Kona dive op

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Pillpusher

Contributor
Messages
731
Reaction score
195
Location
Katy, Texas
# of dives
500 - 999
I need to get some diving booked for my upcoming trip there and am seeking some advice. I'm fairly sold on Big Island Divers, as they seem like a good op and I like that they do some long range 3-tank trips (I want to get in as much diving as possible). Only negative is that they charge $12/tank for Nx. Does anyone know their typical diver/guide ratio? I do some photography, and have an appreciation for guides that are good at finding and pointing out the little critters. So, I usually try to stay away from the larger cattle boat ops.

Thanks in advance
 
I dove with Kona Diving Company and loved it. I think it carried 12 max and the DM was awesome.
 
12 with 1 DM/guide? How good are they about finding and pointing out little critters (nudi's, etc)?
 
If you do the long range dives with Big Island Divers, you will find there will only be a small group. The boat is small and fast to get to the sites. The boat I took might hold eight at the most (just a guess). There were only the five of us on the boat, plus guide and captain.
 
I've been on a couple of the long range trips with them and the groups were 6-8 as I recall. They run at least two boats, different sizes, and the nature of the dive is likely to have a lot to do with both sea conditions and clientele, so it probably is best to keep checking and asking who's going, and not commit too early to a given trip.

If you have some flexibility, tell them your interests and concerns and maybe they can hook you up for at least one primo trip. I've found it easy to find staff there who will give you straight information.

I was there last December and seem to recall they weren't doing much in the way of long range trips. That may be seasonal (whale trips in competition?), or related to gas prices/client demand, I just don't know. It does seem to me their willingness to run to the southerly sites - the longer range trips - changed a few years back. They used to do even 2-tank trips down there with regularity.
 
So, with groups of that size, how good are they about finding and pointing out little critters (nudi's, etc)? Or, do they, for the most part, just swim along and look back to make sure everyone is still there?
 
So, with groups of that size, how good are they about finding and pointing out little critters (nudi's, etc)? Or, do they, for the most part, just swim along and look back to make sure everyone is still there?
I don't know about Big Island Divers, but if you go out with Kona Diving Company on their 3-tank long range and Kerry the owner is out with you, she will find every Nudi within a square mile. She is awesome and they run one of the best operations I have ever been out with.
 
I don't know about Big Island Divers, but if you go out with Kona Diving Company on their 3-tank long range and Kerry the owner is out with you, she will find every Nudi within a square mile. She is awesome and they run one of the best operations I have ever been out with.

Honestly, I've been beginning to seriously consider them as well. Speaking of the long range trips, are they worth it? It's a pretty big price difference, so I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on it. Also, what the differences are between going further north vs south.
 
when we did a 3 tank long range trip years ago, I think we actually only got 2 dives in because we spent so much time snorkeling with whales and sharks along the way...
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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