Welcome to ScubaBoard, an online scuba diving forum community where you can join over 95,000 divers from around the world discussing all things related to Scuba Diving. To gain full access to ScubaBoard you must register for a free account.
As a registered member you will be able to:
Participate in over 500 dive topic forums and browse from over 2,975,000 posts.
Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
Post your own photos or view from 75,000 user submitted images.
Gain access to our free classifieds marketplace to buy, sell and trade gear, travel and services.
Use the calendar to organize your events and enroll in other members' events.
All this and much more is available to you absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact the ScubaBoard Support Team.
Hawai'i O'HanaCome dive the exotic Island waters of our 50th state. Kaua'i: The Garden Isle;
O'ahu: The Gathering Place;
Mau'i: The Valley Isle (Mau'i, Moloka'i, Lana'i, Kaho'olawe & Molokini);
Hawai'i: The Big Island.
Yes, I have to admit, now that I have dove Kona, Oahu seems to have lost some of it's initial luster, but that doesn't mean I won't dive here anymore. It is still great diving. Gabe with Kaimana is a great choice for dive ops.
Sorry to contradict some of the other opinions on this thread but I dove Oahu in November and if you are looking for marine life go somewhere else. The dives (on the Waianae coast) consisted of a slow boat, barren rock and a few very skittish small fish.
If you're going to Oahu, stick to surfing.
Perhaps you just weren't in the right places or using the right operator. And like Sea Nmf said, perhaps you do need to slow down and take your time looking at things.
In my experience, I've been on dive sites where the majority of the folks on the boat felt there wasn't anything there, yet to hear my buddy (numerous ones) talk you'd think that they were on a completely dive. But then again, I go slow and look for things.
Just because it didn't swim up and bite you on the a$$ doesn't mean that there wasn't anything there!
__________________
Aloha, Lisa
Smile! It makes people wonder what you've been up to!
Was the divers on the boat Gabe Scotti and Company? They were suppose to be out that way I think this weekend. If you see them again tell'em I said hi and I hope they are having fun, wish I could have been there.
Yeah, it was them. They let a pokey local tag along, real nice folks. We were out with Dive Tek, my first trip with them, won’t be my last. We got to snorkel with – well near enough to see them swimming – a pod of Pilot Whales and an Oceanic Whitetip among other fun things to see and do. Gee, chartering a whole boat is the best.
Thanks Gabe and ya'all!
__________________
Everything in moderation, including moderation.
Well, maybe except for fun. Keep in mind, my word choice reflects only my thoughts and opinions and I don't see any reason to not have fun just because something is serious.
Since the OP wasn't asking for a comparison, and given the reason for his request, it's not terribly fair to suggest going to a different island.
The bottom line is that there are a number of dive sites off Oahu, some of them being shore sites and a great deal of them being boat sites.
I can't say as I was terribly impressed by the quality (or quantity) of coral or fish life, but then again, I was expecting Maui.
The visibility on the boat dives I've done off Oahu was very good. Some of the topography was interesting (e.g. a 6' wall that ran for further than you could swim on a half tank) and the artificial reefs from intentional wrecks.
With the exception of a poorly chosen spot (given conditions and recent events) for my IE, the diving I've done off Oahu has been decent and there are plenty of operators. I've gone with Island Divers and Waikiki Diving, and they're both decent ops... I know some of the people at Dive Oahu, and they seem to be solid as well, though I haven't dove with them.
Of course, given a choice, I'd pick Maui (and once I get over to Kona, perhaps would be suggesting that over Maui even), but that's not what we're talking about.
If you are experienced they will let you do your thing. If you are not they will give you whatever hand holding needed. I've been on their boat for a scheduled trip when there were only two (2) paying customers; they do routinely scheduled trips if any customers show up; unlike others that will cancel if there isn't a minumum.
Perhaps you just weren't in the right places or using the right operator. And like Sea Nmf said, perhaps you do need to slow down and take your time looking at things.
In my experience, I've been on dive sites where the majority of the folks on the boat felt there wasn't anything there, yet to hear my buddy (numerous ones) talk you'd think that they were on a completely dive. But then again, I go slow and look for things.
Just because it didn't swim up and bite you on the a$$ doesn't mean that there wasn't anything there!
Sorry to bruise the egos of the local divers but Oahu doesn't cut it compared to other Hawaiian islands, even if you slow down to near coma levels of activity. If you want a small bone to help you how about this, Oahu is better then Lake Michigan. Happy?
Granted I'm not a wreck aficionado, I’m only interested in critters. But after dragging all my equipment (scuba and extensive camera gear) to Oahu, I decided it wasn't worth the effort and moved on to other activities. After constantly sitting at the mooring line with 1500 in the tank, while everyone else is surfacing, looking for anything to justify the dive was frustrating. I was frequently lagging behind the group trying to find anything interesting and looking for the group's bubbles to track them as they raced over the reef. Setting the underwater speed record isn't my goal.
And this is from a guy who dives 3 times a week at the local aquarium or heads out to the local murky, cold quarry just to be able to be underwater. Nope, Oahu is a great vacation spot but don't expect too much out of its diving. Better then some, not as good as many. Sorry.
I will probably try Oahu again some time in the future but after comparing it to the other Hawaiian Islands or other locations I would have a difficult time justifying it solely as a dive location. Perhaps trying another operator or other spots would be helpful but how many times does one have to visit the island before its good dive spots are shared with the haoles?
Sorry to bruise the egos of the local divers but Oahu doesn't cut it compared to other Hawaiian islands, even if you slow down to near coma levels of activity. If you want a small bone to help you how about this, Oahu is better then Lake Michigan. Happy?
Granted I'm not a wreck aficionado, I’m only interested in critters. But after dragging all my equipment (scuba and extensive camera gear) to Oahu, I decided it wasn't worth the effort and moved on to other activities. After constantly sitting at the mooring line with 1500 in the tank, while everyone else is surfacing, looking for anything to justify the dive was frustrating. I was frequently lagging behind the group trying to find anything interesting and looking for the group's bubbles to track them as they raced over the reef. Setting the underwater speed record isn't my goal.
And this is from a guy who dives 3 times a week at the local aquarium or heads out to the local murky, cold quarry just to be able to be underwater. Nope, Oahu is a great vacation spot but don't expect too much out of its diving. Better then some, not as good as many. Sorry.
I will probably try Oahu again some time in the future but after comparing it to the other Hawaiian Islands or other locations I would have a difficult time justifying it solely as a dive location. Perhaps trying another operator or other spots would be helpful but how many times does one have to visit the island before its good dive spots are shared with the haoles?
Sure, the other islands have better diving, but that doesn't mean that Oahu doesn't also have some great diving. Again, you just don't know where to go. Oh, and by the way, I am a haole. As are most of the others who are on the Hawaii forum of this board.
And you don't need to be in a near coma to find things. Perhaps you should check out the video that ScubaDrew posted, in addition to the numerous others that the local folks have posted.
Like I said, previously, I don't know what operator you went with, or where you went but it obviously was the wrong one, at the wrong time or perhaps the group you were with scared everything away. I can hardly believe that any wreck here that you dove on, was devoid of marine life, unless you dove on it the day after they sunk it! The whole reason that they sink a wreck, in the first place, is to create an artificial reef to harbor marine life. They are flush with fish, have a number of eels, usually have turtles. Sometime sharks and one wreck, quite frequently there is large herd/pod/flock/whatever of eagle rays (26 reported on one dive!) that hang nearby. There was even a photo posted here last May or June, before the website crash, in which a large Tiger shark swam between a buddy pair and went on its merry way while they were diving on a wreck off Waikiki (by the way, if the dude who posted those pics, reads this, please post it again - great shots!). In addition, you should check out Scotti's blog with the big Manta and numerous fish from a dive he did just this week!
I have dove better myself (Philippines) and dove worse (Puget Sound), and would still recommend it over pretty much any other activity here in the islands, even if one couldn't make it to the other islands.
Furthermore, what time of the year you are diving here, can also make a big difference as most of the better sites are on the north and west shores are pretty much closed out due to surf most of the winter. And most of the Hawaii Kai sites aren't frequently dove.
And quite frankly, I don't need any bones from you. I'll save the good spots for someone with a better attitude like the OP! Diving and critters here on Oahu - kind of like sex - maybe you're just not doing it right!
__________________
Aloha, Lisa
Smile! It makes people wonder what you've been up to!
Last edited by MeiLing; April 4th, 2008 at 06:08 AM.
Linear Mode
