Where to stay and dive with on Big Island

[butrflyleslie]

We're planning to go to the Big Island sometime between end of May and July. We want a good mix of top side (volcano!) and diving. Where would you recommend staying and who would you dive with? Is $100+ typical for a 2 tank dive? We're used to $125 for 4 tank dive. Any recommendations are appreciated!

 

[Kevrumbo]

Kona Seaside Hotel --great central location in Kailua-Kona, everything (shops, eateries) within 5-10min walking distance along Alii Drive/Palani Road. However, can be hard to find parking on the hotel property lot, and rooms can be close to the traffic noise on Alii Drive/Palani Road.

Jack's Diving Locker has a nice shop and is a good dive-op to start with, or compare with others for reference.

Best Guidebook series on Hawaii (and all the Hawaiian Islands):
Hawaii The Big Island Revealed - Page Samples

 

[diversteve]

Most of the boats leave out of Honokahau (sp) harbor just north of Kailua-Kona. But there's nothing nearby.

So you can either stay at one of the hotels/condos in town or just south of there - there's a lot of properties south along the coast for several miles including some big hotels. We found some affordable waterfront condos (not beachfront - it's mostly lava along there) on vrbo.com - some as little as $700/wk. No recommendation since we ultimately rented a house. I don't know if it's still the case but last summer vacancies were high - several ads mentioned offering a discount so they could get renters. fwiw USAirways has a 5+hr. non-stop flight directly into Kona (KOA) from LAX.

Anything in the Kahuluu or Keauhou area seemed like the best bet. The closest properties just south of Kona would be walking distance to some of the restaurants. Our house was just across from White Sands Beach - from there it was a short drive along Alii Drive back to Kona. If you plan to do any shorediving, the majority of dive sites are nearby: Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: The Big Island, Hawaiian Islands

There were also less expensive condos near the golf course farther south but they seemed to be ocean view and not waterfront.

We also briefly looked at properties farther up the Kohala Coast but that's more of a drive. I stayed in that area once some years ago but it was a longer drive to Kona than I would want to do daily. And would add drive time to a round-trip Volcanoes ride. There's some big hotels in that area - Hilton Waikoloa and others. I think there's one dive operator that has a boat up there also. Better beaches also iirc.

fwiw, the Volcano is at elevation so no-fly/altitude rules apply there after diving.

Everybody we looked at seemed to be $125/2 tanks. I suspect that's the going rate there.

My buddy dove with and really liked Kona Diving Co. - they offered $470 for 5 2-tank dives. One to definitely do is the Manta Night dive. You can make it one of your five for $10 more.

Another option we liked the look of was Wanna Dive Kona. They offered a $15 discount starting with the 3rd charter. [user]friscuba[/user] here owns it.

 

[Silver_Diver]

There are lots of dive charters in Kona, but I think my favorties are Kona Dive Company for boat diving, and Jack's Diving Locker for shore diving. Jack's has a solid deal on tanks and the staff there are generally very friendly and helpful. Any gear you want I HIGHLY recommend picking up before you leave as it is not uncommon to see 50-100% markup everywhere. If you only want to do boat dives my favorites are the manta ray night dive and the blue- or black-water dives. The mantas are consistently present and the sight of ten or twenty swimming inches away from you is amazing. For the blue/blackwater diving the boat takes you out off shore and you get to hang from a line and see what cool pelagics things swim by. Usually this can mean jellies, sharks, big tuna, etc... For shore diving there are tons of great spots within a 30 minute drive of Kona including Puako, Alua Bay, Airport, Kealakekua, Keei, and Honaunau. Any establishment can provide directions for these dives.

As far as living, check out rental prices for condos and homes as they are often more reasonable than hotels. Seaside is an excellent hotel choice because of its price and location as long as you don't mind the potential noise from main street (which is usually not that bad, honestly).

Remember that the Big Island is BIG, and that trips outside of Kona may take 1-2 hours of driving. The national park entrance is at 3500 ft, so no going there within 18 hours of diving. The trip all the way across the island to Hilo will take 3 hours via HWY 11, about 1.5 hours on Saddle Road. So if you are planning on taking in multiple sites in different places you might want to book separate places to stay.

 

[Kryssa]

We stayed in a lovely 1 bedroom condo for $100/night last year. Found it on VRBO and the owner gave me a discounted rate because we booked just a few weeks before and they didn't want their condo sitting empty.

The name of the place is B&K's Condo in the Kona Reef complex walking distance from the food and shopping on Alii Drive. Lot's of goodies included like laundry detergent, basic food in the fridge like peanut butter and a few bottles of water. Towel and beach goodies for you to use as well. The complex has a small pool that was empty the entire week we were there.

It's on the 2nd floor no more than 20 feet from the water. Great little balcony for breakfast and a good book.

B&K's Condos Ocearn Front @ Kona Reef in Hawaii & Ocean View in Lincoln City, Or.

We dove with Big Island Divers and enjoyed it. They'll keep your gear for the week and will rinse it and set it back up for you before you get on the boat the next day. We did 2 AM 2-tanks and the 2-tank twilight/Manta trip. All were good. My husband especially liked that his dives weren't limited by other's air consumption. If a few had to go up (including me) he could stay down with the DM and finish off an hour dive, sometimes longer.

 

[socaldiver]

We prefer staying at Royal Kona Resort. Still within walking distance of some shops and restaurants.

And in my opinion, STAY AWAY FROM UNCLE BILLIE'S!!

 

[frostfire]

We will be there the last week in June and will be staying at Kona Coast.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I would also check out Kona Honu Divers. Debbie and I had a great experience with them each time we have go to Kona. They (and other boats) do the manta ray night dive. Drop the coin and do the dive. It's worth every penny.
DivemasterDennis

 

[IamScubaDog]

Going to be on the west side of Big Island in June for a month with my 10 year old daughter. I have done some research on the shore dives and I wanted to see if anyone would like to dive with us.

Hin

 

[Kryssa]

Your 10 year old would probably get quite the kick out of the Manta Dive. They would see so much bigger because she is so much smaller. It's just about the easiest night dive you'll ever do, too. You'd have to spend the night in Kona, however, because the drive back would put you at risk for DCS due to altitude.