Hey there dawgPaddle!
The water temp today was about 77f. A 3mm suit should be good. Lots of dive guests wear shorties, I prefer a full suit for more protection. Can't say that if you can rent a knife. As long as it is in your suitcase and not in your carry on you should have no trouble brining it along.
If you'll be having a rent a car you can pretty much go anywhere on the Island. There are North Shore operators. Boats that go out of Waianea or out of kewalo basin here in Waikiki.
Here some of the most popular dive sites:
We have some great wrecks and reef dives that I am sure you will enjoy:
East Side - The Corsair - The only "real" wreck. In 1941 (I think) the pilot was having motor trouble and had to bail out. It lays at about 108'
Spitting cave - I only have done this one once - about a year ago, before I started taking pictures - but it was a nice dive. It was a drift dive. There is a cave on the coast line that you swim into (careful of the fishing lines!). There were starfish every where and when you get to the back and look up you see the light entering the cave and the water crashing at the surface...just beautiful. For obvious reasons not always do-able
South Side (Waikiki) - The Sea Tiger - This ship was used to smuggle illegal immigrants into the US. It was auctioned off 3 times. The last company that bought it sunk it in 1998 as a submarine tourist attraction. The company went broke so it's just for us divers now . Lays at about 110-120'
YO-257 at 100 some feet/San Pedro at 86' - Two wrecks within swim distance of each other. The YO was a military oil tanker from WWII. Don't know too much history on these two but they were also sunk in the 90's (not at the same time) by a submarine company as a tourist attraction. They still go thru and you can wave to the tourists inside.
Kewalo pipe/ 40- about 60' - a storm drain (no longer in use) that has lots of coral and fish. Haven't gotten to see it yet, but they say there is a dragon moray there. Off to the one side the UH has fish habitats...interesting to see.
Out this way you can also dive turtle canyon, Kehi pipe - people are not too thrilled about Kaisers reef.
West Side - MS Mahi - Oahus' first artificial reef was a WWII mine layer known as the USS Scrimmage. Changed hands a coupl'a times before it was sunk in 1982. Over the years that I have been diving it I have been watching it fall apart. It is no longer safe to swim thru and if the current is strong you can see the top cabin, better said what's left of it, move back and forth, but it still is a great dive as groups of up to 18 (from what we have seen) eagle rays love to hang around.
Makaha Caverns, also known as The Lava tubes - Lots of swim thrus, arches and caverns. You can see lots of turtles there! Used to do this one pretty much every day but after the death of our boss we landed on the other side of the Island. Miss the caves.
Also out that way is A-Frames, Stars, 5" reef (lots of live ammo laying around), turtle canyons, black rock
I am unfamiliar with the diving up North. Only have been up there once and did Sharks Cove - a shore dive. It was excellent. Only doable in the months from May to September. As for the wrecks there are also some LCU's and other plane wrecks that we dive. The one's I listed are the major ones.
I am also sure there are some other reefs, but these are the ones I know.
Hope this helps you make a choice, you can drop me a line and I can get you hooked up...and hope to see you while you're here.
