Hawaii - Suggestions anyone...?

[chs8084]

Dove with Gabe at Kaimana on Oahu and Big island divers on big island. Both were excellent.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Dove with Gabe at Kaimana on Oahu and Big island divers on big island. Both were excellent.

I am sorry to inform you that you are actually just a paid shill account run by me/Gabe/lonebrave, rather than an individual with your own experiences and opinions

 

[frogmanlouis]

In honolulu there is over 20 different dive companies, from real shops to virtual shops.
I have dove with kamanadivers 2 years ago and it was a decent dive...
I have also gone diving with honolulu scuba company,island divers, and oahu diving.
all shops I have listed actually do have shops
(physical locations)
Kamana divers is a virtual shop and theres no problem with that but its very strange that everyone post on this message board is to only promote kaman a divers and none even mentions any of the other shops? I am not here to bash a kamana divers but I do feel as if he is deceiving people on Scubaboard by having his employees post comments and refer everyone to go diving with them.
I thought forums and social networking was real thoughts by real divers , however in the small diving community in hawaii i guess that doesn't count.
As I said before I have went diving with kamana divers about 2 years before and he did do a good job.. chartered space on a shared boat with 6 different companies.
just saying there are other shops around and I think all the post on the hawaii forum are fake and made by kamanadivers employees

---------- Post added February 26th, 2013 at 11:40 PM ----------

I guess you could say I am simply disappointed since I came on scuba board, and yes just registered today looking for a real scuba club like I was in when I stayed in australia for half a year.
However when I browsed around the forums every post has either you, lone brave, and a few other users posting on every comment to go dive with kaimanadivers.
So I wanted to post on here what I have noticed and inform anyone else like myself what I feel your shop is doing.
And from all your negative post and acquisitions it just confirms my earlier thoughts that you are all employed at kamanadivers

 

[Dr. Lecter]

I guess you missed the part where lonebrave and I are neither the same person nor employed by Kaimana. If you'd like to refer SB posters elsewhere, nobody's stopping you; ditto if you want to post issues with KD or reasons you think they're inferior to other ops. I'm not really that tied to KD; I do dive with the KD club but do most of my diving solo now. Gabe obviously rubbed you the wrong way at some point; I can believe it, but that's true of any DM, instructor, or other person running a business. It seems from KD's reviews, it happens pretty rarely.

I used to reccomend ocean concepts over KD for west side dives, because I had great experiences with them and their boat was much better. Then Jo left OC, they lost their nice boat, and finally closed shop. KD is the best option for a generic vacation diver I'm aware of here, so that's what I say when someone asks. If they want a detailed analysis of all the options, they can hire a travel agency or search yelp. You and your paranoia about fake reviews can go take a leap.

 

[frogmanlouis]

you do have quite an impressive job sorry I missed that part...
im a full time DlCK
or as they say now a private eye
Sorry to interfere with your part time job of being part of kamanadivers promotion team,just wanted to inform the tourist traveler that there are many companies besides kamanadivers who have great reputations and relay on mostly local divers

Well, both lonebrave and I dive a Petrel; are sometimes on a Kaimana dive at the same time; and, I think we both have libertarian and tech diving leanings. Still, I'm pretty sure we're different people. For example, I sue people for a living and solo dive with doubles. I think he's in some kind of IT field for a living and dives single tanks with a buddy. And if he's getting paid for the sig link I stole from him, I need to talk to Gabe about getting in on that!

Anyway, your spate of "scottitheduck is the only dive business ever to be promoting/promoted on SB -- conspiracy!" posts are weird enough to comment on, but not interesting enough to talk about more than this.


You sure seem butt-hurt about something, tho.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Heh, if you think I care about who refers who to whom here, you need to turn in those P.I. credentials. I'll keep giving a quick and easy answer to the question of "Who do you think I should talk to about doing some diving around Oahu?" here, and you keep saying whatever you want to say.

I've only gone out with KD, Island Divers (who I liked a lot when diving with Nate, and found so-so with others, though the hot towels were a nice touch), OC (now gone), and Reef Pirates (I'm not a fan), and have never held myself out as an authority on diving here. I do know that I think KD will do a good job for those who post here about Oahu, so I say that. Now, I see from your post you were diving with KD when it was pretty much just Gabe and there was a bunch of companies on the boat. You should look into coming out on the townside dives some weekend morning: just KD on a nice big jet boat and we often do double wrecks instead of the standard wreck/reef.

 

[lonebrave]

lonebrave is a member of Dive Oahu's club, so he can speak to that one; I don't know jack about em.

Dive Oahu is an interesting operation. You better have your self together and be prepared for 'an adventure' if you go out with them on Mo'Olio. I've heard things are different, i.e. DMs know what they're doing, on their other boat (use to be the Popeye, now the Ocean Spirit...Ocean Concepts boat from Waianae, btw). Their only shop not on a military installation is in Waikiki. Their military locations are at K-Bay, Camp Smith, Fort Shafter, Schofield, and Pearl Harbor NEX. Island Divers is the only other shop I know of on a base (Hickam).

Dive Oahu's club has some nice benefits...regular, bi-weekly club shore dives with a potluck lunch, reduced prices on boat dives and classes, free air fills, reduced nitrox fills.

 

[scottitheduck]

Well, this is a lovely thread to come home to. Let's see if we can set the record straight:

1) We do have a dive shop. It's located at 1020 Auahi St. Building 4, Unit 7. Been open now since Feb of 2011..... Come on in sometime!

2) Lone Brave, Dr. Lecter and the rest of the regulars who endorse us (YES, it's not just me) on the board are never paid a dime nor encouraged to post in any way shape or form.

3) We have several amazing instructors who have never spent a minute on scubaboard...... Drew, Liv, Jarrod, Galen, Sam, Kyle, Denise and our divemasters Blade, Steve, Anna and Alex are all incredible instructors, divers and ambassadors of our sport.

4) I think that in almost 7 years in biz and starting with nothing more than a cell phone, appointment book and a 2 door Toyota Tercel we have worked hard to build something we call all be proud of. If our club members feel the same way I think that's fantastic! It does seem that this is the consensus from our past customers as well...... come take a look: Scuba Diving in Hawaii with Kaimana Divers | Dive Oahu | Raves

 

[lonebrave]

Now, I see from your post you were diving with KD when it was pretty much just Gabe and there was a bunch of companies on the boat. You should look into coming out on the townside dives some weekend morning: just KD on a nice big jet boat and we often do double wrecks instead of the standard wreck/reef.

Gabe certainly does have a shop now. He doesn't have all sorts of fancy BCDs, wetsuits, reg sets, computers, etc in a showroom. Not sure if he wants to get to that level, but I'm happy with where KD is now. They love to dive and it shows in their operations. Their primary boat (not owned by them, but the one they tend to use the most now) is the Kilikina out of Kewalo Basin. Dr Lector is right...it is a nice jet boat. Double deeps/wrecks are fun, too.

 

[frogmanlouis]

Anyways lets talk about some real dive shops than..
Honolulu scuba company has a great store located at the corner of auahi and coral.
They also have a great boat! How come noone ever talks about them? Is there something missing from there?
O YEAH! I forgot they don't come on scubaboard and spam the forums.

DiveOAHU... Man they have great boats... tons of gear... locations...noone wants to add links on scubaboard and put "best company in oahu" signatures on there post?

IslandDivers? How about them.. once again a nice boat! Nice shops! nice location.. coporate look..

Gabe certainly does have a shop now. He doesn't have all sorts of fancy BCDs, wetsuits, reg sets, computers, etc in a showroom. Not sure if he wants to get to that level, but I'm happy with where KD is now. They love to dive and it shows in their operations. Their primary boat (not owned by them, but the one they tend to use the most now) is the Kilikina out of Kewalo Basin. Dr Lector is right...it is a nice jet boat. Double deeps/wrecks are fun, too.