on the Kohala coast. Also considering the Mauna Kea . I was wondering if anyone cold reccomend a good dive operator on the N. end of the island. [...]

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Besides Kohala Divers (I've never dove with them) there's also Red Sail Sports

I've not dove with Red Sail, either (I live in Kona), but I do have a friend (Jeff G) who works
there. Jeff has forgotten more marine biology than I'll ever know. He's kinda quiet and
unassuming, but he knows his stuff.

(Jeff used to work at Jack's down in Kona, which is how I know him).

Have a good trip -

Kohala Divers used to have a great reputation. They underwent an ownership change a bit over a year ago and I haven't heard much since, nothing bad at any rate. Mauna Kea Divers, also up in Kawaihae, has a little shop (I wasn't impressed with the retail end walking in a few years back), I've heard some positive comments about them too the last couple of years.

You might want to spend a few days up north, and if you are diving a lot go ahead and try a few days out of Kailua for variety.

As mentioned earlier, lots of shore diving possibilities. Up north you have Mahukona, Kapa'a and several great sites in Puako. Further down south you have Place of refuge, which is top knotch.

Have a blast!

Steve


b

gtallison75:

My friends and I are getting ready to take off for a couple weeks in Hawaii and staying up at the Hapuna Resort on the Kohala coast. Also considering the Mauna Kea . I was wondering if anyone cold reccomend a good dive operator on the N. end of the island. Or, if it would be to our advantage we would not be against driving down to Kona. Any reccomendations for either would be most appreciated as well as don't misses when it comes to diving /or what ever while in Kona. Everyone has their advanced certification. Thanks.

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Go with Mona Kea. Still not a great shop but I have had issues with the new Kohola Divers. Rented some gear for a friend. The frikking regulator would not stop leaking. Not free flow but a large steady stream of bubbles. The insisted on charging me full price even though they screwed up the dive. "It was something I was supposed to check". Out of water it didn't show up....The owner I think, Smart assed little guy is nothing but rude every time I went there. I pointed out to folly of pissing of the regulars. He just wanted his $35 for rented gear.

Scuba Shack Too in Kona can hook you up too. Let me know and I can show ya some spots too.

Wanted to share this story. I had my landscape guy come to me knowing I dive a lot. He had a friend that just got certed. Six in the class and they did it in two days. Bargan rate of $550! Going rate here is $200-300....Guess which shop did it?