Diving on Oahu

[RJP]

The folks that I am asking for are mostly interested in looking at marine life. They are new to the sport and are looking for a vacation. One of their relatives offered them a time-share in Honolulu.

Then they will LOVE diving in/on/off/near Oahu, since they won't know that Kona and Maui diving is better!

But seriously, while I did find Oahu diving to be a bit pedestrian compared to Maui, Lanai and Kona. (And even more so compared to say Cayman) that's only because I had ALREADY dived those places prior to diving Oahu. If I had been "new to the sport" when I dove Oahu I would have found it to be absolutely wonderful. And believe me, I'll dive Oahu any time I'm there!

I can recommend AAA Diving in Oahu (Hawaii Scuba Diving with AAA Diving Hawaii) mostly due to the quality of the boat and the fact that Alex (owner) is a character. A bit rough around the edges, but committed to making sure everyone is safe and has a good time. Back in the fall I did eight dives with him over the course of a few days, and had a great time.

As a testament to the level of "customer service" AAA Diving provides I'll simply point out that Alex would have been well within reason to cancel several of the eight dives I had booked due to the fact that I was the ONLY passenger for a few of the trips.

However he DIDN'T cancel. In fact, far from it. He still made sure that the sites we visited were what I wanted to dive (with the price of fuel I wouldn't have faulted him for tying in to the first mooring ball we hit after leaving the harbor) Nor did he rush the dives or surface intervals in order to get back to the dock for any specific time. His girlfriend Cheryl was my buddy and she made certain I saw everything and more. For sure he lost money on those dives, but he gained a customer for life in me, plus all the referals I can send his way!

Ray

 

[sea nmf]

The wrecks here have much beautiful marine life on the outside so they would not have to "wreck dive" per se. Lots of people go to the wrecks (the most common boat dives off of the HNL side) and never penetrate the wrecks. Even new divers will like that.

Most of the boats that go out dive a wreck first, then a reef second. Are they comfortable going rather deep (80' - 100')? If not, they would need to contact a number of operators and ask who can accommodate them at the depths they want.

I can't recommend any operaters because I've been diving in a club for years.

When are they coming? If they are coming in the summer months (May - Sept), they can shore dive the North Shore.

What part of Oahu is the time-share on?

 

[covediver]

The folks that I am asking for are mostly interested in looking at marine life and not wreck or technical diving. They are new to the sport and are looking for a vacation. One of their relatives offered them a time-share in Honolulu.

I will be diving there soon and will be pleased to file a complete trip report when I get back. My first visit to the islands. I have done a fair amount of research and checking on line and there is diving on Oahu and most of the operators seem to want to make it as easy as possible to dive.

 

[munclematt]

Well, technically, I don’t think there is any diving on Oahu. But I just got off a boat here in Kona that was full of divers that claimed they were from Oahu and pretty good divers. I’ll assume they dove off Oahu.

As to who with I’ll leave to them, I’m sure they’ll show up here pretty soon. Oahu is known for it’s offshore wreck diving, I think they got all of them. And plenty good diving in general I hear, I’d like to go anyway. I’m looking for the video of the family of Frog Fish. In the meantime here.

Just messing with ya up there.

Was the divers on the boat Gabe Scotti and Company? They were suppose to be out that way I think this weekend. If you see them again tell'em I said hi and I hope they are having fun, wish I could have been there.

 

[munclematt]

If I could suggest the following:

Kaimana Divers with Gabe Scotti
Island Divers for Hawaii Kai Dives if Gabe's not around
Ocean Concepts for Westside Dives. (If you go with OC only dive with Jo or Jen. They are some good divers and wont lead you astray like some people in that shop might. And dont listen to the guy that is going to try and sale you Jet Fins cause they will improve your air.)

Yeah all these shops are good. Boats usually do a Deep/shallow dive at 730 and a shallow/shallow dive at 1130. plenty of great places to check stuff out.

 

[agdiver75]

Capt Bruce at Captain Bruce's Extreme Comfort Diving - first class hawaii scuba diving.

DSAO
Mike

 

[Tom Smedley]

Thanks to all who replied. I have compiled a list of your suggesions and I think this will be a great help for them in making decisions.

Thanks again!!

 

[jl5619718]

Sorry to contradict some of the other opinions on this thread but I dove Oahu in November and if you are looking for marine life go somewhere else. The dives (on the Waianae coast) consisted of a slow boat, barren rock and a few very skittish small fish.

If you're going to Oahu, stick to surfing.

 

[DeepDivr78]

I really enjoyed the diving in Oahu, but I like wrecks. Island Divers Hawaii was a great company to go diving with and they have two locations on either side of the island which is convenient for the customer.
I'd also reccomend Deep Ecology on the North Shore since a lot of operators don't go diving on the North Shore. We saw enormous amounts of sea turtles.
Either one was great. And I happend to think that diving in Oahu was better than Maui, but NOTHING beats Kauai.

 

[sea nmf]

Sorry to contradict some of the other opinions on this thread but I dove Oahu in November and if you are looking for marine life go somewhere else. The dives (on the Waianae coast) consisted of a slow boat, barren rock and a few very skittish small fish.

If you're going to Oahu, stick to surfing.

Well, you know, I think it depends on what you like. I love the marine life, and that is the sole reason I dive. I always find plentiful marine life on my dives here, and I dive often.

It doesn't hold up to Fiji or some of the Caribbean spots as to coral and soft coral, etc., but for marine life, there is plenty if you slow down and look for it.