woohoo! Kona -and- Kauai this fall

[tep]

Finally. I get to back to Kona and Kauai in September. I have almost everything. Places to stay, cars, flights.

What's missing, you ask?

DIVING!

I'm looking for recommendations for dive shops for Kona and Kauai.

I've been with Jack's at Kona (10 years ago!) and we were skunked on the Manta dive, other than that, practically perfect.

I've been with Fathom Five several times on Kauai. Always great.

But, it's been years, and things change.

Anyone want to make recommendations based on recent experiences? I plan to dive my brains out at Kona (at least 5 days) and dive at least 3 days at Kauai. Probably mostly boat diving, but if I can find a local buddy or guide, I'm open to shore diving, too. My wife no longer dives, but boats that also take a few snorkelers would be a bonus.

I've got AOW and Nitrox, plus a few other certs, and I do SoCal shore diving. I want more than the "all beginners, 50 ft max" and less than "wreck penetration @140ft with no viz in a 10 kt current".

This is my first vacation of more than 6 days in over 8 years, so can you tell I'm excited?

 

[JamesBon92007]

You might want to bring a respirator--the air is supposedly very bad right now but of course Kileaua may or may not stop erupting by then. You might want to read up on the hazards of volcanic ash and Pele's Hair too.

I think Jack's has an unlimited amount of time to re-do the manta night dive if none showed up so you might be able to try it again for free. I tried to book with them in April but they were full so I ended up going with Kona Honu and they were fine. I suggest booking the manta dive in advance however I suspect that there may be fewer people vacationing on Hawai'i right now. The "Black Water" aka "Pelagic" dive is very popular but I have not done it but I talked to one (senior) couple who had done it several times and they were very excited to be going. We lucked out and they counted 17 mantas on our manta dive

 

[Aloha Joe]

Last month I dove with Big Island Divers (manta dive) and Jacks (2-tank beginner dive). The advanced dives were all unfortunately booked. I really liked Big Island Divers - the guides were marine biologists and did more than just point out fish.

The ‘Advanced Dives’ are usually 1 deep dive and 1 shallow dive. They’ll see a wreck but there’s no penetration. On Big Island, they are more strict about your qualifications - AOW is. Good but you might need X number of dives, Y being in the past 6 months. Check the websites.

I’ve been told Big Island is the best for diving. I wish I had more than those 2 dives - I’ll have to go back when I get some more $$$.

 

[grantwiscour]

Enjoy the islands...I was just daydreaming yesterday about Kauai...such a pretty place. We have been happy with Seasport and Fathom Five when diving Kauai. Don't forget the Koloa Landing shore dive for self-guided and free.

Big Island has my heart...our most recent trip in Jan/Feb provided us with great dives that included a Hammer, Dolphins, Eels and the usual cast of characters. Jack's, B.I.D. & Kona Honu continually show divers good dives. We do most of our Big Island dives from shore, self-guided. Check out Two-Step, Honokahau Harbor, Miloli'i and Pebble for some fun self-guided dives.

 

[diving4ever]

Sounds like a great trip! I'm a Kona Dive Company devotee. Especially now that they have the small fast boat for long range and night reef dives. Consistently great experience and service. I also really like shore diving Puako in Kohala--but getting tanks for shore diving can be a pain.

I'm certain there is vog off/on in Kona. I was there during the eruption and that was the case. That said, you don't need to worry about the laze or other heavy pollutants impacting the Puna district. Also, the active eruption may have ended by fall. I suggest checking EPA's Air Now website for up to date air quality info. The last few weeks have had the same air quality level I've come to expect over the past 2 years:

AQI: Moderate (51 - 100)
Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.

In Kauai, I've always used Fathom Five. Very happy with them, but I've been considering Bubbles Below since the dive some interesting north side sites including Mana Crack.

Have fun & please post a trip report!

 

[covediver]

I second Kona Dive Company as my choice. Great people and dives. If you are so inclined, do the night manta dive. Bit of a spectacle with all the boats and lights, but week worth it. I was at Volcanoes National Park in March. What a difference a couple of weeks makes. On that note, if you do go from the Kona side to visit the active area, I was advised by the dive master that time out of the water needs to be considered because of altitude changes and they vary by route.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I second Kona Dive Company as my choice. Great people and dives. If you are so inclined, do the night manta dive. Bit of a spectacle with all the boats and lights, but week worth it. I was at Volcanoes National Park in March. What a difference a couple of weeks makes. On that note, if you do go from the Kona side to visit the active area, I was advised by the dive master that time out of the water needs to be considered because of altitude changes and they vary by route.

The southern route still takes you over 4000 feet and some of the roads are covered with lava but I think the 130 is still open. This is being discussed in another thread which includes this link:

http://deepadventurescuba.net/assets/uploads/files/altitudecombined2.pdf

I hope that's the right article...

 

[ensu]

If you want to get some shore diving in with a guide while you are in Kona feel free to look me up at www.divingbellscuba.com. otherwise I am another vote for Kona Diving Company. They take good care of their people and always show you a good time.

 

[AquamanKauai]

With your experience level I would certainly at least consider a run over to Niihau while visiting Kauai. Some really amazing diving over there. Essentially you are ensured to dive with Monk Seals and have encounters with Sandbar Sharks. Some of the lava tubes over there are also very large and exciting. You can also expect to see large schools of spinners along with occasional big pelagic critters.

Koloa is an AWESOME shore dive and I second the thought about doing a dive there. It's shallow, easy and critter loaded!!!

All the operators here are very professional and I think you'll have a great time with anyone you choose to go with. Likely the staff you dove with years back have all changed - but the product will likely be very similar. If you are considering diving out of Port Allen or Kekaha - you gotta check out Hale O' Honu (House of the turtles). It's probably the most critter rich site on the island in my humble opinion. Overloaded with turtles, morays, octopus, lion fish, nudibranchs, etc... It has also been a good spot to see the critically endangered hawksbill turtle over the last 1-2 years. A number of Frogfish can also be found on the site.

Let me know if I can help you with any specific questions about your Kauai trip!

Best of ocean wishes
A

 

[KauaiScuba]

I'll recommend Diving Bell Scuba over on Kona. If they are booked up they'll definitely point you in the right direction. On Kauai, I'd highly suggest looking into Niihau. We offer Niihau trips but not as often as Bubbles Below. I think they've been going twice a week on the regular. Also highly suggest Mana Crack, we've been doing a lot of Mana Crack/Na Pali Coast dives with a pretty consistent 100-200ft of visibility! We cruise the sea caves and the beautiful coast line on our surface interval, you don't normally get a SI like that! We welcome snorkelers and have a 6 person max.

-Nick