Honolulu Wedding/ Oahu or Maui Diving?

[Taxgeek]

Hi all! Those of you know know HI diving (I've never been), tell me which option is better -- which would you choose? Does weather in July affect my choice?

OPTION 1
Wed July 19th, 2006: Leave after work on Wednesday to fly to Honolulu.
Thursday: Dive
Friday: Dive in morning/ attend late afternoon wedding (I'm not IN it and can get ready fast). [WILL THIS WORK?]
Sat: Dive
Sun: Fly home 3pmish.

Advantages: efficient use of vacation days (2). 3 days diving and a wedding at a cost of 2 vacation days. That's 1.5 diving days per vacation day. ;-) Pretty good. I could fly out Tuesday night I guess, giving an extra diving day, if more diving time in Honolulu would justify it.

Disadvantages: limited to Oahu. From the boards, I gather it's not the greatest diving in the world, but can be interesting. Definitely better than not diving at all.

OPTION 2
Thurs July 20 evening: Fly to Honolulu.
Friday: dive in Oahu in AM, then attend wedding in aft/eve.
Saturday AM: sightsee (PH, MO), evening flight to Maui.
Sunday: Dive Maui
Monday: Dive Maui
Tuesday: Fly home noonish. [It would be possible to take one more day here.]

Advantages: better diving. (Molokini sounds great.)
Disadvantages: Slightly (but not hugely) less efficient use of vacation days. 3 vac days for 3 days of diving. More time spent in airports. Ugh.

Money isn't the object, time off from work is.

Thanks! Random ideas welcome too! I will be buddy-less - I assume that's not a problem with the charter ops?
Taxgeek

 

[ch0ppersrule]

Option 2. Just because I have never went diving in Maui yet and hear it is beautiful. Option 2 you will get to dive two islands.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Option two gives you more dives, explore option 3 as might lead to more diving???

 

[Taxgeek]

Option two gives you more dives, explore option 3 as might lead to more diving???

Ummm - what's Option 3? Any suggestions? (Besides quit my job and travel the world diving, of course! )

 

[Wildcard]

All of them sound kinda frantic but ya do what you have to do. Oahu has wrecks, maui has far better diving and is much nicer. Oahu is not Hawaii as is LA is not Calif.
I guess Id have to vote for option 2. Check out and dive if you can Maui Ocean Center!

 

[chepar]

I guess it depends on how valuable the extra vacation day is to you. I always have that dilemma - not enough vacation days each year to cover the amount of time I want to travel. I'm always trying to figure in holidays and comp time to make the most "efficient" use of my vacations.

From a purely "how great is the diving" perspective, option 2 sounds better. However, if it means spending an extra vacation day that would be better used for another vacation, then I would go with option 1. If the use of another vacation day isn't a big deal, then go to Maui.

Also keep in mind that traveling out of Maui (Kahului) - can be a real PITA. The security lines at the airport can be enormous. I don't do so much interisland business travel as I used to, and thank goodness for that - because those lines can be terrible.

Oahu has some nice dives - and if you're only going to have 3 days, you won't exhaust the number of good dive sites available. Not having a buddy with you on this trip won't be a problem if you're doing the standard dive op. charter.

 

[pearl4diving]

Oahu has some nice dives - and if you're only going to have 3 days, you won't exhaust the number of good dive sites available.

I agree - There is great diving on Oahu for 3 days. The Yo257 & San Pedro wrecks, and the Sea tiger on the south side. Makaha Caverns and Black Rock on the West shore. Plus of course Sea Cave, Baby Barge, Fantasy Reef, and drifting in Maunalua Bay. Oh wait...that is more than three days worth

You can always come back to hit the other islands, but it sounds like the most efficient use of your vacation time would probably be to enjoy what Oahu has to offer...

Check out this thread for descriptions of the various dive sites...

 

[BDub]

I'm partial to Maui so I'd say option 2, but you can do a lot worse than diving on Oahu!

Have a great trip.

Brian

 

[Cacia]

Ummm - what's Option 3? Any suggestions? (Besides quit my job and travel the world diving, of course! )

What? are you kidding? Stay here in Honolulu, kick back a little, hang out with the locals. I have dived both places and I like this scene a lot better overall. Some of the Molokini trips are cattle boats and very commercial feeling. So, if you go that route, be prepared to look closely at the operations. I really love the diving here if you get with the right group. Yes, you could dive and make it to the wedding late afternoon. My opinion: Oahu is way under-rated. Remember, lots depends on the conditions that day and the people you are with.

You could look at my site and see pictures of the wrecks.

A lot of us chose option three.

 

[Taxgeek]

Thanks all!

Question: Say I was staying in Honolulu -- is there any way to get 4 dives per day? I saw on Catherine's PPD site that they offer morning and afternoon charters - do the afternoon charters run reliably often?

It seems like if I go to Maui, besides the airport hassle factor, most ops only schedule 2 tank dives in the mornings, because of the trade winds. I saw one that offers 3 tank dives, but only on certain days. And probably if there is enough interest, blah blah blah, you know how that usually goes.

So although Maui seems like it might have slightly better diving, esp at Molokini, I might not be able to get that much of it in. Maui, however, does look much less like Los Angeles than Honolulu does!!!! [But you have to balance that with the existance of the best food in the universe in Honolulu. . . .]

Argh, decisions, decisions. Why couldn't my friend just get married in Palau?????? ARE YOU LISTENING FELICIA?????????????? How selfish not to plan her wedding around my diving needs, don't you think? :05: :05: :05:

Off to go research Oahu dive ops for a bit, for more logistical info. Thanks again all!