Hawaii or Belize

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If you like the big, modern resorts then based on my very limited experiences of Hawaii, I would recommend you look at Kaanapali (West Maui) or Wailea (South Maui). There are some really amazing hotels and resorts in both those cities, but you can also get the tropical island experience with the road to hana and other day trips. Additionally, there are basically limitless places to shore dive as well as boat dives to Lanai, Molokai and Molokini.
 
They are such different places, both topside and diving, it depends what your priorities are and what you want to see.

If the whole fancy big resort experience with mainstream restaurants and nightlife is what you really want for this trip, Hawaii is more likely to suit you. The convenience to dive ops and other things is going to vary depending on the island and where you stay, but it's not going to be nearly as convenient as a dive oriented place in Belize or a liveaboard either place. For example a lot of dive ops on the Big Island leave from Kailua-Kona, which is a longish (and often congested) commute from most of the really cool looking resorts you'll probably be interested in, so you need to watch out for that. (If you have the time I think a week on the Kona Aggressor and a week on land dedicated to other stuff is the best way to go. And FWIW, the food on the Kona Aggressor a few years ago was actually better than most if not all of the restaurants we ate at, including the expensive ones, go figure.)

Much more likely to see a whale shark in Belize, but mostly in specific days of certain months in a certain location, you really have to arrange your trip around it. Whales, varies with time of year but you have decent odds in Hawaii. Winter is when the humpbacks are there and June is way past peak season though, but you could get lucky. We were in the water with a pilot whale in August.

When you say you are stuck between Hawaii or Belize, what does that mean? Something about plane tickets or just somehow you've narrowed it down to those. There are places where you could do the resort thing and compromise less on the diving. Grand Cayman and Curacao come to mind.
 
drrich2

I did a number of dives while on Kauai in late Oct and on into late Nov in swim suit and a rash guard. I was perfectly comfortable at all times. That being said, there were a couple of women of very small stature on a couple of those dives that wore 3m wetsuits and were still cold. I am talking very petite women with very little "natural insulation".
 
A friend of mine did a little scuba diving in Hawaii (I'm not certain which island) some time back & indicated to me the water was a bit chilly compared to some of our Caribbean destinations (mainly Bonaire). I like warm water Caribbean diving and I don't like fooling with wet suits.

What say the rest of you about diving Hawaii as far as water temp.s & the need (or lack thereof) for wet suits is concerned?

Richard.

You can pretty much count on Hawaii being roughly 3-4 degrees cooler than most of the Caribbean at any given time. If you need the "warmest" season, look for August through late Novemer/early December.

A wetsuit doesn't seem so bad after a dive or two, it sure takes the chill off.
 
A friend of mine did a little scuba diving in Hawaii (I'm not certain which island) some time back & indicated to me the water was a bit chilly compared to some of our Caribbean destinations (mainly Bonaire). I like warm water Caribbean diving and I don't like fooling with wet suits.

What say the rest of you about diving Hawaii as far as water temp.s & the need (or lack thereof) for wet suits is concerned?
What time of year? Any given time of year Hawaii waters will be cooler than the Caribbean. We've always dove Hawaii in the summer when it's 80ish and used our dive skins just like we do in the Caribbean. Not sure I'd get away with that in Feb when it might be low-mid 70s. What you would need to wear we can't guess.
 
A friend of mine did a little scuba diving in Hawaii (I'm not certain which island) some time back & indicated to me the water was a bit chilly compared to some of our Caribbean destinations (mainly Bonaire). I like warm water Caribbean diving and I don't like fooling with wet suits.

What say the rest of you about diving Hawaii as far as water temp.s & the need (or lack thereof) for wet suits is concerned?

Richard.

Hi Richard,

It all depends on your cold tolerance. Most "mainland" folks who are more cold-tolerant than us local folks are fine with 3mm fullsuits; but for multiple dives per day or if you chill easily, a 5mm may be wise.

I've got a little extra "bioprene" around the middle and am very comfortable in a 3mm year round here in Hilo (and wear a hood). The Hilo side runs a bit cooler than the Kona side (we have more fresh water runoff). My wife usually prefers a 5mm fullsuit. I dove here in Hilo yesterday, and I believe the bottom temp at about 60' was 74 degrees. I've recorded 68 degrees here in Hilo in the winter a couple years ago.

Best wishes.
 
Hawaii is a lot safer than Belize, especially Belize City. Seems it's the murder capital of the world lately since many of the narcotics cartels have moved out of Honduras and made it a central hub for their distribution network. Along with the gangs killing each other off it can be pretty dangerous. If you stick to the coastal resorts and do your stuff during daylight hours you are a lot better off. Do not venture into most areas of the city at night, especially alone. If it wasn't for the long airlines flight to and from Hawaii I'd be diving there every month.
 
My wife and I visited the Big Island in March of this year and we were toasty in 5mm wetsuits. All-in-all we did 13 dives in 10 days and spent a lot of time exploring the island. We saw more turtles than we could count and lots and lots of fish as well as a bottle-nosed dolphin. It was safe and our best vacation yet!
 
Only since I know a little more about Hawaii. Expecially love Maui. The ocean is not too cold for a 3/2 year round. There are turtles everywhere. Lahaina is a great town for fun. There are some very reasonable hotels downtown, which is near the harbor. Also the restaurant, bar,party atmosphere is there. Kaanapali is a wonderful spot for resorts and beach dives. Or, If you really want to splurge, there is the Grand Wailea. Have fun! OND
 

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