I can only do land based diving because I'm travelling with an infant. I like the idea of Hawaii because it's a nice mixed trip with the hiking on the Na'Pali coast in Kauai and Volcanoes Nat Park on the Big Island but I read a lot that the diving is not "amazing", some saying not even as good as the Caribbean. I recently took a trip to Cozumel which is often raved about and while the diving was nice (and cheap) I wasn't blown away so if Hawaii is worse that would be a problem I want to jump in the water and be overwhelmed, schools of fish, big stuff, great visibility etc.. don't care about water temperature or macro/critter hunting or photography. Cozumel had great topography and visibility but quantity of marine life was disappointing.
So reading threads on this forum it seems that I would need to go to Komodo or Raja Ampat to truly get what I'm looking for but it also seems that land based diving in these locations doesn't compare to liveaboards because you can't get to the best sites. Seems foolish to go all that way until I can do it properly on a liveaboard. So second choice would be Palau, going by what I've read you can get to ALL the same sites doing land based in Palau, and that diving in Palau is amazing? Airfare to Palau is $2,000 and 5 days/10 dives is $725 with Sam's or $925 for 3 tank days.
Alternatively there's Hawaii, airfare is half that of Palau at $1,000 but diving is more expensive if I do the best stuff. If splitting time between Big Island and Kauai, 2 days of regular 2 tank diving, 1 night 2 tank Manta dive, and 2 days Ni'ihau would cost $1030. So how do Ni'ihau and the manta night dives compare to Palau given that it would actually cost me -more- per dive? Ni'ihau is $315 for a two tank dive! That's more than I paid for 10 dives in Cozumel
And finally the third option would be going to Palau and stopping in Hawaii for 10 days. Do all the topside fun stuff on hawaii and save the diving for Palau, except for maybe the manta night dive on the big island. I just wonder if I would regret going all the way to Kauai and not diving Ni'ihau or after a week in Palau would I not even care? Ni'ihau is only in season late May- late Sept and Palau is best Feb-Apr.
Sorry this was a long post, but hopefully someone who has been to both can help with my "dilemma"
So reading threads on this forum it seems that I would need to go to Komodo or Raja Ampat to truly get what I'm looking for but it also seems that land based diving in these locations doesn't compare to liveaboards because you can't get to the best sites. Seems foolish to go all that way until I can do it properly on a liveaboard. So second choice would be Palau, going by what I've read you can get to ALL the same sites doing land based in Palau, and that diving in Palau is amazing? Airfare to Palau is $2,000 and 5 days/10 dives is $725 with Sam's or $925 for 3 tank days.
Alternatively there's Hawaii, airfare is half that of Palau at $1,000 but diving is more expensive if I do the best stuff. If splitting time between Big Island and Kauai, 2 days of regular 2 tank diving, 1 night 2 tank Manta dive, and 2 days Ni'ihau would cost $1030. So how do Ni'ihau and the manta night dives compare to Palau given that it would actually cost me -more- per dive? Ni'ihau is $315 for a two tank dive! That's more than I paid for 10 dives in Cozumel
And finally the third option would be going to Palau and stopping in Hawaii for 10 days. Do all the topside fun stuff on hawaii and save the diving for Palau, except for maybe the manta night dive on the big island. I just wonder if I would regret going all the way to Kauai and not diving Ni'ihau or after a week in Palau would I not even care? Ni'ihau is only in season late May- late Sept and Palau is best Feb-Apr.
Sorry this was a long post, but hopefully someone who has been to both can help with my "dilemma"