I've just wrapped up three weeks of scuba diving with 14 dives over that time period (lots more non-scuba stuff to do on the island as well!). Here are some initial thoughts on dive company options and some photos/video.
Kona Diving Company
Check-in: Felt a lot more "old school" and a lot friendlier. Took time explaining where the boat is and where to park, and gave me a printout of the dock. Had me show up 15 mins earlier for my first day of diving.
Gear: Sadly no DIN tanks, but had DIN convertors. Dived Nitrox - fills were 3100+ psi every time. They provide EAN32 for the first dive and EAN36 for the second. There's an analyzer on the boat with an LP connector, and a spare air tank to calibrate the sensor. You calibrate tanks individually before each dive.
Dives: The guiding on this boat was absolutely exemplary. The most comprehensive dive site/wildlife briefings I have ever received. Some folks seemed to get antsy to get in the water, but I loved the 5-10mins sense of what we might see and why. I did a lot of their local AM trips (only one got cancelled for weather and easily rebooked), and then their manta night dive. Do not consider diving the mantas at night with anyone else. They get in the water 30mins later than everyone, so at the end of the dive you get 20mins "alone" with the mantas at the campfire. Particular shout outs to guides Cody, Lindsay, and Hailey who were all outstanding at finding things and had a great chilled vibe.
I posted a more flowery review of KDC here and stand by everything they brought to the table. Really outstanding dive company.
Jack's Diving Locker
Check-in: Very modern dive store vibe, extremely young staff (like high-schoolers). Fairly quick and perfunctory check of my cert cards and done. No additional info on the dock etc.
Dive day was ok - one guide seemed to be amazing (Peter) and took his guests to a lot of very cool stuff. For example, we saw dolphins from the boat and he took his group immediately to them and spent time with them for their first dive, sadly our guide did not and so we didn't see them underwater at all. The captain of the boat was new to this dive outfit, and they struggled a bit to find a second dive site, having gone very close to the harbour for the first dive. We went to three sites to evaluate conditions before returning to the harbor. My wife had a great experience getting OW certified with them (Toby was an amazing instructor, and the qualifying divemaster Rosalind was also great), but when I dove with them a second time the guide was awful - didn't look back once to check on the group despite the dive being a relatively strong current and lower than usual viz. I had to chase him down on both dives to let him know I was going to go conduct my safety stops.
Every day so far conditions have gotten rougher as the morning progresses, so I was a bit surprised they went close to the harbor first, and then tried to go further north for the second dive. I will say, Captain Gary was excellent and did a phenomenal job of taking us to see a pod of pilot whales on our surface interval between dives.
Gear: Had DIN tanks. Dived Nitrox - tank fills were so so - first dives just over 3,000 psi, second dives were both around 2950. Both fills are EAN32. They have oxygen analyzers on the dock, and you analyze your tanks before boarding the boat.
Kona Honu
Kind of disorganized all around - guides didn't seem super sure on what sites to go to as there was some swell up and we couldn't dive the first site we moored at. The guides were enthusiastic, but maybe a little over the top and treated somewhat common sightings as "unbelievable". For the night dive they didn't ask any of the divers about experience levels which seemed a bit odd to me and folks definitely had varying ability/skill levels. I did an advanced long range dive, and while we saw a lot of cool stuff, we were unable to go very "long range" as there was a problem with one of the boat's engines, so we dove very close to the shore. Both dives were "drift" dives, but in reality there was little to no current at the second site, and only mild surge. Had we not happened to see some very cool things I would have felt kind of short changed, so I felt like nature kind of bailed them out on this one. Perfect pleasant people to be around, but it felt a bit like diving without a very clear plan for the day. They didn't seem as safety conscious when tying on, whereas KDC are very clear that the boat is in neutral and indicate to the captain where the diver is at all times. Food on the boat was from Jack's Diving Locker.
Gear: Had DIN tanks, dived nitrox - all fills were around 3,200 psi, and both fills were EAN32.
When I come back to Kona I will be exclusively diving with KDC and I'm excited to try out their long range and night offerings next time. Their guiding has been excellent, the vibe on the boat has been very relaxed and nature focused, and I like their approach of EAN32/36 for two tank dives.
The diving
The overall diving here has been absolutely outstanding. As someone who certified in the Red Sea I have pretty high standards and the breadth of the biodiversity here is amazing. Whether you're into macro or micro, dives with structure, or nudibranch hunting there is so much to do here you won't get bored. Wreck diving is about the only thing I don't think you can do here, and to be honest I didn't bother trying to research it. I could list off literally 20-30 species here that I was very excited to see and saw them all. About the only large creatures I didn't see were tiger sharks and whale sharks (my guide saw a tiger but nobody else did) and while we didn't see hammerheads diving we saw two from the boat, along with a pod of around 15 pilot whales.
Non-diving
There is so much other cool stuff to do here - hiking, kayaking, Volcanoes National Park, Mauna Kea stargazing - definitely book some stuff in advance (like the stargazing - we went through Hawaii Forest and Trail last minute and were lucky to get a cancellation after joining the waitlist).
Food/groceries/gas
Definitely on the pricier end with groceries being roughly 2X East Coast prices. Eating out was a mixed bag on price/quality. Places we particularly enjoyed - Merriman's Waimea ($$$), Jackie Rey's Kona ($$), Da Poke Shack ($), Kona Pasta Company ($$), Tuk Tuk Food Truck near Volcano, HI ($), Mi Taqueria Potosina ($). Umeke's was very good poke but unbelievably expensive ($65 for lunch for two people). Gas was also pretty pricey at around $5 a gallon.
A few photos/videos:
Kona Diving Company
Check-in: Felt a lot more "old school" and a lot friendlier. Took time explaining where the boat is and where to park, and gave me a printout of the dock. Had me show up 15 mins earlier for my first day of diving.
Gear: Sadly no DIN tanks, but had DIN convertors. Dived Nitrox - fills were 3100+ psi every time. They provide EAN32 for the first dive and EAN36 for the second. There's an analyzer on the boat with an LP connector, and a spare air tank to calibrate the sensor. You calibrate tanks individually before each dive.
Dives: The guiding on this boat was absolutely exemplary. The most comprehensive dive site/wildlife briefings I have ever received. Some folks seemed to get antsy to get in the water, but I loved the 5-10mins sense of what we might see and why. I did a lot of their local AM trips (only one got cancelled for weather and easily rebooked), and then their manta night dive. Do not consider diving the mantas at night with anyone else. They get in the water 30mins later than everyone, so at the end of the dive you get 20mins "alone" with the mantas at the campfire. Particular shout outs to guides Cody, Lindsay, and Hailey who were all outstanding at finding things and had a great chilled vibe.
I posted a more flowery review of KDC here and stand by everything they brought to the table. Really outstanding dive company.
Jack's Diving Locker
Check-in: Very modern dive store vibe, extremely young staff (like high-schoolers). Fairly quick and perfunctory check of my cert cards and done. No additional info on the dock etc.
Dive day was ok - one guide seemed to be amazing (Peter) and took his guests to a lot of very cool stuff. For example, we saw dolphins from the boat and he took his group immediately to them and spent time with them for their first dive, sadly our guide did not and so we didn't see them underwater at all. The captain of the boat was new to this dive outfit, and they struggled a bit to find a second dive site, having gone very close to the harbour for the first dive. We went to three sites to evaluate conditions before returning to the harbor. My wife had a great experience getting OW certified with them (Toby was an amazing instructor, and the qualifying divemaster Rosalind was also great), but when I dove with them a second time the guide was awful - didn't look back once to check on the group despite the dive being a relatively strong current and lower than usual viz. I had to chase him down on both dives to let him know I was going to go conduct my safety stops.
Every day so far conditions have gotten rougher as the morning progresses, so I was a bit surprised they went close to the harbor first, and then tried to go further north for the second dive. I will say, Captain Gary was excellent and did a phenomenal job of taking us to see a pod of pilot whales on our surface interval between dives.
Gear: Had DIN tanks. Dived Nitrox - tank fills were so so - first dives just over 3,000 psi, second dives were both around 2950. Both fills are EAN32. They have oxygen analyzers on the dock, and you analyze your tanks before boarding the boat.
Kona Honu
Kind of disorganized all around - guides didn't seem super sure on what sites to go to as there was some swell up and we couldn't dive the first site we moored at. The guides were enthusiastic, but maybe a little over the top and treated somewhat common sightings as "unbelievable". For the night dive they didn't ask any of the divers about experience levels which seemed a bit odd to me and folks definitely had varying ability/skill levels. I did an advanced long range dive, and while we saw a lot of cool stuff, we were unable to go very "long range" as there was a problem with one of the boat's engines, so we dove very close to the shore. Both dives were "drift" dives, but in reality there was little to no current at the second site, and only mild surge. Had we not happened to see some very cool things I would have felt kind of short changed, so I felt like nature kind of bailed them out on this one. Perfect pleasant people to be around, but it felt a bit like diving without a very clear plan for the day. They didn't seem as safety conscious when tying on, whereas KDC are very clear that the boat is in neutral and indicate to the captain where the diver is at all times. Food on the boat was from Jack's Diving Locker.
Gear: Had DIN tanks, dived nitrox - all fills were around 3,200 psi, and both fills were EAN32.
When I come back to Kona I will be exclusively diving with KDC and I'm excited to try out their long range and night offerings next time. Their guiding has been excellent, the vibe on the boat has been very relaxed and nature focused, and I like their approach of EAN32/36 for two tank dives.
The diving
The overall diving here has been absolutely outstanding. As someone who certified in the Red Sea I have pretty high standards and the breadth of the biodiversity here is amazing. Whether you're into macro or micro, dives with structure, or nudibranch hunting there is so much to do here you won't get bored. Wreck diving is about the only thing I don't think you can do here, and to be honest I didn't bother trying to research it. I could list off literally 20-30 species here that I was very excited to see and saw them all. About the only large creatures I didn't see were tiger sharks and whale sharks (my guide saw a tiger but nobody else did) and while we didn't see hammerheads diving we saw two from the boat, along with a pod of around 15 pilot whales.
Non-diving
There is so much other cool stuff to do here - hiking, kayaking, Volcanoes National Park, Mauna Kea stargazing - definitely book some stuff in advance (like the stargazing - we went through Hawaii Forest and Trail last minute and were lucky to get a cancellation after joining the waitlist).
Food/groceries/gas
Definitely on the pricier end with groceries being roughly 2X East Coast prices. Eating out was a mixed bag on price/quality. Places we particularly enjoyed - Merriman's Waimea ($$$), Jackie Rey's Kona ($$), Da Poke Shack ($), Kona Pasta Company ($$), Tuk Tuk Food Truck near Volcano, HI ($), Mi Taqueria Potosina ($). Umeke's was very good poke but unbelievably expensive ($65 for lunch for two people). Gas was also pretty pricey at around $5 a gallon.
A few photos/videos:
