ehh...where should I go? general information please

[Lan]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning a trip to Hawai'i during around mid march.
I'm going there with my wife, and we plan to stay there for about 6 days.
I'm a diver with AOW certification but my wife has nothing, so we are planning on getting her an OW.
We would be flying there from Bozeman MT.
I know nothing about what the whole scene is like over in Hawai'i, so I would like to get some information from you guys.
I've been diving mostly in southeastern Asia, in small diving towns, where they offer nice and cozy hotels, and a lot of them are associated with dive shops, you can get everywhere on foot.
So what is Hawaii diving scene like?
Among all the islands, which would you guys recommend to go? We are looking for a less touristic vacation.
We are travelling with a intermediate budget.

Any info is welcome and appreciated!

Lan

 

[lonebrave]

Diving wise, if you want wrecks and reefs, oahu; manta rays and shore diving (amazing reefs from what I've heard), big island; ability to dive four islands (lanai, molokai, molokini, maui) from one and shore dives (great reefs, too), maui.

As far as a shop recommendation for your wife getting OW, call Gabe at Kaimana Divers (Scuba Diving in Hawaii with Kaimana Divers | Dive Oahu with the pros). He's on oahu, just an fyi

I'm sure many more will chime in with recommendations on what each island is best for. With only six days, though, it isn't really feasible to visit more than one if you plan on diving.

 

[Jnsey]

My wife and I went to Kauai this past Oct for our honeymoon. It was our first time to Hawaii and we both loved it. From what I read Kauai and the Big island are more rural and less "touristy" and from what I saw on Kauai I think that's a pretty fitting description. It also seemed to be the cheapest out of all the others for both air fair and hotel. My wife is not a certified diver but I talked her into trying the discover scuba program. I'm sad to say she didn't like it that much and felt claustrophobic:confused6:. The water was not super clear but for this lake diver having his first ocean dive, I though it was amazing. I guess with all the rain Kauai gets, it gets lots of runoff and that makes the water less clear. The site we dove was called Hale Honu "house of turtle" which turned out to be a turtle cleaning station. It was awesom being that close to so many turtles. We probably saw 12 separate turtles that one dive along with a few frog fish up under some overhangs. There was also a 8 or so ft white tipped reef shark hanging out down under a overhang. While my wife sat on the shore myself and our guide did a shore dive at koloa landing. There we saw many turtles and lots of other types of fish I had only seen in books.

We already are planning a trip back to the islands for Aug but this time to the Big island with my wife, mom, dad, sister and bro in law. My dad is a diver and we plan on doing the manta dive and if I can talk him into it the backwater dive.

Other than diving what are y'all wanting to do? What type of place are you wanting to stay at? Maybe use one of those criteria to decide what island and I'm sure the diving will be amazing no matter what your choice is.

 

[Ouvea]

While I have never been to Maui (planning on going this April), I hear it's very touristy. My colleague at work, who is from Oahu, states that Honolulu is like a major metropolis and compares it to San Francisco. It sure looks like urban sprawl at its best when I landed at Honolulu (layover to Kauai).

If I had to choose the most diverse of the Islands that I have visited, then surely it would the Big Island. You have such diverse terrain from grassy plains, parched dry desert, luscious forest to barren volcanic topography. Kauai is green everywhere and if you love mountains, they will be in eye sight all the time time. It rains and drizzles quite often on Kauai. If you like hiking, then you will find Kauai a true paradise. The Na'pali coast is breath taking, especially atop the tall spires (yeah there are trails to take to those locations). It's quite a contrasting view from the bottom, on a boat tour.

I found the scuba diving on both islands, less than impressive as it's mostly boulders and lava rocks. They are quite daunting though. You won't see the coral reefs of the South Pacific or the Caribbeans though. I didn't see a lot of coral until I went over to Ni'ihau (Kauai) and went swimming at Honaunau (Place of Refuge on the Big Island). If you choose the Big Island, then you must do the night time Manta Ray dive. Yes, it is spectacular and awe inspiring.

Cost wise, I believe you can do both islands very inexpensively or with the flare of Royalty. Since you'll be with your wife and your interests may differ, I would go with the Big Island.

 

[StuartT]

With only 6 days your wife should do all the OW book stuff before you go and then she will only need to do the 4 dives for the cert. Just a thought.