Diving and sightseeing in Hawaii

[sandiego_frank]

I am planning our first dive trip to Hawaii. We will be visiting the big island of Hawaii. The trip will be a combination of diving and sightseeing, since not everyone going is a diver. There are some high altitudes on this island. If we dive in the morning, what kind of sightseeing is reasonable in the afternoon? Can I drive to the other side of the island without any altitude/safety issues? If not, I would expect that would mean that we have to limit our diving to the side of the island that we are staying on. We need to know how to plan what we do on what days.

 

[Kryssa]

Most people I have spoken won't drive from the Kona side to the Hilo side after diving earlier that day and we won't either. We've been to the Big Island twice now and have done Hilo for 1 or 2 nights, seeing the Volcanos National Park and the water falls, then drive to Kona and stay on that side for the rest of the trip. Big Island Divers is a great shop and gives a good discount for 5 days of diving, so that's what we did last time.

Last year we arrived on Saturday morning and started driving to Hilo, visiting Black Sand Beach and a couple other stops on the way. Saturday night we spent in a B&B in Volcano. We visited Volcanos National Park on Sunday, then drove to Kona. We dove Monday AM, Tuesday AM, Wednesday Manta/Black Water, Friday AM and Saturday AM. We flew home Sunday afternoon.

I'd suggest all divers and non divers do the evening Manta Ray trip. The non-divers can snorkel. I'd also say that Da Poke Shack is not to be missed- it's a small shop with 2 picnic tables to eat at, but the poke is the best we've found anyway. You can even try them all before deciding which you'd like to have for lunch!

 

[DivemasterDennis]

If you go above 1000 feet in altitude, follow the rules for flying after diving to be totally safe. Debbie and I did our non-diving touring the first two days: Volcanoes, the cool cattle country to the north, and the south end black sand beaches and other stuff. The we dove a bunch for 5 days, had a beach day and then flew home. It worked real well that way.
DivemasterDennis

 

[diversteve]

Volcanoes Nat'l Park is at 4000'.

Kīlauea's summit (4000' elevation)

I think the road that cuts across the northern half of the island to Parker Ranch is higher also - seemed like we climbed for a while. edit: Waimea/Kamuela is at 2670'

 

[freewillie]

Here is my itinerary from my last trip with my diving daughter and nondiving family. Since there is no contraindications from going to altitude diving, just the other way around we planned to do the Volcano first. FYI there is also star gazing at night at the Maunea Kea Observatory which is even higher than the volcanoes.

The short cut highway out of Kona over to Hilo is also called Saddleroad and goes up to about 4,000 feet. Keep in mind the Visitor center at the park is about 3,700 feet as well. Temps can be cool especially in the morning so bring a jacket. If you decide to do the star gazing you will need a pretty warm jacket as well.

My original plan was to drive south past the black sand beach to Volcanoes National Park. We stopped at the beach, took pictures of the kids on the black sand, then went on to the volcano. We spent the day driving around the park and looking at the caldera and lava floes.

The next day was spent shopping in town local shops and farmer market in Kona. I planned for the Manta Ray night dive that night.

Day 3 was nondiving day and we drove north through Waimea to Hilo. A few employees of the dive shops live there, the altitude is low enough not to worry about the drive. We spent the day poking around Hilo, few shops, and then did the waterfalls including Akaka waterfall. Very nice pictures!

Day 4 was a morning 2 tank dive with my daughter. The rest of the afternoon was lunch with the family at Da Poke shack and finishing out the souvenir shopping for the kids.

Day 5 was the last day before flying and was our no dive day. We drove north to the Hamakua Macadamia Nut plant. Not much to see but the kids did get a chance to hand crack a macadamia nut. On the way back to Kona we stopped at the shops near the Hilton Waikoloa. My wife likes to shop. We had planned on going to a coffee plantation but got vetoed by the kids. I had originally planned to have a picnic lunch at the black sand beach but it was a good 1 1/2 hr drive from Kona and we already stopped there on the way to the volcano.

I hope your trip is as much fun as mine was.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

With a mixed group (divers, non-divers), the conservative recommendation is to separate your scuba days and cross-island sightseeing days.

Standard "time-to-fly" guidelines may be the simplest to remember and follow, but are generally VERY conservative for the altitude changes we are talking about.

The dive days can be snorkel or "beach" days for the others in the group. This avoids the possible concerns of driving to altitude immediately after diving, and also avoids feeling rushed and under time pressure while doing your morning dive(s).

I live and mostly dive in Hilo, but will dive in Kona or South Kohala at least a half dozen times a year. I do dive in Kona and routinely drive back the same day. I have done this since the 1970's. I have calculated what surface intervals are required for the dive profiles I normally do (using the NOAA tables).

If you do decide to dive and sightsee the same day, I would stongly advise that you determine the altitude change along your planned route, and do the calculations yourself. If you are not comfortable using tables, I would stick to standard time-to-fly guidelines.

Best wishes.