First trip ever to Hawaii and I need recommendations for a full schedule

[Scubagolf]

You could call Jack's Dive Locker to double check, but I don't recall AOW being needed. The first time I did the Manta Ray night dive my wife went along as a snorkeler. We went home and she promptly got certified. 250 dives later we are constantly planning the next dive trip.

 

[Volksfolks]

No aow needed for the manta dive, no currents to speak of at the main sites, surge can be a factor at the airport site. Last time I did the dive at the airport we had 22 mantas show.

 

[Oldbear]

The Hilton in Waikiki shots off fireworks on Friday nights. Honolulu Scuba Company does Friday night dive and then watch the fireworks from the sea....fun times.

Main - Honolulu Scuba Company

 

[Ready4Launch]

OK - so plans are becoming more firm. I likely won't dive while on Oahu. So, that leaves diving for Kauai.

Any dive shop recommendations for Kauai? Probably going to stay on the south side.

 

[KauaiScuba]

Aloha Ready4Lauch!
That is great you get to dive here on Kauai! Kauai is a very unique place to dive loaded with endless marine life! As I own/dive for "Explore Kauai Scuba", there are plenty of top notch dive operations here. "Koloa Landing" is an epic shore dive location on the south side that is close to all of the resorts, so very easy/quick to get to if you're staying on the south side. Koloa Landing is a great spot for such critters as frog fish, various scorpion fish, plenty eels including the dragon moray, sea turtles, the list goes on and on!!! I can't talk up Koloa Landing enough! Plenty of people visit and are ready to dive it again and again. This is why almost every dive shop offers shore dives here. It's a great bang for your buck and with depth range on average of 25-45 feet, you'll get longer bottom times. If boat is what you're looking for we offer boat dives out of the west side of the island, diving sites less dove. Some of these sites offer some less seen critters like pipe fish, endemic lion fish, ghost shrimp, and a java moray to name a few.

Feel free to message me with any and all questions. If you go with another shop, feel free to ask me for divemaster recommendations, a seasoned DM goes along way in showing you our marine life in detail. Also, any other recommendations for while you're on island, hikes, restaurants, beaches, etc.

Also, check out this website to get you excited for your trip! www.marinelifephotography.com

 

[Ready4Launch]

Aloha Ready4Lauch!
That is great you get to dive here on Kauai! Kauai is a very unique place to dive loaded with endless marine life! As I own/dive for "Explore Kauai Scuba", there are plenty of top notch dive operations here. "Koloa Landing" is an epic shore dive location on the south side that is close to all of the resorts, so very easy/quick to get to if you're staying on the south side. Koloa Landing is a great spot for such critters as frog fish, various scorpion fish, plenty eels including the dragon moray, sea turtles, the list goes on and on!!! I can't talk up Koloa Landing enough! Plenty of people visit and are ready to dive it again and again. This is why almost every dive shop offers shore dives here. It's a great bang for your buck and with depth range on average of 25-45 feet, you'll get longer bottom times. If boat is what you're looking for we offer boat dives out of the west side of the island, diving sites less dove. Some of these sites offer some less seen critters like pipe fish, endemic lion fish, ghost shrimp, and a java moray to name a few.

Feel free to message me with any and all questions. If you go with another shop, feel free to ask me for divemaster recommendations, a seasoned DM goes along way in showing you our marine life in detail. Also, any other recommendations for while you're on island, hikes, restaurants, beaches, etc.

Also, check out this website to get you excited for your trip! www.marinelifephotography.com

Ok Nick -- thanks much for the reply. Will be staying at the Sheraton, so this is exciting to hear! So, some questions for you...if you don't mind...

1) Recommend one other dive shop/DM/operation that you would go with if you were visiting.

2) What time do you leave in the morning for the boat dives?

3) Are all dive ops doing boat dives doing them out of rigid inflatables, or are there larger boats going out?

4) What time are you getting in the water for night shore dives?

5) For the night shore diving with you, are you requiring your customers to be AOW, or is OW cert satisfactory?

6) For early November, is a 4/3 suit too much, just right, or preference? I'm used to diving in my 7mil, but have done some diving out of Fort Lauderdale once in my 4/3 surf suit.

Thanks again -- maybe we can make some arrangements ahead of time. Will be arriving on the 4th. Helicopter ride in the afternoon of the 5th. Flying to Oahu on the 8th. Rather flexible otherwise.

 

[KauaiScuba]

PM'd ya

 

[KevinNM]

The manta dive for sure, I haven't done the pelagic magic so I can't speak to that.

You are clipped to a tether on the pelagic dive, so I would suspect it would be OK. Realize you are in water 10,000 feet deep and it's pitch black other the diver lights. It's very cool and safe, but understand what you are getting into. Call up Jack's and ask if there would be any issues.

 

[KevinNM]

No aow needed for the manta dive, no currents to speak of at the main sites, surge can be a factor at the airport site. Last time I did the dive at the airport we had 22 mantas show.

We had 3, but it was still cool as hell.

 

[KevinNM]

I spent Christmas and new years in Kona a couple years ago. I used Jack's, I recommend them. All their boats are more fishing/sport boats (Aluminum or fiberglass hulls). The big boats have like 24 divers, the smallest boat (I was only on it for the Pelagic dive) has like 8.

We got blown out for two days in the two weeks we were there, that isn't uncommon in winter. One of those when when a bunch of family was gong to do the manta snorkel, so you might want to try to schedule it at least twice just in case. The manta dive is very cool, don't miss it.

There are limited sites that they use in winter due to the weather patterns. If you have a reasonable amount of experience and AOW they run advanced trips that hit some more complex sites, but for a few days you won't run out of places to see on the basic trips.

In winter there are a lot of humpback whales. You will probably never ever see them under water (among other things, federal law says you can't dive if they are there - they have to show up while you are already in the water), but you probably will on the boat to/from the dive site. You might hear them under water too.


Can't talk about the rest of the islands.

Boat diving in Hawaii isn't cheap, but it's cool.