Big Island - Waikoloa

[Canadave]

I have dove the Kohala/Kona Coast a couple of times, once in summer and once in winter. I stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club at Waikoloa Village both times. From what I understand winter months can mean a lot of surge making shore entries more difficult but I lucked out when I went last January and it was beautiful and all entries were fairly easy. There is really no need to boat dive here, unless you are concerned with the shore entries, since many of the sites accessed by shore are also serviced by the dive charters. Save your money.

I also would recommend Kohala Divers to the north. it makes a good base of operations for dive sites such as Mahukona and the three different sites closer to Waikoloa at Puako (the church, house 40 and end of road). Pretty sure you can rent tanks for 24 hours and get unlimited fills. Mahukona is a nice site with a super easy entry that even has a ladder to step into the water. You can drive right up to the ladder as there is a large concrete platform that I understand was once where a port was based. When you need to refill your tanks you can grab some fish tacos at the little restaurant upstairs in the same complex as Kohala Divers.

We also rented tanks from Big Island Divers and Jack`s Dive Locker. I also recommend these operations. They are in Kailua/Kona so perfect for the central coast shore dives like the old airport (north and south) as well as at Honokohau Harbour. I know Big Island can give you hand drawn maps of these sites that are super helpful, since my buddy and I had not previously dove at the old airport. They have the same 24 hour tank rental deals. It is super easy to take your tank up the hill after your dive and get it refilled while grabbing a quick bite in town.

I would also not miss shore diving at the Place of Refuge, also known as 2 Step and something else in Hawaiian that I can`t now recall. Very popular snorkeling area here too.

Since it is your first time you also have to do the Manta Ray night dive. This is a boat dive but worth it in my opinion. All the area shops run charters there but I did it with Kona Honu Divers on my first visit and it was awesome. Snorkelers can do this as well. Pretty much guaranteed to see lots of mantas.

I don`t have too many restaurant recommendations. We basically just stocked up at the beginning of the week at Costco in town and bbq`d every night. Our focus for the week was diving, golf, sleep and eat in that order.

Dave

 

[knotical]

... I would also not miss shore diving at the Place of Refuge, also known as 2 Step and something else in Hawaiian that I can`t now recall. Very popular snorkeling area here too. ...

Two-step is in Hōnaunau Bay, just North of Keoneʻele Cove (with the boat ramp), which in turn is just North of Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau. It might be referred to by any of those names, usually the last one.

 

[ptn72]

Another vote for Kohala Divers. Two years ago, my wife and I dove with them for a few days. We like the operation. If you dive with them multiple days, you can leave your gears in their storage so you don't have to lug them back and forth.

 

[grassyknoll]

Non-dive day go see the Volcano erupt - it's pretty active now - it's been in the news that the lava flow is about to wipe out a small town nearby.

Regarding seeing the volcano erupt.
You can go into Volcanoes National Park and do the tour (may or may not see any lava), but you can't go where the lava is flowing in Pahoa. People are getting arrested trying to get a peek at the lava floes, the National Guard is on site, and it's somewhat insensitive to gawk where folks are losing their homes (not that anyone here would).

Second Big Island Divers as a great outfit, one of the closer operators to Waikaloa.

 

[knotical]

Good point, grassyknoll.

Lava glow can usually be seen - at night, but it’s not near the present lava flow.

The Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is open 24 hours a day, and there are a couple of overlooks from which you can see the glow from Halemaʻumaʻu Crater in the Kīlauea Caldera. The best is by the Jaggar Museum. See map: http://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/upload/summit_20111018_final.pdf. The museum closes at 7:30 PM, but the overlook is outdoors, so that’s not a problem. Bring a jacket, it’s often quite chilly.

Divers' alert: it's at 4000 ft elevation.

 

[BuckBuck]

My wife and I have been diving on Kona at Christmas for the past twelve years.
We've tried most of the dive companies, opting for a different company due to size of boat, number of divers, staff etc.
After about six companies we've really settled with Kona Diving Company. Great staff, good size boat with not too many divers, and outstanding customer service.
Hard to go wrong with any of the dive shops, but KDC has been outstanding for us.

 

[ScubaERDoc]

Still, Kona Diving Company is worth the drip from Waikoloa. We stayed at the Four Seasons, the Fairmont, the Manu Lani and the Manu Kea on our wedding site tour trip and made sure to dive with KDC for all our drives. Traffic is nonexistent that early for the morning dives. Here is a video of our dives with KDC that trip:

https://vimeo.com/108158923

[video=vimeo;108158923]https://vimeo.com/108158923[/video]

 

[i<3turtles]

WOW @scubaERDoc! We'll definitely check them out!! thanks again.

 

[drewmeister_sd]

My wife and I got back from the Big Island Nov 15th after spending 8 nights there. The Big Island Revealed is a must, hardcopy or digital. We have vacationed on the island about a 14 times.

The past 2 trips we did the manta night dive with Jack's Diving Locker, whom I recommend highly. Try to dive with Keller- He is also known as the Manta Man and has been doing that gig for a couple decades. The mantas are absolutely spectacular. The first trip was off the airport and easy as there wasn't any surge on a fairly sandy bottom. This trip went south to the Sheraton and it was tough. The spot is really rocky with a lot of coral and sea urchins plus a significant surge. I struggled to keep still and avoid getting stuck by urchins. I could barely avoid getting tossed around. Others weren't so lucky and got stuck, even through their wetsuits.

We tried to shore dive at the old Kona airport and at mile marker 4 south of Kona. The water was way too rough entering and exiting. We were both pretty disappointed with the dives...heavy surge and really not much to see.

2 steps was thankfully calm enough to dive. The white tip sharks and octopus at 60' and the dolphins doing a swim by were pretty cool. Even here, there is a lot of spearfishing so we didn't really see any decent sized fish other than the sharks. I found it easier to have the first person exit the water without the BCD, and then have the buddy pass the gear along to be removed from the water, rather than trying to climb out with the gear on.

Yes, the shops rent tanks for $10 per day with unlimited refills for 24 hours. We got some slack on the 24 rule. Jack's also has underwater maps.

Eat at the Kona Brew Co and get poke from Da Poke Shack.

This trip we went back to the Volcano National Park at night to see the glowing caldera from the museum. It was pretty cool. It also rained cats and dogs in other parts of the park.

Hope this helps and have a great trip!