Fish Stick
New
This is a bit of a plug for the owner (Alex?) of AAADiving on Oahu Hawaii.
My girlfriend and I took a charter boat dive while on vacation in Hawaii a couple of weeks back that I thought I would share with everyone.
After looking through ads, reading reviews, and calling every dive shop I came across, I discovered that they were all selling spots on boats that they didn't own/weren't affiliated with. Now, I understand that the best dive location for a particular day depends on the weather/ocean conditions at the time, but because of this lack of affiliation, most shops couldn't give me any solid details about the boat/probable location etc. What I did get was a set dive profile (of bla bla minutes). It was all kind of annoying. Then I found AAADiving's ad in one of the tourist guides and gave them a call. The guy who answered the phone (later found out it was Alex) wasn't pushy, knew details, gave a probable dive location for the current ocean conditions, and an alternate site if conditions changed. Nice, no non-sense, strait to the point. They own the boat, and don't sell spots to shops so any decisions about divers preferences/profiles/SI etc can be made on the spot without outside influence. I thought that was nice, so we were in.
Main points:
-they pick you up/drop you off from your hotel.
-they had gear available for rent/standby.
-they really were friendly & laid back.
-boat was clean and orderly.
-they won't crowd the boat w/ divers. (only 4 of us on our trip, but I think he said 8 divers max).
-gave good dive orientation and tour (if you wanted to follow).
-they helped w/ gear (onto the boat, into/out of the water).
-actually asked us what we wanted to do (stay or move sites for 2nd dive).
-had bottled water/a few sodas for us on ice (its hot & humid in Hawaii).
-they will dive in and rescue your girlfriend for you when her BC won't hold air at the surface (because she's so anxious to get off the pitching boat that she runs off before BWARF).:no
All in all, it was a great experience diving with them and I would go again. If you plan on diving while on Oahu, give them a call. But bring cash or a check, because AAADiving doesn't take American Express... j/k. But really, they do NOT take credit card (I was upset because I'm a Points/Miles junky), only cash or checks. For you ummm... "Thrifty" individuals like me, they are only about five bucks more than the cheapest charter spot I was able to find (even with a coupon out of one of the books), so don't waste your time looking. To me the extra $5 was worth having the open profile/laid back style. Remember, they do charge tax, so don't just bring the exact amount.
Have fun. Dive safe.
-FS
PS- I don't remember the name of the boat, but I think they only have 1. I remember that it had something to do with antiquity. Greek or Roman or something. I don't know, I could be way off.
My girlfriend and I took a charter boat dive while on vacation in Hawaii a couple of weeks back that I thought I would share with everyone.
After looking through ads, reading reviews, and calling every dive shop I came across, I discovered that they were all selling spots on boats that they didn't own/weren't affiliated with. Now, I understand that the best dive location for a particular day depends on the weather/ocean conditions at the time, but because of this lack of affiliation, most shops couldn't give me any solid details about the boat/probable location etc. What I did get was a set dive profile (of bla bla minutes). It was all kind of annoying. Then I found AAADiving's ad in one of the tourist guides and gave them a call. The guy who answered the phone (later found out it was Alex) wasn't pushy, knew details, gave a probable dive location for the current ocean conditions, and an alternate site if conditions changed. Nice, no non-sense, strait to the point. They own the boat, and don't sell spots to shops so any decisions about divers preferences/profiles/SI etc can be made on the spot without outside influence. I thought that was nice, so we were in.
Main points:
-they pick you up/drop you off from your hotel.
-they had gear available for rent/standby.
-they really were friendly & laid back.
-boat was clean and orderly.
-they won't crowd the boat w/ divers. (only 4 of us on our trip, but I think he said 8 divers max).
-gave good dive orientation and tour (if you wanted to follow).
-they helped w/ gear (onto the boat, into/out of the water).
-actually asked us what we wanted to do (stay or move sites for 2nd dive).
-had bottled water/a few sodas for us on ice (its hot & humid in Hawaii).
-they will dive in and rescue your girlfriend for you when her BC won't hold air at the surface (because she's so anxious to get off the pitching boat that she runs off before BWARF).:no
All in all, it was a great experience diving with them and I would go again. If you plan on diving while on Oahu, give them a call. But bring cash or a check, because AAADiving doesn't take American Express... j/k. But really, they do NOT take credit card (I was upset because I'm a Points/Miles junky), only cash or checks. For you ummm... "Thrifty" individuals like me, they are only about five bucks more than the cheapest charter spot I was able to find (even with a coupon out of one of the books), so don't waste your time looking. To me the extra $5 was worth having the open profile/laid back style. Remember, they do charge tax, so don't just bring the exact amount.
Have fun. Dive safe.
-FS
PS- I don't remember the name of the boat, but I think they only have 1. I remember that it had something to do with antiquity. Greek or Roman or something. I don't know, I could be way off.
