First time to Hawaii

[jf3193]

Good afternoon ,
I’m in the process of looking up options for a Hawaii trip ( first time).
This has probably been asked before, but didn’t see it.
We tend to like smaller locations, less traffic, vrbo style setups etc. Mostly caribbean divers. Lots of bonaire , Cozumel , Roatan we are originally from Texas, so it was hard to say no to such close flights).
Relocated further west ,so We’re going to give Hawaii a try.
If you wanted to send someone to dive Hawaii for a week, which island would you point them to? We’re experienced divers. Reef, wall or wreck, as well as boat or shore.

thanks in advance, and I apologize for any typos, as I’m working off of my phone.

J.

 

[grantwiscour]

Each island has it's own dive "styles" and all the islands can provide some good diving.
The diving on the west side of Big Island is/may be some of the best.
The paid dives are mostly boat dives but much of the diving can be done from shore with rental tanks/gear.
Check out shorediving.com for dive sites.

 

[veryfastfourier]

@jf3193 What month roughly do you think you will make the trip? The summer/winter swell dichotomy can change the kind of diving you can do.

Personally, if someone was coming to Hawai'i for a week, I'd split up the trip across two islands since inter-island flights can be super cheap.

Oahu: I consider this the "wreck diving island" with half-a-dozen great wrecks, and another half-a-dozen decent ones all off the south shore. The north shore of Oahu has some very nice reef dives in summer but nothing you can't get on Maui or Big Island.

Maui: Depending upon what season you will be coming here, Maui has some absolutely fantastic diving, especially if you can make a day trip out to Molokini crater (fantastic dive). There is also a great assortment of shore and boat reef dives, and the possibility for a long-distance charter to Lanai (checkout "Lanai cathedrals"), depending upon the season.

Big Island: west side of the Big Island has some fantastic wildlife and reef dives, especially on the west side as pointed out by @grantwiscour. There is also the "Manta Ray night dive" that is world class and is a must-do. You could fill a week here but you'd miss out on the Maui/Oahu highlights.

Kauai: Again, some more diving, but being smaller than Maui, Oahu, and Big Island, it might be hard to get lots of diving variety over here. The classic site to dive is "Tunnels Beach" on the north shore.

If you can make it work, I'd hit up the big island for some nice dives on the west side and do the Manta ray night dive, and then if you can, either hit up Maui to do Molokini crater and Lanai cathedrals (depending upon season) on the way back. If you end up in Oahu for a few days, try and checkout some of the south shore wrecks (Sea Tiger, Navy Tug, Yo-257) or if you are here in the winter, China Walls/Sea Cave/Lanai Lookout.

Let us know what you are thinking and we can probably recommend a more specific itinerary!

 

[jf3193]

@jf3193 What month roughly do you think you will make the trip? The summer/winter swell dichotomy can change the kind of diving you can do.

Personally, if someone was coming to Hawai'i for a week, I'd split up the trip across two islands since inter-island flights can be super cheap.

Oahu: I consider this the "wreck diving island" with half-a-dozen great wrecks, and another half-a-dozen decent ones all off the south shore. The north shore of Oahu has some very nice reef dives in summer but nothing you can't get on Maui or Big Island.

Maui: Depending upon what season you will be coming here, Maui has some absolutely fantastic diving, especially if you can make a day trip out to Molokini crater (fantastic dive). There is also a great assortment of shore and boat reef dives, and the possibility for a long-distance charter to Lanai (checkout "Lanai cathedrals"), depending upon the season.

Big Island: west side of the Big Island has some fantastic wildlife and reef dives, especially on the west side as pointed out by @grantwiscour. There is also the "Manta Ray night dive" that is world class and is a must-do. You could fill a week here but you'd miss out on the Maui/Oahu highlights.

Kauai: Again, some more diving, but being smaller than Maui, Oahu, and Big Island, it might be hard to get lots of diving variety over here. The classic site to dive is "Tunnels Beach" on the north shore.

If you can make it work, I'd hit up the big island for some nice dives on the west side and do the Manta ray night dive, and then if you can, either hit up Maui to do Molokini crater and Lanai cathedrals (depending upon season) on the way back. If you end up in Oahu for a few days, try and checkout some of the south shore wrecks (Sea Tiger, Navy Tug, Yo-257) or if you are here in the winter, China Walls/Sea Cave/Lanai Lookout.

Let us know what you are thinking and we can probably recommend a more specific itinerary!

We were looking at the first week of September. We could only do one week, so I wouldn’t want to lose time or days by changing hotels /flights etc. I’ve done that in places in the past, but usually when I have a longer trip to work with.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

I've only been to Hawaii once to Maui in 2012, and the live boat diving on the OUTSIDE of the Molokini crater was great! They even had reported a sighting of a Great White the week before we were there.

 

[jf3193]

I've only been to Hawaii once to Maui in 2012, and the live boat diving on the OUTSIDE of the Molokini crater was great! They even had reported a sighting of a Great White the week before we were there.

Thanks!!
What exactly is live boat diving? I saw that referenced on one of the local dive shop pages.

 

[veryfastfourier]

@jf3193 With only week, I'd pick between Big Island and Maui - I would probably pick Maui but both are good.

With Maui, make sure you do Molokini crater (both inside and outside, if you can, and you are comfortable with the conditions on the outside of the crater), and Lanai Cathedrals.

With Big Island, the must-do is the Manta ray night dive. There's a ton of other diving too but the Manta ray is spectacular and is really unique to the Big Island.

Once you've picked an island, I can help with more specific site recommendations.

 

[LFMarm]

Maui has a ton of shore diving options plus some good boat diving

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Thanks!!
What exactly is live boat diving? I saw that referenced on one of the local dive shop pages.

No anchor or tie off to a mooring line. Typically the "live boat" use is to be available to retrieve divers following a drift dive.

 

[tarponchik]

The Big Island, of course.