help me pick islands for scuba puhlease? ;)

[ljwobker]

The fiancee and I are doing the honeymoon thing in Hawaii, the plan is to be there for about 11-12 days all told. Just now starting to troll through the tons of info that's here, but I have a few (I think) basic questions about diving in the islands, hopefully folks can advise... let me start with a basic personality profile, I guess...

we're not big-city/big-resort types... so the whole oahu/waikiki thing isn't all that exciting... we'd be more interested in finding nice but not that exorbitant places to stay that allow access to biking, hiking, some golf and DIVING! As this relates specifically to scuba, we have our own good equipment, and don't need to spend a zillion dollars to have someone lug it around for us, although we'll happily take suggestions on places/operators that do that as long as they're competent and friendly. We're both reasonably experienced and conservative divers, so I don't think having close supervision is required. So... onto the questions...

- time of year: we'll be there the first two weeks in May. I read that winter weather there can be nasty for diving and summer is usually calm, but I can't figure out where in that pattern early May actually fits... what should we expect as far as surf, viz, and water temps?

- given early may, are there islands or sides of islands that will be better or worse? anything that's particularly good or bad that time of year? Should we expect super-crowded, not-so-crowded, or empty-as-hell?

- boat diving is cool, but it appears to this newbie that there's lots of good shore diving in Hawaii... are any of the islands significantly better than others for shore diving (or diving in general?)

- we'll definitely be spending a few days on Oahu, but aren't all that keen on the big-resort style that waikiki seems to offer. Any other suggestions on where to stay?

- any locals or others with local experience who are willing to enter a running PM thread and answer all my other stupid questions will be met with large buckets of extra karma. ;-)

thanks!

--lj

 

[justleesa]

Sounds like Maui is the Island for you!

May is a good time of year...but you'll miss the whales (and all the Summer vacationers, which would be a good thing)

I haven't been diving on other Islands, but most of the operators that I know would rather you stay with the group, especially if it is the first time you're diving Hawaii.

On Oahu most Hotels are located in Waikiki. There is Turtle Bay Resort, with golf course, on the North Shore which would be a bit closer to our North Shore, Sharks Cove diving - shore diving. Or you could go to the West (dryer side of the Island) and stay at Ko'olina, which has a nice golf course too and isn't far away from West shore diving.

You might want to look into vacation rentals too. A friend of ours had a very nice rental in Waimanalo....very laid back little town.

 

[friscuba]

May is actually pretty good. By then most all the north swells have gone and we're not seeing much in the way of south swells yet. The water has not really warmed up much by then, but that's about the only real drawback. May will be among the slowest months, but don't expect empty as hell, definielty slower though. Big Island will probably have the fewest tourists spread out over the most area.

I'd pick Maui or the Big Island. I would stay at the north shore on Oahu in a heartbeat if it wasn't for 11 days... I can handle Oahu for about 4 days and then I want off. Maui's probably more bike friendly than the Big Island. Maui probably has more shore diving, but I think the Big Island's shore diving will be a bit nicer, primarily due to lack of sand it's gotta be pretty stirred up to have less than 60-100 feet of viz on the shore dives. Maui's got more to do in the way of touristy/typical honeymoon stuff if you do want to hit that several times, it definitely has more shopping that the Big Island. You should be able to get somewhat away from the resort stuff on either island by going the vacation rental condo route, check www.vrbo.com for rentals. If doing the Big Island, stick to the west side (Kona) for the majority of your time, with a day trip or overnighter to the other side to see the volcano and Hilo area. On Maui there are lots of nice options. We've stayed outside Kaanapali, in Kehei and over in Haiku, and they've all had their good points.

Have fun and congratulations.

 

[joewr]

Hi,

May is a perfect time to come to the Islands. The weather is great, the snowbirds have gone home, the kids are not out of school, the diving is wonderful and life is good.

Maui, as justleesa said, is really nice. You cannot miss by going there.

However, it will tend to be a little more crowded than the Big Island or Kauai since it is truly a Mecca for white sands beach folks, golfers, and motor touring folks. The Big Island, on the other hand, is less a tourist Mecca and life is a little slower there. But the diving is wonderful. Since this is your first trip, I would suggest you stick to boat dives to see what diving Hawaii is all about. It is not the Carib...very few soft corals off the islands.

On the Big Island we have dived with Jack's, Sandwich Isle Divers and Pacific Rim Divers. I can recommend all of them. Here are their websites:

http://www.jacksdivinglocker.com/

http://www.sandwichisledivers.com/

http://www.pacificrimdivers.com/

We prefer Sandwich Isle, but do not let that decide you. Have a look at the websites, call the 800 numbers, look around the board and this thread.

We usually rent a condo. We have used this company in the past, but for the past 5 years we have stayed in the same condo and just handle directly:

http://www.hawaiianbeachrentals.com/Hawaii/BigIsland/Kona/condos1.htm

I suggest you get a general guide book to the Islands and peruse it. You will be able to see if the sights meet your needs that way. If you want a book on the Big Island, we can recommend "Hawaii, The Big Island Revealed" by Doughty and Friedman. It is excellent.

I hope this helps,

joewr

 

[joewr]

Hi, again,

I can make one more recommendation...there is this guy, Steve, who seems to be on my trail. I have never dived with his company and the Board rules do not allow him to recommend himself. I will go out on a small limb here BECAUSE he seems so helpful on this Board. I.e., contact these folks:

http://www.wanna-dive-kona.com/

And do not hesitate to ask more questions!

joewr

 

[Wildcard]

I hear good things about him too.
From your post I would have to vote BI Kona side. I think BI has not only more shore diving but beter than Maui. kauai is very laid back and beautiful but the diving is not as great as it is else where. Maui is more resort than is Oahu which is just big stinky city except for the north shore.
You will not run out of things to do on Kona. DO NOT miss the manta dive as well as the blackwater dive after. You will not be able to stop talking about it. If you chose to do it, PM me and I will hook you up with the low dollar camera lighting set up. My last manta/blackwater dive I shot 220 pics! Would have been 500 if the camera would have kept up.

 

[Cacia]

biking...check out West Maui Bikes, they have high end carbon fibre (Cannondale and Giants) road bikes for rent, by the day or weekly. Some nearby routes that are safe and not too hilly, run along the ocean from Lahaina.

 

[Wildcard]

I like the carbon bikes. They dont scratch the car up so bad when you run them over.

 

[justleesa]

we can recommend "Hawaii, The Big Island Revealed" by Doughty and Friedman. It is excellent.

I'll second that. No matter which Island you choose the "Revealed' series is the best book you'll buy for touring our Islands.

When we went on our Honeymoon to Kauai we purchased the Kauai Revealed book on the 2nd day....We looked up the place that we had lunch at on the first day and the book said it was terrible...and it was Tells it like it is, very helpful.

On ebay you can get a copy for a few bucks

 

[Wildcard]

It said, and you went?
Third that vote for the revealed books.