Need help planning dive trip to hawaii

Hi, I'm new to Scubaboard (so happy that I ran across it on the web though!). Anyway, my boyfriend and I are trying to plan a dive trip for Dec/Jan this year. He is a complete newbie (will get his open certification while in Hawaii) and I've only been a couple of times (although i'm very comfortable in the water). We want to go someplace that offers more than diving since we will be going for about 10 days. Originally we were planning on going to Turks and Caicos but thought there may be more non-diving things to do in Hawaii.

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions for which island to dive that would be good for (1) beginners to advanced beginners; (2) has plenty of shore diving (so that we can get extra dives in the afternoon); and (3) offers non-diving related activities, I'd love to hear them.

p.s. any other suggestions (dive operators, accommodations, etc.) are also welcome!

Thanks!
Mary Ann

Well, what other than diving do you like to do? Do you like museums, if so maybe the Keys would be a great place for you to check out, Key West is interesting historicaly. Do you like to party, then maybe Coz would be a great place for you to check out.
Do you like to hike, then maybe Hawaii would be great, there's allot to do, like hike to a volcanic area on the Big Island - or bike down the mountain on Maui or sightsee on the trail to Hana.
We went to Turks and Caicos (Provo) and found that there were a few things to do besides diving, like sea kayaking with Big Blue, rent a car and explore beaches, walk for miles down a deserted beach. Visit the Conch farm.
For shore diving you might really like Bonaire, you can go at your own speed when it comes to diving. You can explore Washington Park with a 4wheeler. Plenty of restaurants in town to choose from in Bonaire. Also if you like to wind surf, Lac bay will give you an afternoon of fun. I have also rented a saiboat from the Plaza beach and sailed on the west side of Bonaire. Maybe if youre craving shore diving this island would be what you are looking for.

Dive Safe,
Caymaniac

Check out www.gohawaii.com gives you a good idea of the other things you can do on the islands

I've grown rather partial to Maui, myself.

I'm a relatively new diver (only 25 logged dives), was certified on Maui by the Maui Diving Scuba Center in Lahaina, and have enjoyed dives off the Maui Diamond II and Sea Spirit (Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures).

There is a lot of shore dives that can be done, though most of the good diving seems to be in the mornings (at least when I've been there in Apr/May) due to trade winds and the surf picking up in the early afternoon.

That, of course leaves plenty of time to do other things (like trying out surfing, or enjoying a drive over to Hana).

Whatever island you decide on, I'm sure it'll be great -- it's pretty hard to mess up with Hawaii!

I love Maui myself. We dive with B&B Scuba for my boat diving and then follow that up each day with some shorediving on our own. Maui is a very popular island for a big reason. There is something for everyone.

Enjoy the islands. As stated before you can't go wrong with any of them.

My husband and I just returned from the islands 10 days ago.
We were on a family cruise so were able to visit several islands.

Kauai appears to be a quiet island. And very beautiful! We did shore dives with Bubbles Below. They normally do boat dives, but we couldn't do that with the cruise schedule. Faith was an awesome DM. She showed us lots of neat critters, and wrote down the names of almost every fish we saw! If we ever make it back to Kauai, we will definately be diving with Bubbles Below again.

Kona Hawaii was also nice for diving. The visibility was the best here. We dove with Jack's Diving Locker and were on the Blue Dolphin, their 6-pack. Sandwiches were provided between dives and they were probably the best food we had all week! Well, we did have a pretty awesome Thai lunch on Maui.
Since Hawaii is the Big Island, there is a lot of choices for things to do. I could spend a week alone in Volcano's National Park. And there's the coffee and macadamia farms also.

Maui was also nice. Doug from Shaka Divers took us shore diving and showed us a HUGE turtle, our first and second Frogfish, and even a pair of Harlequin Shrimp. I'd also recommend Shaka Divers.
The next day we went with Ed Robinson for boat diving to Molokini. 12 divers plus 2 DMs, Captain and one more crew on the boat. I must admit though, that this was the most organized boat that I've been on with this many people. We generally try to stay away from anything larger than a 6-pack. The crew was awesome and they did a wonderful job on the dive briefs. Muffins between dives and other snacks after dives.
If you enjoy shopping and more crowds, Maui would be the island to go to. While we were in Lahaina for an evening, it reminded me very much of Key West Florida.

Oahu, we dove there and the visibility wasn't the greatest. And it's way to populated for my liking.

So depending on just what you want to do top-side is how I'd choose the island.
Remember though, that you'll need to spend plenty of time at sealevel before heading to altitude to the volcanoes, waterfalls, etc. Don't want to get bent!

majames42:

Hi, I'm new to Scubaboard (so happy that I ran across it on the web though!). Anyway, my boyfriend and I are trying to plan a dive trip for Dec/Jan this year. He is a complete newbie (will get his open certification while in Hawaii) and I've only been a couple of times (although i'm very comfortable in the water). We want to go someplace that offers more than diving since we will be going for about 10 days. Originally we were planning on going to Turks and Caicos but thought there may be more non-diving things to do in Hawaii.

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions for which island to dive that would be good for (1) beginners to advanced beginners; (2) has plenty of shore diving (so that we can get extra dives in the afternoon); and (3) offers non-diving related activities, I'd love to hear them.

p.s. any other suggestions (dive operators, accommodations, etc.) are also welcome!

Thanks!
Mary Ann

Click to expand...

This is a good site for a customer ranked, un-biased list of operators in the Hawaiian islands...

http://www.scubalinx.com/dive_centers_oahu.html

Enjoy your stay!

Aloha,
C.C.

captain cook:

This is a good site for a customer ranked, un-biased list of operators in the Hawaiian islands...

http://www.scubalinx.com/dive_centers_oahu.html

Enjoy your stay!

Aloha,
C.C.

Click to expand...

Well I'm pretty sure that rating system is flawed.

I know from everything I've experienced and heard from other divers that the Maui order of preference is this:

Boat dives:
1. - three way tie - ERDA, Mike Severn's, B&B Scuba
4. Extended Horizons

Gear rental/purchase/training:
1. Maui Dreams Dive Co.
2. Maui Diving Scuba Center
3. B&B Scuba
999999. Maui Dive Shop (i.e. *absolutely* last resort -- unsafe, unfriendly and over poor quality)

I highly doubt that this is a "customer ranked, un-biased list" -- putting ERDA between a 1 & 2 for "eco awareness" is like saying the sun never shines in Hawaii. It just ain't true!

That list is very biased. While B&B Scuba is towards the top as they should be there are operations there which have been rated very high in the past such as Scuba Shack way down at the bottom and the Maui Dive Shop at the top. The MDS has never been rated high by serious divers.

Pretty biased stuff there.

I looked at a few other places that I've been to and the rankings make no sense to me. And most of the links are broken. Seems like junk to me.