Afternoon diving

[dbittner]

Most of my diving has been in Maui, where very few (if any) ops go out in the afternoon. The trade winds pick up in the afternoon, making for rough conditions and, probably, poorer viz. The same pattern seems to be operative on the Big Island (or at least it was in my one trip to Kailua-Kona).

Last summer, I did get in a few days of diving in Oahu, and was surprised to find boat diving ops having regularly scheduled afternoon dive trips. I did go out on one afternoon trip, and found the conditions and the viz. to be quite good.

My question is two-fold:
a) Are there other dive areas in Hawaii where boat dive ops regularly schedule afternoon dives?
b) The trade winds blow all across the Islands. Why are such areas able to have good conditions and viz. in the afternoon? (Or, perhaps it would be easier to ask, "why are other areas not usually able to have good conditions and viz. in the afternoon?")

(Note: My guess with respect to South Maui diving is that the Central Valley probably has a great deal to do with the afternoon windiness.)

Peace,
Dave

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

I think Ed does and afternoon dive and a twilight dive. I also think Maui Dive shop does some afternoon stuff... Check out their websites or give them a call (those are only the ones off the top of my head). I think the vis is fine 24/7 but it's the swells that are the problem. I think the wind makes navigation hazardous especially getting out to Molokini. They probably only cross when conditions allow and will do some less-exposed sites close to shore otherwise.

I hope this helps! (ymmv)

Sean

 

[Charlie99]

S. Maui diving would be fine most afternoons, provided that one stayed close alongshore. Unfortunately, Molokini is far enough offshore that there is usually a lot of tradewinds either whistling through the central valley and out past Molokini, or there is wraparound winds coming around the south end of Maui.

West Maui diveops usually run across the channel to Lanai for their morning trips. The afternoon winds really whistle through the 6+ mile channel between Maui and Lanai, and the return crossing after a morning of diving is noticeably rougher than the trip over earlier in the day.

Lahaina Divers does run afternoon trips in West Maui. They typically stay close to the W. Maui shore (and they have bigger boats that other dive operators).

 

[friscuba]

Kona ops don't go out in the afternoon mostly because there's not enough time to squeeze in an afternoon two tanker. Many of the operators are just getting back into the harbor between 1:30 and 2:30 or so and have to get ready for a 3:00 to 4:00 meet time for the afternoon/evening trip.

Unlike Maui, where many of the operators are at the water at sun-up, the majority of Kona ops are hitting the water between 8 and 9:30 because they don't have to worry about beating the afternoon trades as there's a mountain in the way of them. The trades here are generally north of the Kona airport, which nobody really hits on a regular basis.

The big "afternoon dive" here is the first dive of the 2 tank manta dive trip. For the most part we can dive here all day long.

 

[dbittner]

Thank you for your responses. I have been out on the twilight/night dive with Ed Robinson's, and did the twilight/night (Manta) dive combo with Kona Honu, and enjoyed them both. (My only problem in Kona was the fact that no mantas showed up. It must have been a statutory holiday on the mantas' calendar. )

The thing about my Oahu experience had to do with boat trips leaving at 7:30 am AND 11:00 am -- morning and early afternoon dive trips. My Maui experiences got me used to the idea of trying to get back to the boat dock by 12 noon in order to avoid the afternoon wind and swells.

Thanks for the reference to "wrap-around winds" -- I hadn't thought about that before.

Peace,
Dave