Heading to Kona

[champsummers]

Dont you dare miss the Manta night dive. Easily the best scuba experience I have ever (or will ever) have!

I went with Kona Honu. They are very well organized, professional, and I felt very safe, which was important as this was my first night dive. Their divemasters are very knowledgeable

Their boat was a little hard to find in the harbor, but was very nice. It looked similar to the one from Jacks. (all of the shops do the Manta dive in the same place).

I did a regular day dive a couple days later and they wasted about an hour driving out to dump their toilet, which I'm not so sure they are supposed to do. It wouldnt have been an issue except by the time that they were done the sun was gone. :depressed:
I think that they could have done that on the way back or maybe on their own time.

Anyway, I hope you have fun. I would enjoy hearing your take on the mantas.

 

[w0nger]

thanks for all the tips folks...

 

[cuddlefish]

I did a regular day dive a couple days later and they wasted about an hour driving out to dump their toilet, which I'm not so sure they are supposed to do. It wouldnt have been an issue except by the time that they were done the sun was gone. :depressed:
I think that they could have done that on the way back or maybe on their own time.

They are allowed to dump the head as long as they are more than 3 miles offshore. As far as wasting time during the charter doing it...it's not uncommon for dive ops to cruise for about an hour during the surface interval. It's way better than sitting at the dive site in a rocking boat for an hour. Heading offshore a few miles to look for whales and dump the head is a common activity. You'd be surprised how many times we have great pilot whale sitings during a "dump run". So, given that you usually are given about a one hour surface interval...it's not really a waste of time. Just my opinion.

 

[champsummers]

Good to know.

And yeah, I guess it wasnt such a big deal given the otherwise great experience, (especially the mantas *wow*) .

I just think that they could've done their dumping during the surface interval like you say, rather than before the first dive.

 

[Gombessa]

I was in Kona a couple of weeks ago, dove two days with Jack's. Great boat and crew. We did the manta dive but missed the mantas. I hold Jack's personally responsible for not bringing the krill (the water was crystal clear). So instead of mantas, we had a gorgeous night tour of garden eel cove - since we were at the same site for the afternoon dive, we could really see the different fish that come out to feed at night, including numerous eels, who come out of their holes and slither all over when the sun goes down.

When I got back to the hotel, turns out all the landlubbers got to see mantas splashing around the surface from the patio floodlights




Same site during the afternoon:


One hint: if you're properly weighted, you should take an extra 5-6lb down with you for the manta ray dive, since you'll need to kneel on the bottom to shine your lights straight up. I found it nearly impossible to stay down with even a tiny bit of surge, and found myself getting pushed into rocks, urchins, and eels quite a bit. And the lava rock down there is like a cubic foot a pound, so you can't weigh yourself down by picking up a rock either.

 

[cuddlefish]

Good to know.

And yeah, I guess it wasnt such a big deal given the otherwise great experience, (especially the mantas *wow*) .

I just think that they could've done their dumping during the surface interval like you say, rather than before the first dive.

Ahh! I missed the fact that they did it BEFORE the first dive. Hhhmm, not good. Perhaps they had a "probelm" that HAD to be gotten rid of. Other than that...they should definitely have done it during the SI or after the charter.

 

[redrover]

For the pelagic magic dive, they go offshore a few miles at night. The water is several thousand feet deep. Each diver is tethered to the boat. You hang (like bait) at about 60 feet deep. The point of the dive is to view all of the very cool pelagic, larval phase critters that rise from the deep at night. There are so many alien-looking critters. It is a very cool and different dive. Most people "get it" and really enjoy it. Some people go with the wrong idea in mind and don't "get it". Some people mistakenly think they are going to see large creatures. In rare cases, sharks and dolphins have cruised by (scaring the bejesus out of people), but it is not really expected. Check out the Jack's website. They usually have a video clip so you can see what the critters look like.

IÃÎ going to be chuckling at that in itÃÔ context for a long time.

My description (in addition) is is not so much a dive but something you have to be a diver to get to do. Absolutely fantastic extraterrestrial experience.
BTW the 'tether' is line clipped to you with a running clip on a weighted line so you can move up, down and spin with the surrealistic light fantastic critters...3 miles out from the harbor...in the dark of night...with nary a bottom in sight.
I think it is a AOW dive too. In any case, personally I wouldn't encourage a new diver to try it, is nothing like a night dive.
Do some searches (black water, dark water) and find where (who was that?) had the Swordfish cruse thru the group. Incredible story sure wish I had been there