papanano
Contributor
Hi, We are going to Hawaii in the end of November for a week and I would like to know which island has the best diving and dive operations. We prefer small boats that have more personal attention but it's not a deal breaker.
First Time To Hawaii, Where Is The Best Diving?
- Thread starter papanano
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Scubanoobi
Contributor
Big Island is typically considered as the best island for diving. Personally I liked Maui a little better.
Kauai wasn't great and I haven't dove Oahu so can't comment.
Kauai wasn't great and I haven't dove Oahu so can't comment.
I can comment on Oahu...
The island is absolutely amazeballs. The jungles, Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor, hikes in the jungles...
The diving... not so much. The reefs are very monochromatic and mostly hard corals. The lack of color and movement, to my eye, looks dead. There's fish, but not as much life as we're accustomed to seeing. Maybe we're just spoiled by the Caribbean, but Oahu is the only place we've ever been that all three of us agreed is not worth a return trip.
There are, however, turtles galore. And we did spend a safety stop listening to whale song.
It's also really pricey. It cost us about as much as 3 trips to Cozumel, even staying at a hotel that definitely was not as nice as what we're used to.
The island is absolutely amazeballs. The jungles, Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor, hikes in the jungles...
The diving... not so much. The reefs are very monochromatic and mostly hard corals. The lack of color and movement, to my eye, looks dead. There's fish, but not as much life as we're accustomed to seeing. Maybe we're just spoiled by the Caribbean, but Oahu is the only place we've ever been that all three of us agreed is not worth a return trip.
There are, however, turtles galore. And we did spend a safety stop listening to whale song.
It's also really pricey. It cost us about as much as 3 trips to Cozumel, even staying at a hotel that definitely was not as nice as what we're used to.
DiveMaven
Contributor
We're partial to Maui and always dive with Ed Robinsons on their advanced charters
Scuba Christine
Registered
Had a great week of diving with Kona Diving Company Home
Everything from the advance planning emails, to the boat, crew and every single dive was a delight.
Kerry and her team take great care of their divers. The boats are spacious and well organized. There is plenty of personal attention if you want it and the small groups are guided expertly. I like to manage my own gear, but they will deal will all your gear and change overs for you so you can fully relax if you like. We did the 5 day package, with the addition of the manta night dives and a long range day. Couldn't have been better.
Everything from the advance planning emails, to the boat, crew and every single dive was a delight.
Kerry and her team take great care of their divers. The boats are spacious and well organized. There is plenty of personal attention if you want it and the small groups are guided expertly. I like to manage my own gear, but they will deal will all your gear and change overs for you so you can fully relax if you like. We did the 5 day package, with the addition of the manta night dives and a long range day. Couldn't have been better.
Last edited:
G&G
Registered
We've only dived Maui and Oahu. Definitely recommend Mike Severns on Maui - many of their DMs are marine biologists and after giving excellent pre-dive briefings, then go out and find all the critters to show you.
I've done Kona, Puako, and Hilo on the Big Island and various parts of Kauai + Niihau. I enjoyed it all. In Puako, I was able to shore dive (my preference) with just me + a guide (can't get much smaller than that). It was awesome. Shore dives at the north shore of Kauai were sweet too (Tunnels). The Kona Manta night dive was a bit of a circus, but very memorable. By far, the most awesome dives of either trip were the Niihau ones. I doubt I'll ever get back, and the bumpy ride made me sick as a dog, but it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Topography, Location, Sharks, Rays, Endangered Monk Seals, Black Coral, Nudibranchs - and the list goes on. Kona Honu on TBI and Fathom 5 on Kauai were both solid. Photos from both sites in my sig. Enjoy!
Kauai videos.
TBI Videos.
Kauai videos.
TBI Videos.
OP
papanano
Contributor
thank you for all your input. We are leaning towards maui so more particulars and experiences is much appreciated
Scubanoobi
Contributor
Here are a couple of short videos I put together from my trip to Maui this summer, the first one is a little bit of everything from the island, the second is strictly from diving. I dove with B&B Scuba, they finish their 2-tank dive by 9:30 am so you still have the rest of the day to do other stuff (or dive more).
Maui is my favourite place BTW, you will enjoy it.
Maui is my favourite place BTW, you will enjoy it.
- Messages
- 26,281
- Reaction score
- 5,875
- # of dives
- I'm a Fish!
In November the north sides of the islands are iffy/shut down to diving by weather. So Kauai would be a bad choice since that includes the best shore dive - Tunnels - and the best boat dives - Ni'ihau.
Nice thing about Maui is you've got accessibility to 3, possibly 4 islands to dive. There's decent shore/boat diving along the West and South Maui coasts - many opperators do 2nd dives there at a dozen or more sites generically referred to by some as "Turtle Town" - there's all this shorediving - Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Maui, Hawaiian Islands and if you select the right condo properties - some in both Kihei/Wailea or north in Napili - you can dive from the beach out front of your resort.
Also there's all the boats diving Molokini Crater from the Kihei boatramp, a few options from Ma'alea harbor generally to Molokini also - depending on conditions inside the crater are good dives, there's dives off both points and the Backwall which is very vertical to about 300' and a good option for sharks usually.
From West Maui the boats go to Lana'i for the Cathedrals or the West Lana'i drift dives. I personally think the west Lana'i dives are better than Molokini - certainly more vertical in some spots and the fishlife is superior to anywhere in the crater except where the snorkel boats feed them. I've seen 4-5000 (DM estimate) tangs holding station off Sharkfin while 1/2 dozen reef sharks waited for dinner - the only place I've ever seen that.
Possibly in November Lahaina Divers is still also going to Moloka'i to dive with Hammerheads but it may be too rough.
So Maui is a good choice. Plus the shore dive entries are a lot easier than on Kona - many beaches instead of lava. Even the carries are often shorter. Parking will be an issue at some of the South Maui sites so either go early or in the afternoons. If you do plan to shoredive, tanks are available at 4 of the Maui Dive Shops, B&B Scuba or Maui Dreams Dive Co. in Kihei as well. Probably Lahaina Divers also - I think we rented from them once.
All of the Kihei boats are smaller - some operators pull theirs out at the ramp daily. None are over 12 divers IIRC Mike Severns could be an option for you there. Or Maui Diamond II - booked thru Maui Dreams Dive Co. in Kihei also - just a short drive to Ma'alea. While there - or make the drive later to the Maui Ocean Center also. I'm also a B&B Scuba fan - they're the nicest people.
In Lahaina, Lahaina Divers has two 46' Newtons but they're not overly crowded as they have an upper deck also. Or Extended Horizons - I think 12, maybe 16 is the max capacity of the boat.
All operators generlally work to an 8 divers/DM ratio. I've been on Maui Dive Shops boat with about 22 others - so a little awkward gearing up but once we hit the water we never saw the other groups again - they sort by experience level.
Nice thing about Maui is you've got accessibility to 3, possibly 4 islands to dive. There's decent shore/boat diving along the West and South Maui coasts - many opperators do 2nd dives there at a dozen or more sites generically referred to by some as "Turtle Town" - there's all this shorediving - Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Maui, Hawaiian Islands and if you select the right condo properties - some in both Kihei/Wailea or north in Napili - you can dive from the beach out front of your resort.
Also there's all the boats diving Molokini Crater from the Kihei boatramp, a few options from Ma'alea harbor generally to Molokini also - depending on conditions inside the crater are good dives, there's dives off both points and the Backwall which is very vertical to about 300' and a good option for sharks usually.
From West Maui the boats go to Lana'i for the Cathedrals or the West Lana'i drift dives. I personally think the west Lana'i dives are better than Molokini - certainly more vertical in some spots and the fishlife is superior to anywhere in the crater except where the snorkel boats feed them. I've seen 4-5000 (DM estimate) tangs holding station off Sharkfin while 1/2 dozen reef sharks waited for dinner - the only place I've ever seen that.
Possibly in November Lahaina Divers is still also going to Moloka'i to dive with Hammerheads but it may be too rough.
So Maui is a good choice. Plus the shore dive entries are a lot easier than on Kona - many beaches instead of lava. Even the carries are often shorter. Parking will be an issue at some of the South Maui sites so either go early or in the afternoons. If you do plan to shoredive, tanks are available at 4 of the Maui Dive Shops, B&B Scuba or Maui Dreams Dive Co. in Kihei as well. Probably Lahaina Divers also - I think we rented from them once.
All of the Kihei boats are smaller - some operators pull theirs out at the ramp daily. None are over 12 divers IIRC Mike Severns could be an option for you there. Or Maui Diamond II - booked thru Maui Dreams Dive Co. in Kihei also - just a short drive to Ma'alea. While there - or make the drive later to the Maui Ocean Center also. I'm also a B&B Scuba fan - they're the nicest people.
In Lahaina, Lahaina Divers has two 46' Newtons but they're not overly crowded as they have an upper deck also. Or Extended Horizons - I think 12, maybe 16 is the max capacity of the boat.
All operators generlally work to an 8 divers/DM ratio. I've been on Maui Dive Shops boat with about 22 others - so a little awkward gearing up but once we hit the water we never saw the other groups again - they sort by experience level.
Last edited:
Similar threads
