A Basic Question About Diving Hawaii

[Sasquatch]

Once again I started researching my question and got sidetracked by various posts I'd see out of the corner of my eye. Damn SB and your clever and informed members!

So I need some warm water. Puget Sound visibility isn't wowing me these days and from here I can see my BC and regs on their hanger. They aren't dusty but I'm thinking a little side trip to Hawaii might be in order. Since I live on the left coast why go to Florida?

My question is this: Can someone experienced in diving the islands point me in the general direction of some good diving and lodging for a single, reasonably new (<40 dives) diver? I hit expedia and the other websites for hotels and airfare and between the islands, beaches and accomodations I gave up and headed to SB. Where I found no help in posted forums. I tried the regional boards and searched for variations on "intro to Hawaii SCUBA 101" and you can imagine the results.

I don't have a huge budget and I don't care to play golf but a nice dive op that goes to nifty sites with 2 or three star lodging nearby would be great. Is this possible? The only other stipulation I have is that I'd love to visit PH to pay my respects and any WW2 related locations would be a bonus.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

Dave

 

[Rick Inman]

You didn't find anything HERE??: http://www.scubaboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=291

Lot's of good info - I used much of it to plan my diving trip to Kona in March of last year.

In fact, I can move this question into the Hawaii Forum if you'd like. ???

 

[Rick Inman]

In fact, I can move this question into the Hawaii Forum if you'd like. ???

Moved at your request.

 

[pearl4diving]

Aloha Sasquatch!

You've made it to the right forum.

Waikiki has alot of affordable hotels and most dive operators on the island provide transportation from Waikiki to the dive sites/dive boats.

Not sure how long you are looking for, but if you want to see Pearl Harbor (which is on Oahu), then you are probably best to just stay on this island....unless you have a few weeks, then you could do some island hopping - although that will increase the cost of your trip a bit. The Arizona Memorial as well as a tour of "The Mighty Mo" battleship are definite musts for your surface interval.

There is plenty of great diving around Oahu. We have a lot of intentionally sunk wrecks that provide terrific articificial reefs and wreck diving at the same time. (Plus our water temperature is a balmy 79 degrees right now). We also have nice reefs, lava rock formations and the commonly seen green sea turtles and spotted eagle rays (can you tell these are my favorites ). We have had some terrific drift dives in Maunalua Bay lately as well.

Check out the recent posts by "cjames" , he posted some terrific pictures of his diving on Oahu this week.

Aloha!

 

[KrisB]

With what Pearl said, it's important to note that among most accounts here, Oahu ranks third among the island for diving, behind Hawaii ("the Big Island") and Maui.

If you're not likely to be going back for a while, Maui is probably one of the better bets, considering the proximity to Molokini, where you are virtually guaranteed a great dive.

Condos are plentiful in Maui, with rates ranging from $70-$100 per night, depending on location, building age, etc. I'd suggest against too much island hopping, due to "no-fly time" issues.

Maui has an advantage over Hawaii in that there are direct flights from Vancouver (Canada) and other north western airports directly there. I'm not sure about the Big Island, but I'm pretty sure you have to island-hop to get there, possibly resulting in a lost day depending on airline schedules.

Once on Maui, check out Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures for your boat dives and Maui Dreams Dive Co. ( http://www.mauidreamsdiveco.com ) for your shore dive/equipment needs. Both are excellent operations.

 

[TSandM]

I had 15 dives when I went to Maui last month, and I had a wonderful time. We went out with B&B Scuba, at the recommendation of our LDS. They were great. They leave at an obscenely early hour of the morning, so they get to Molokini FIRST, and we had the whole crater to ourselves. Molokini is a great dive for a novice, because in most conditions, the interior of the crater is calm (no currents!) and there is a lot to see there. The second dive of each day was closer to shore -- the second day, it was a drift dive, which was my first experience with that, and a little eerie but still fun.

B&B goes out of Kihei, and there is a lot of lodging there, ranging from (relatively) inexpensive condos to high-end hotels (loved the one time I stayed at the Grand Wailea).

There are direct flights between Seattle and Maui, too -- the Northwest flight coming home is a redeye, which is nice because it means you can dive the day before you leave!

 

[Charlie99]

There are direct flights between Seattle and Maui, too -- the Northwest flight coming home is a redeye, which is nice because it means you can dive the day before you leave!

I haven't looked at the Seattle sked, but for destinations it is easy to get reasonable flight departure times that still give you at least 18 hours fly-after-dive time, and usually more than 24 hours because of the combination of "osbscenely early" boats and the common practice of airlines doing turnaround flights to/from Maui. Reasonably timed morning departures from the West Coast get into Maui late morning/early afternoon. Add in an hour or so for the turnaround of the plane and most flights to the west coast are early afternoon departures.

 

[Sasquatch]

This is great input. After Pearl's post I researched a little on Oahu and realized it may be a little more "civilized" than I would like.

For example, I found Utila just about right. That said I'm now leaning towards most of the trip spent in Maui with a scheduled sight seeing/dive trip on Oahu.

Thanks for the suggestions, plans will be gelling soon.

 

[KrisB]

Of note is that ERDA and Mike Severn's leave the same boat ramp, but not-quite-so-obscenely early... about an hour after B&B. So, it's still relatively private at Molokini when they get there... and it's a big enough place to handle a dozen groups without seeing each other underwater. It's later in the day when you see 3-4 dozen groups that there becomes some confusion!

 

[Mantasscareme]

Don't forget the Big Island though. You have plenty of condos in Kona (although some of them have roaches), and most importantly you have the famous manta ray night dive. I recommend www.jacksdivinglocker.com or www.bigislanddivers.com .