Diving recommendations for Hawaii (big island)

[Thrasherg]

Again, many thanks everyone for all the advice and suggestions.. Trying to start making dive reservations..

Gary

 

[tarponchik]

I second both Kona Honu and Gary. And buy the book.

Water can be in the range of 77-80 F. Also, keep in mind that sea can be rough this time of the year. But if you won't be able to dive, do not get too upset. There's plenty of things you can do there on land. You only need Plan B.

 

[jonhall]

+1 on Jack's Diving Locker - enjoyed diving with them. Since you're there for several days, you could go up the coast to Waikoloa and dive 1-2 days - I dove with Blue Wilderness Dive Adventures in a RIB out of Pauko Bay (small dock, not much there.) You'll see different things than what you will see diving in Kona.

People have different opinions in viewing the Mantas. Since we had 2 non-divers in our group, we did the snorkel. It is cheaper and, IMO, you will see the same thing, only the mantas are coming up to you as opposed to down - and you don't have to sit on the bottom watching instead of using your air for an actual dive.

Also, be aware of elevation if you're sightseeing the other side of the island.

 

[nippurmagnum]

Okay everyone, I am new to this site, so hope I am not breaking any rules by asking this. My wife, myself & 2 daughters (23 & 25) are all going to the big island in December for a 9 day vacation (arrive 21st and leave on the 30th) we will be just south of Kailua-Kona, it will be our first time diving in this area, we are all advanced padi rated and nitrox rated, have been diving 15+ years (that includes the kids!!) so quite experienced. As we haven’t been to this area before, I was hoping some of you might be able to recommend good dive sites or dive charter companies to go with (We love to shore dive or boat dive, hoping to do both). As this is in December, I have no idea what side of the island would be best to dive, so all and any recommendations would be greatly appreciate. We all have our own gear, just need to rent bottles and weights.. we where intending to use 3mm full wet suits (no hoods), what kind of water temps should we expect?
regards Gary

I returned yesterday from a 9 day trip to the Big Island with my wife. This was our third trip. We are mainly shore divers, and would definitely NOT recommend Jacks Diving Locker for tank rentals. Their staff behind the the counter tend to act like they are doing you a favor, and we found several of them rude beyond belief. Most of them seemed to find the whole concept of shore diving rather alien, had few tips or advice to share on particular shore diving sites, and treated you like you’re doing some outlaw kind of diving, Their tracking of rented tanks is often sloppy and chaotic. And their quality control is suspect — the gentleman who fills nitrox tanks at their harbor branch insisted that he did not to have a nitrox analyzer for us to check the mix, and another young woman at the main store told me that It looked like I had 48 percent nitrox before I showed her that she’d calibrated the analyzer incorrectly.

For shore diving, I would instead highly recommend Kona Honu instead. Very friendly, very knowledgeable about shore diving, and they open earlier in the morning (at 7 am) and let you return your tanks by 4 pm the following day — which gives you much more flexibility.

Having said that, I do recommend JDL for their two tank manta dive. They have a well run boat with a great crew, it’s hard to believe that it’s part of the same operation as the retail store. I haven’t done the manta dive with Kona Honu yet though, and they may be just as good.

In terms of dive sites, I highly recommend diving the Harbor (aka Alua Beach). There are often tiger and sandbar sharks, dolphins, and eagle rays there. Your odds of seeing any of those increase dramatically if you are in the water by 7:30 am. Ask at Kona Honu about how best to dive it, as there is a lot of boat traffic, and you’ll definitely need a float and a line of 100 feet. This is a picture from a solo dive I did there three days ago. Already dreaming about going back.

 

[Thrasherg]

Many thanks for your suggestion. We definitely want to do the night manta dive, will definitely be cautious if we use JDL, as you say, them not having an oxygen analyzer to check nitrox levels sounds very cavalier and I would not take the tanks without checking them myself or seeing someone check them. Also surprised that the staff didn’t know how to correctly use the analyzer. I do have my own analyser, but i expect all nitrox tank rental shops to have an analyser available. Really looking forward to the trip but still have a few more months to wait..
regards Gary

 

[nippurmagnum]

Many thanks for your suggestion. We definitely want to do the night manta dive, will definitely be cautious if we use JDL, as you say, them not having an oxygen analyzer to check nitrox levels sounds very cavalier and I would not take the tanks without checking them myself or seeing someone check them. Also surprised that the staff didn’t know how to correctly use the analyzer. I do have my own analyser, but i expect all nitrox tank rental shops to have an analyser available. Really looking forward to the trip but still have a few more months to wait..
regards Gary

Yeah, the JDL nitrox guy literally said, “take my word for it, I fill these all the time.” Something else that drove me crazy was that JDL boasts of having two locations, and whenever I went to pick up nitrox tanks at one, the employee (usually a different person every time) would encourage me to go to the other location for Nitrox, and vice versa. They’d also tell me that they ”preferred“ that nitrox tanks be returned to whichever location had provided them, because “otherwise our record system can’t keep up.”

The rudeness was just stunning, too. The last time I picked up tanks from them, a JDL employee was helping me when another customer walked in, and tried to ask a question, not realizing that the employee was busy. Without making eye contact, the employee literally said “I’m helping another customer, which means that you‘re cutting in line; please be mindful of your manners, okay?” The other customer and I were both shocked at the massive overreaction to an innocent mistake. That did it for me, and I went to Kona Honu for tanks after that,

But enough about JDL.

Since you’re going to go in winter, you might want to look into a shore dive in Miloli’i, as I’ve heard that there are sometimes schooling hammerheads close to shore in winter. We dove it in summer a few years ago and it was a lovely site, even without hammerheads. It’s a pretty long drive from Kona but you can hit Black Pebble Beach on the way back, which is another cool dive site.

 

[tarponchik]

Since you’re going to go in winter, you might want to look into a shore dive in Miloli’i, as I’ve heard that there are sometimes schooling hammerheads close to shore in winter. We dove it in summer a few years ago and it was a lovely site, even without hammerheads. It’s a pretty long drive from Kona but you can hit Black Pebble Beach on the way back, which is another cool dive site.

Chances to dive at Pebble Beach in December are quite low, even if Miloli'i is divable. A safer bet for the south would be Hookena or 2-Step.

 

[Chocoholic]

Kona Honu and Big Island Divers are good options. Shore diving the harbor it is possible to see the tigers but you really have to pay attention to the boats and use a dive flag float. I also like the Two Step (Place of Refuge) shore dive as a shake out dive because it's fairly easy to navigate.
The Sheraton (it's an Outrigger hotel now) has the manta lights that have been there for years and a lot of the night snorkel manta boats go there. The Manta night dive or snorkel is fantastic.
I second using Blue Wilderness for diving Puako area, there are lots of turtles and lava tubes.
If you're in to star gazing you might be able to see the Geminids Meteor shower from Mauna Kea in December.
The Hawaiian Botanical Gardens and Akaka Falls are short hikes that are absolutely worth it over on the Hilo side.
Have a great trip.

 

[lowflyer]

I second using Blue Wilderness for diving Puako area, there are lots of turtles and lava tubes.

Do you have any opinion about Kona Shore Divers for diving Puako?

 

[NeilA.]

I looked at the website and some of the long term employees at JDL don’t seem to be with them anymore. I did my OW certification with them in about 2012 and they were a real pleasure to deal with back then.