First time to Hawaii need help

[SandyUT]

My wife and I are looking for a dive trip to hawaii and need some advice as to which island to go to for the best diving.

Also wondering if there are dive oreinted hotels where we can get a hotel and dive package.

ANy help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[friscuba]

The Big Island (Kona side) and Maui are probably your two best bets for diving. I'm partial to Kona since I live here, but it's got a very good reputation and has lots of variety when it comes to dive sites. The Big Island itself could keep you busy for weeks topside if you are into exploring.

I'm not sure about "dive oriented" hotels on Maui, but there really aren't any here on the Big Island. The Hawaii tourism authority doesn't really make any effort to promote Hawaii as a dive destination (they're big on golf and beaches and such) so it's pretty much left up to people in the local industry to make that effort. A couple of the resorts up north have a dive/snorkel operator on premises, but it's not a big focus by any means.

In Kona, the majority of the dive operators launch out of Honokohau Harbor, a couple miles north of Kailua, with a couple boats launching off the pier in town and Keauhou Bay. For the most part you'll probably need to plan on driving to your boat. A car is highly recommended as the public transportation availability is very limited, and a taxi to anywhere will approach or surpass the price of a car rental.

I hope this helps some.

 

[DiveMaven]

There aren't any dive oriented hotels on Maui that I'm aware of. Most of the boats depart out of the Kihei boat ramp, and diving on Maui is EARLY in the morning (6-6:30am departures) due to the trade winds that pick up around noon. Maui gives you the unique ability to dive 4 different islands, Maui, Molokini, Lanai, and Molokai. There's also good shore diving on Maui as well.

If you're into beaches, Maui has gorgeous ones whereas the Big Island has few. However, nothing on Maui can match the night Manta dive on the Big Island, or the ability to walk on an active volcano. Frankly whichever you choose, you can't go wrong....you'll be in Hawaii!!

 

[Charlie99]

There aren't any dive oriented hotels in Maui, but if you check the websites of the dive operators, you'll find that some of them have some condos that they will rent.

See Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures - Maui Accommodations

Another good place to look for lodging is vrbo.com . That's a website where condo owners rent directly to guests.

 

[acooper]

I would agree with Steve in that the Big Island offers more variety, with the diving and the out of water activities. There should be good hotel deals available, they are running at 50% or less of capacity. I would suggest calling hotels you are interested in directly to double check prices, they may quote better rates that the websites or agents will give, call the direct line, not the corporate site. (we got a great rate for our company Christmas party, they are a bit desperate for business right now).

Get a rental car and setup up boat dives with one of the several good choices of dive operations. Maybe do a few dives with one of the Kona operators out of Honokohau, then do a day up north in Kohala to see different stuff. If you want to keep cost down there are also a number of great shore dive sites that can add variety. What you might lose without a dive package you gain in flexibility.

Andrew

 

[ScubaDiveMaui]

There aren't any dive oriented hotels in Maui,

Actually...
There is a first class, run-like-a-hotel, Bed & Breakfast on Maui, which caters to divers:
Maui Guest House

The owner is a DM, and has thousands of logged dives in Hawaii. She has an instructor on-site for shore diving, and her company also is a booking agency and works closely with the best SCUBA operators on the island, so you can have the convenience of booking all your diving through one office.... all this plus they can help you with car rentals too!

Hope this helps!

 

[DMJulie]

First when are you coming to Hawaii?
Second do you already have an idea of which island you want to go?

Kauai island has great diving. I dive every week at Koloa Landing in Poipu. It's an easy shore dive with entry via an old boat ramp.
We see all kinds of cool thing, Dragon eels, snowflake eels, sand eels, green sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, leaf scorpion fish, bandit angelfish.....the list can go on and on.

Our scuba shop, Aquatic Adventures, is about a 5 minute drive from this dive site. If you come to Kauai stop by and say hi.