Do we need a guide for shore diving in Big Island?

[billt4sf]

We will be heading for the Big Island next week and I have some ideas where we can shore dive, mostly from books and some websites I found on this forum. My question is, how important is it for us, as novice divers, to have a guide for the first time we dive in a given location? We have shore dived before (though not in HI) and we are very motivated to dive on our own at this point. We have about 40 dives each but only a few on our own. Kinda tired of dive guides to tell you the truth. I am sure we can make simple navigation paths and I assume that we can get some help from the dive shop we have used (Jacks). We want to increase the level f challenge we present ourselves with -- slowly.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[t-mac]

Bill, I can't speak to the specific location, but with your experience and attitude, you should have no problem without a guide. As you suggest, take it slowly and incrementally, using simple navigation patterns. The key is making sure you do your homework, have appropriate safety and navigation gear, and taking it easy. I would seek local knowledge about specific dive sites and as you know a guide can be very nice the first time in a new location, but you should not NEED one. Good luck! Tom

 

[DiveMaven]

What I'll say is that no, you don't "need" a guide to shore dive. However, you might "want" a guide for one simple reason: You'll see far more marine life with a good guide than on your own.

Hawaii is so different in topography and marine life from the rest of the world that IMO a good guide is essential to getting the most of your experience. Not only will they find things you'll never even think to look for, but they'll tell you if those species are endemic to only Hawaii. Unless you've done a lot of diving in Hawaii and know what to look for and where, you're going to miss a LOT.

Whenever I hear people say that Hawaii has terrible diving (Manta dive being the exception), I immediately think that either they didn't have a good guide, or they didn't have a guide at all.

I use this analogy: The South Pacific and Caribbean are like rain forests...life is everywhere you look and relatively easy to see and find. Hawaii is like a desert....life is everywhere, but you have to know where and what you're looking for.

We have close to 300 dives in Hawaiian waters (and counting!) and although we no longer "need" a guide to find critters, we still dive with a guide for about 1/2 of our dives and we almost always see something we never would have found on our own.

 

[fisheater]

You're spending a significant chunk of money on your trip as it is. You'll get SO much more out of your dives with a good guide, that the modest cost increase will be worth it.

I'm a very experienced shore diver in conditions more challenging than typically found in Hawaii. I hire a guide, not to hold my hand, but to point out and explain the critters and behaviors that I'm seeing and likely to see.

Much of Hawaiian sealife is subtle and unique.

For instance, unless my guide on Kauai (Seth @ Fathom Five) had known where to look, I would have swam right past the dragon moray. Similarly, I would not have known that the butterfly fish were following us so that they could feed on the sergeant-major eggs when we inadvertently scared the parents away from the nest.


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[TSandM]

I think it's true that a guide will point out things you wouldn't otherwise have seen. But if you haven't been to Hawaii before, there will be LOTS of things you haven't seen, and you will find some of them! The key is to go very slowly and watch carefully for color and movement that seems out of place.

You might want to give a holler here on SB for local buddies; knowledge of the specific pluses and minuses of sites, and specific concerns for entry and exit, for example, is very useful. And you might want to hire a guide for one day. But I applaud your desire to become more independent, and the adventures (and mistakes!) you make doing that may be as much fun, and more beneficial in the long run, than finding that unusual nudibranch.

 

[Nwcid]

We dove Kona as new divers last year. We had about a dozen dives each including OW class. The first couple of dives we did we had a "guide" (friend of a friend) who did the first two dives with as he was not working. At that point we were still uncomfortable getting in water on our own since this was all new to use. Then we did a 2 dive Manta dive so that was with a boat so you had a guide. The next 3 dives we did on our own and had a great time. We got information from the shop we rented the tanks about the dive sites we were going. I am sure we missed things but at the same time we saw tons of stuff we had never seen before.

Now we each have about 60 dives and are going to Maui next month. We are planning on doing one or two boat dives and a ton of shore diving. Yes we spent a lot of money to get there, more money for 1-2 boat trips, and even more money just being there. While it would/could be nice hiring a guide it is not in the budget for us. We plan on lots of shore diving. Plan on seeing lots of stuff that you can not see in the PNW. Above all we plan on having lots of fun, how can you not have fun while diving? As Lynne said sometimes the fun is in being on your own. It will also help you along in the future.

Nav is much easier in nice warm clear water but knowing nav enough to get in and out at the same spot would be very helpful.

If you have not seen it this is an awesome website, http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii/TBI/index.htm

 

[Peter_C]

We were in Kona earlier this year, and got tanks from Jack's Dive Locker. Their tanks were CO free! Had good consistent fills, and they offer up great advice on dive sites. We did a bunch of different dive sites. Never hired a guide, and in going slow saw plenty of life.

Yes a dive guide will show you more, but you pay for it. It also puts you on a schedule which is one of the nice things about shore diving...you are on your own schedule. You could use a guide for one or two dives then decide if you want to continue diving with one, or go out on your own.