BI Kohala diving worth it?

[BMore Diver]

Hi everyone,
Want to say thank you in advance for any help you all could provide! I will be going to the BI mid September and I am wondering if we should try out diving in Kohala area. We have been to the BI numerous times and have only done dives out of Kona. We only have three days to dive this trip, aside from the Manta night dive. I thought maybe we would try something different on this trip. Is it worth using one of our days to dive up in the Kohala area? Does anyone have any recommendations on good dive ops? We try to go out on smaller boats (6-8 divers), but understand if there are not many operators up there, or if one of the larger boats is the best operator.

I would really appreciate any recommendations!

-BMore Diver

 

[Scubanoobi]

There are a lot of nice beaches along the Kohala coast. Good diving too. I used Blue Wilderness Adventures, they have a shop in Waikoloa Village and they leave from Puako. Small boats and 60+ minute dives.


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[fisheater]

I used Blue Adventures, too. No complaints. Had great dives.

Kohala Divers is up there, too and I would have used them, but they were booked on the day that I was needing to go out on a boat.

The rest of the time I was up on the Kohala Coast, I was shore diving with locals. That enabled MUCH more freedom and flexibility than being tied to the boat's schedule.

There is excellent shore diving. Check out Puako and Mahukona. You may look into hiring a shore guide, or if you're with other divers and have good nav skills (and are willing to watch conditions carefully), you could do it dive yourselves.

And, yes, the diving is worth it. Puako has wonderful structure and lots of fish and turtles. Mahukona has lots of wreckage, from huge anchors and boilers to old railroad rolling stock.

 

[BMore Diver]

Thank you both for your response. We are more interested in the boat diving rather than shore diving. I will look into the two operators you mentioned.
Thanks again!

---------- Post added July 29th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ----------

I looked on the Blue Adventures site and it does not say what size boat they have. Did they have a large boat (15+ divers) or did they have a smaller boat?
Thanks for your help!

 

[Scubanoobi]

Blue Wilderness had an inflatable boat, probably no more than 6-8 people. When I went there were 3 divers on one trip and 4 on the other. Not a cattle boat for sure.


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[Capt. Pete]

Check with Kohala Divers, I have used them in the past and enjoyed the diving as well as the service. I found the underwater topography to be much different than the Kona area and very much worth the cost/drive. They have a smaller boat but it is not a RIB and holds more than 6- 8 divers.

PS.. pretty good burger place on the second floor above/behind their shop (at least 2 years ago)

 

[Volksfolks]

Blue wilderness and kohala divers will take you to different sites for the most part. I am partial to blue wilderness as a shop, but prefer kohala divers sites.

Dave