Got home last night from a great dive trip to the Big Island. 14 dives in 6 days, all with Kona Dive Company which (IMO) is the standout dive op in Kona. They're safe, flexible, have a great stable boat, and the crew is all about making certain everyone has a great day underwater. You will also get maximum bottom time. I was usually one of the first people back to the boat and almost every dive was still well over an hour long.
Most morning we'd have a tiger shark escort as we left the harbor. Many days we were accompanied by eagle rays and/or large pods of dolphins as well. We didn't dive a single disappointing site all week. That said, one of the best (and frequent) sites is crescent beach (right near the harbor). That is where I spotted my first tiger shark while diving. She was beautiful. Tons of schooling fish, along with nudis, frogfish, and even a pipefish.
If you are diving out of Kona with KDC, I cannot recommend the 3 tank long range trips highly enough. They run on Tues & Sat. We headed north and dove two of the finest sites I've seen on the Big Island. First was Kua Beach which is only diveable in summer. It’s a huge shallow site, with bright white sand. Scattered about are small lava islands with large coral heads housing an unimaginable amount of life in a very small foot print. Visibility was awesome and the light penetration made photography a breeze. Plus the sand housed all sorts of cool critters. The other site was hoovers, which includes a manta ray cleaning station. Both days I hit this site, we had manta rays hanging around and putting on a great show for well over 20 minutes.
I feel lucky to have timed my trip so I was heading home before Iselle hits the island. Wishing everyone on island a safe couple of days. We can't wait to be back there in a few months.
Most morning we'd have a tiger shark escort as we left the harbor. Many days we were accompanied by eagle rays and/or large pods of dolphins as well. We didn't dive a single disappointing site all week. That said, one of the best (and frequent) sites is crescent beach (right near the harbor). That is where I spotted my first tiger shark while diving. She was beautiful. Tons of schooling fish, along with nudis, frogfish, and even a pipefish.
If you are diving out of Kona with KDC, I cannot recommend the 3 tank long range trips highly enough. They run on Tues & Sat. We headed north and dove two of the finest sites I've seen on the Big Island. First was Kua Beach which is only diveable in summer. It’s a huge shallow site, with bright white sand. Scattered about are small lava islands with large coral heads housing an unimaginable amount of life in a very small foot print. Visibility was awesome and the light penetration made photography a breeze. Plus the sand housed all sorts of cool critters. The other site was hoovers, which includes a manta ray cleaning station. Both days I hit this site, we had manta rays hanging around and putting on a great show for well over 20 minutes.
I feel lucky to have timed my trip so I was heading home before Iselle hits the island. Wishing everyone on island a safe couple of days. We can't wait to be back there in a few months.
