Big Island Dive Operator Recommendations Sought. Comments sought re Dive Makai too.
- Thread starter DHGoyins
- Start date
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espantoon
Contributor
I have used Pacific Rim divers on both my trips to Kona. You cant go wrong with Patrice (the owner) and her homemade brownies she brings on every trip. PacRim will cater the dives to your needs, they were great with my newly certified wife. They are always my first pick. I have also used Big Island, Dive Tek, and Kona Honu (for the manta dive only).
That being said, you will probably have a great experience will just about any dive op in Kona. The bad ones dont last long, as the dive community there is very tight knit. Also, as was mentioned by friscuba, the operators are FRIENDLY competetors. If for some reason a certain op cannot accomidate you on a certain day (as has happened to me before), every op I have had experience with will call around to get you a boat. Very professional. Most operators on the Island run 6-packs, with some larger operations offering larger boats and groups. I am more than happy to offer any additional info.
Here is Pac Rims info if you need it:
www.pacificrimdivers.com, phone#808-334-1750
Enjoy,
George
That being said, you will probably have a great experience will just about any dive op in Kona. The bad ones dont last long, as the dive community there is very tight knit. Also, as was mentioned by friscuba, the operators are FRIENDLY competetors. If for some reason a certain op cannot accomidate you on a certain day (as has happened to me before), every op I have had experience with will call around to get you a boat. Very professional. Most operators on the Island run 6-packs, with some larger operations offering larger boats and groups. I am more than happy to offer any additional info.
Here is Pac Rims info if you need it:
www.pacificrimdivers.com, phone#808-334-1750
Enjoy,
George
<i>"OK, I just spent about 15 minutes writing you a private message. When I hit the send button, the computer freaked out and it vanished! Please tell me you got it. I would hate to have to recreate that "masterpiece"!"</i>
DHGoyins or cuddlefish - can you send me the same PM? I'll be going in April and seek the same info. Thanks!
Ray
DHGoyins or cuddlefish - can you send me the same PM? I'll be going in April and seek the same info. Thanks!
Ray
ItsBruce
Contributor
My 14 year old son and I did two days of diving with Kona Hanu Divers in July 2005. It was a very good experience despite the long drive from our hotel.
MAKE SURE YOU DO THE NIGHT MANTA DIVE. IT IS ON MY TOP 5 LIST.
One of the reasons I liked Kona Hanu Divers is that it has among the biggest dive boats in the area. I find big boats most convenient especially for night dives.
If you don't want to drive all the way to Kona, I've heard good things about Red Sails, but I haven't dived with them.
MAKE SURE YOU DO THE NIGHT MANTA DIVE. IT IS ON MY TOP 5 LIST.
One of the reasons I liked Kona Hanu Divers is that it has among the biggest dive boats in the area. I find big boats most convenient especially for night dives.
If you don't want to drive all the way to Kona, I've heard good things about Red Sails, but I haven't dived with them.
SFScuba
Guest
As a FYI, in case you are curious, there is an email list for the Manta Report. You get daily updates on the Manta conditions, #s, which ones, etc....
http://www.mantapacific.org/mantapacific/communication/mantareport.html
We dove in Kona with Patrice/Pacific Rim for our first post-cert experience. She is an owner/operator dive guide. Max 6 divers at a time. Took time to point out the critters. Not too fast, not too slow. Great operation! Not sure what is up your way.
http://www.mantapacific.org/mantapacific/communication/mantareport.html
We dove in Kona with Patrice/Pacific Rim for our first post-cert experience. She is an owner/operator dive guide. Max 6 divers at a time. Took time to point out the critters. Not too fast, not too slow. Great operation! Not sure what is up your way.
My husband and I dove with Dive Makai about 4 years ago, and we also were staying at the Waikoloa. At the time, neither one of us were certified, which may make my reply very relevant to your trip. I had been on 5 resort dives over a period of about 10 years, and my husband had been on one very horrible resort dive in Maui that soured him to the whole scuba experience (the instructor was a jerk, didn't teach my husband how to use his BCD, overweighted him with 25 lbs. which sent him to the bottom immediately (my husband sinks naturally and only needs about 5 lbs. to be neutral), and after that sent my husband back up to the boat alone!). So for me to talk my husband into trying scuba diving again was a huge feat--and the folks at Dive Makai did a FANTASTIC job making him feel comfortable after such a terrible prior experience. We went out with three certified divers at two different dive sites. We were on the "intro dive", which only included one dive, so while the certified divers were in the water at the first stop, the DM put a tank in the water with a reg and a BCD just to float on the surface so that my husband could just hang out and get used to the feeling of breathing from a tank, just like as if he were snorkeling. He was so comfortable with the DM, and felt so relieved after this exercise that he absolutely loved our dive. The DM was great--pointed out a lot of neat critters, including a crown of thorns starfish, which my husband was really excited about. We had a great time with Dive Makai and will probably go back to them this May, when I'll be getting my AOW. My husband already has his AOW (got it in Florida last year while I was pregnant)--and I am very confident in saying that without the great experience he had with Dive Makai, he would never be a certified diver, let alone have the advanced certification. That said, now that they changed hands, I don't know how much of this is applicable, but hopefully they'll still be a great op.
One more tip: when we stayed at the Waikoloa, we had a room above the dolphin pool. At night we opened our balcony doors and listened to the dolphins splash and squeak right below us. It was very cool.
If this sounds neat to you, maybe you could try and request one of those rooms.
One more tip: when we stayed at the Waikoloa, we had a room above the dolphin pool. At night we opened our balcony doors and listened to the dolphins splash and squeak right below us. It was very cool.
If this sounds neat to you, maybe you could try and request one of those rooms.Similar threads
