Big Island-A little clarification and Recs for places to stay

[chris z]

We looking to take our first trip to Hawaii this year during the late summer/early fall. We've settled on the Big Island since the diving and top side actvites mesh with what we like in a vacation. Looking at 8-10 days with 3 to 4 of them diving and the rest beach/hiking days.

I've read through the threads which are wonderfully helpful and have looked over the sites of some of the dive ops mentioned.

It seems to me that a rental car will be needed and that with most ops you need to get yourself to the boat/shop/etc. Is this correct? This isn't a problem; I just want to make sure I'm covering my bases.

We live in the PNW (Seattle) and have done Cozumel, and various spots in the Carribean. We tend to favor ops with smaller boats and are leaning toward Wanna-Dive.

I've noticed a few places to stay mentioned, but I was wondering if there were anyplaces that people have been that really stand out either for good or bad? Also, we like to "eat off resort" when we travel if that helps.

Any feeback is appreciated.

 

[Ann Marie]

I don't know how many people are in your group but I've stayed at the Manini Point House; a three bedroom home. We loved it!

Available for small group retreats on the Big Island of Hawaii

I'm going back in March and was hoping to stay there again but Elizabeth is booked.

 

[gkndivebum]

[...]It seems to me that a rental car will be needed and that with most ops you need to get yourself to the boat/shop/etc. Is this correct? [...]

Yes indeed - you'll need a rental vehicle of some sort. The Big Island is, er, big, as in about 4000 square miles. Depending on where one elects to stay it can be a 40+ mile drive to the harbor/dive shop.

Reserve early - the rental car companies seem to run out of cars here before we run out of people who want to rent them.

 

[Teamcasa]

Yes, rent a car. You will need and want it. We dived with Big Island Divers and would use them again without reservation. Don’t miss the manta night dive. It is truly a world class dive. We booked it twice, once early in the week and again near the end just to insure we would dive with the mantas. We were fortunate the mantas showed up both times! Fabulous. Two step for shore diving was also a very good dive.

 

[Jack'sDivingLocker]

I would highly recommend a book named, "Hawaii: The Big Island Revealed". It's a must-read for visitors to the Big Island. You'll find lots of great advice on places to stay.

 

[Wildcard]

Much good advice offered. More important than getting to see mantas is getting to go out. Book the manta dive early in your trip then if your up for a real one of a kind dive, do the black water dive after the manta dive. Big Isle DIvers does it, don't know about the others.
I LOVE the BI. Lived there for 14 months and was ready to stay much longer but the job ended. Shore diving is great there. Even owing a boat there I still did most of my dive from shore. Two step, Puako, Mahaukona (sp?) all great!
Enjoy your visit!
Aloha

 

[cuddlefish]

Much good advice offered. More important than getting to see mantas is getting to go out. Book the manta dive early in your trip then if your up for a real one of a kind dive, do the black water dive after the manta dive. Big Isle DIvers does it, don't know about the others.
I LOVE the BI. Lived there for 14 months and was ready to stay much longer but the job ended. Shore diving is great there. Even owing a boat there I still did most of my dive from shore. Two step, Puako, Mahaukona (sp?) all great!
Enjoy your visit!
Aloha

Jack's does the black water dive as a 1-tank on Thursdays (sometimes other days if requested). And, yes, it is certainly a unique and very cool experience!

 

[dashark]

Big Island divers will let you combine the manta and black water. It is cheaper that way, and, gets the two must do dive out of the way. Might try booking that trip with them before you arrive.
Wanna dive was a great help to me on my last trip. weather problems kept me from diving with them, but, Steve was a great help on the phone with advice on where to try and dive.
I will go out with both operations on our next trip.

 

[chris z]

Thanks everyone for the advice!

We will definitely look into the manta and blackwater dives. We typically like to include at least one set of night dives during a trip. I need to talk with the husband and decide how much diving we want to do while we are there.

I just requested "Hawaii: The Big Island Revealed" from our library and will read through it.

Yesterday's dive in the Puget sound with a water temp of 45F, was definitely motivation to get moving on planning this trip.

 

[fkostyun]

Me and my wife are also planning a trip there in may - we did end up purchasing "Hawaii: The Big Island Revealed" - and its a great book!

Were going with the LDS, and they've got some flexibilty - does anyone have comments on Neptune Charlies dive boat?