Looking for a dive operator

[free_electron]

I'm planning a trip to Hawaii June timeframe.
I'm looking for Dive operators and a place to stay. Bed and breakfast place or mom and pop place. if it has a refrigerator and microwave it's ok. I am traveling alone. So i need single room. I don't want to spend big bucks on fancy hotel since i will never be there anyway.

This is what i am looking for :

- Nitrox
- Steel tanks ( preferrably 100 cuFt , that way i don't need weight belt and i can do 2 dives on 1 tank )
- Boat diving (i'm not interested in shore diving )
- shallow reefs ( 15 .. 70 ft range ) with lots of marine life. My main purpose is shooting video and photo.
- night dives ( manta and other )
- 3 to 4 dives a day.
- no imposed artificial time limit on dives.
Would be nice to have an operator that does three tank dives ( boat leaves around 9 AM , returns around 4PM ) with no time limits on the actual dives. ( 45 minutes rush rush rush doesn't cut it for me.... )
I am Captain Slow when it comes to diving and known for hovering around a 6 by 6 foot lump of coral ( a 'cleaning' station ) for well over an hour and a half...

I will be staying for three weeks and i want to do 3 to 4 dives a day...
Any leads where to begin looking ?

Thanks

 

[Ann Marie]

Welcome to ScubaBoard!

Just to clarify; you are going to Hawaii, the Big Island or to a different island in the state of Hawaii?

If you are going to the Big Island I'd give Big Island Divers a call. They have Nitrox ($12/cylinder) available. I don't know if they have steel cylinders though. We just got back, dove 9 dives in 3 days with them (was only there for the weekend). They dealt with all of our gear, had it on the boat and rinsed it at the end of the day and stored it for the next day for us.

We did long distance dives, manta dives, black water dive, and regular dives with them. My favorite day dive was Eel Cove, lots of fish (many different butterfly fish, a huge frogfish, eels, and some flatworms). I don't know how they would feel about an hour and a half bottom time, but we had no problems with mainting a 70 minute bottom time. Groups on our boat were also small also.

 

[free_electron]

Thanks for that info. 70 minutes is fine. I generally run 60 minutes to 70 minutes out of respect for other people on the boat. I know that there are people that can only stay 45 minutes before running out of gas. I don't like artificial imposed limits such as : its 45 minutes and hurry hurry because we need to turn the cattle board around for the afternoon cattle drive...

Wha tis the best island for diving ? ( drift diving , night dive ,chance to see mantas both daytime and at night and overall underwater fauna and flora ? )

 

[lazyturtle]

If you're going to the big island there's some really excellent shore diving to be done...some of the sites can be done by shore or boat. That way you're a little less time constrained. Some shops may offer a guide for a shore dive if you can't find someone to dive with. Check out shorediving.com for a list.
Also try googling Hawaii Bed and Breakfasts (or Kona b&B). I found 3 in my neighborhood (Hawaii Kai) that I never knew existed.

 

[Teamcasa]

..Wha tis the best island for diving ? ( drift diving , night dive ,chance to see mantas both daytime and at night and overall underwater fauna and flora ? )

I'll second Ann Marie in recommending Big Island Divers in Kona. They have the whole package, night, manta’s and black water dives.
As for single condos, http://www.konaawesomecondo.com/ has been recommended and they tell me they are very divers friendly.

 

[free_electron]

i'm not in favor of shore diving. it's too much of a hassle. I'm shooting video. The video rig is big and heavy and doesn't like sand and surf. Besides i don't like to swim very far dragging that thing around. i like boats. Find the spot. Drop straight down.. and then putter around. swimming underwater is a waste of bottom time and bottom gas

but , thats my point of view.

 

[friscuba]

Just make sure that if you are intending not to follow a DM that you discuss it with your operator beforehand. Many of the dive sites here have their main attractions separated by 30-40 yards, the divemasters know how to find them and will give people plenty of time to shoot photos or video. Many of our most photogenic critters are very territorial (think of an area about the size of a basketball or a jumprope) and someone who doesn't know the site will most likely miss them.

Operators take on a lot of liability putting divers in the water without a guide since the standard here is guided dives, some may or may not be OK with you doing your own thing. Most are cool with you staying in sight range of the DM (which here is quite a distance, it's not like you're holding hands) but going a different direction altogether may not be appropriate and can lessen the experience for others.... just check ahead.

If you really don't want the guided experience, you should really consider going to the Place of Refuge and getting to know it well. No sand. Generally no surf. Just walk to the entry point and step into 5 feet of water, water beyond recreational depths is just a 2 minute swim straight out. It's got a lot going on.

Have fun,