Are there any Big Island Dive Charters That Cater To Advanced Divers?

[TracyN]

Hi all. I'm considering visiting the Big Island and I want to do a day of diving and then a manta ray dive. Are there any dive charters that take in consideration advanced divers and go to more interesting sites such as wrecks or lava tubes? I've looked at some ops online and how they offer follow the DM sheep dives as well as setting up and breaking down your gear. I am not interested in those type of dives nor do I want anyone messing with my gear. No wonder there are so many dependent divers out there, lol! Thanks.

 

[Scubanoobi]

I'm heading to the Kohala coast next week (40 mins north of Kona), going with blue wilderness. I think they have smaller boats, they also said that they will let you stay down 70 mins for both dives (or until your air runs out). Low on air divers will be led back to the boat.

 

[Peter_C]

The Big Island has excellent shore diving. You can often dive the exact same sites as the charters. Locals named one dive site "Rip Off Reef", due to the proximity of the harbor and the easy access from shore. A scooter would be the ultimate way to go for shore diving there.

 

[fisheater]

The Big Island has excellent shore diving. You can often dive the exact same sites as the charters. Locals named one dive site "Rip Off Reef", due to the proximity of the harbor and the easy access from shore. A scooter would be the ultimate way to go for shore diving there.

A scooter IS the ultimate way to go for shore diving there.

It was SO much fun!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TSandM]

Depending on when you are going, consider talking to mer on this board (Meredith Tanguay). She's a GUE instructor who also does some guiding on the Big Island. If she isn't there, she'll know who to refer you to.

 

[kr2y5]

Jack's diving locker has 3-tank trips to more "advanced" sites. They asked beforehand whether I wanted help in setting up my own gear or swapping tanks. I did not want help, and nobody was offended. Their manta dives are quite a bit more interesting than those offered by some of the other companies: they do not insist on being overweight, harass or micro-manage divers like some of the others do, and on the manta dive, they may take you on a tour of the reef after watching the mantas, remaining air permitting (e.g., when I was there, we went to see an anemone at somewhere around 80 feet or so).

 

[diversteve]

Wreck Deep dives off Kona Hawaii 6 divers max, 3 min. to go. No exp. with them but Red Hill is about the best south Kona dive area.

It's Hawaiian law that they put a DM in the water with every 8 divers. Demonstrate proficiency and they'll may let you/buddy go - we have. Since the lava substrate is different than what you see in SoFl sometimes it's a good idea to follow the DM - they find stuff you might overlook.

 

[Laurent Pilotte]

Sandwich isles. They are excellent. Located in ctr of Kona village. Yes shore diving is great especially at pu-oh ohananou place of refuge. It is called two step. Check out my videos of these locations on my YouTube channel . divecon42. Enjoy the Big Island

 

[boulderjohn]

When I stayed in Kona, I did some shore dives with a good local diver--it was very good.

I also did a couple of days of diving with local operators. In once case, I thought things went well, but they were one boat, and they did not have enough divers to go out the other days, so I had to go somewhere else.

When I dived with Jack's Diving Locker, there were more than 24 people on the boat. We were divided into three groups. The person leading our group said that the least experienced diver in our group had several hundred dives, so we would not be doing a typical dive. We did not do a typical dive.

 

[Peter_C]

When I dove with Jack's Diving Locker, the DM ran out of air, at the beginning of the dive! They also took us away from the lights to go on tour, even though I had written in my wet notes I had seen a manta. The DM was also more interested in taking video and trying to sell it to all the newly minted divers. It was the only boat dive we did while on island. To say I was pissed after spending that much money, well...the first dive would have been an easy shore dive too. It was my first time boat diving that I didn't leave a tip.

Now I did the like people in the store, and their fills were solid, always over 3,000 psi, with "0" CO.

I have heard good things about Big Island Divers.