Help, where to dive on Big Island?

[ItsBruce]

As to my experience as noted above, we saw lots of mantas last year. Plus some up at Waikaloa at a site called "6th Hole." Maybe some of my disappointment this year stemmed from the fact that the week before we were on Kauai and swam with a whale shark for about 10 minutes during our SI.

Matthew: What company are you with?

 

[friscuba]

Ive heard nothing extremely detailed, just general stories of dive companies that sign you up for an outing under an understanding of the dive (such as locations, number of people on the boat etc.. down to basic dive rules such as do you all ascend when one diver is out of air, or can you go with your buddy more on your own?) And the people reported that the dive was different than signed up for, such as they were on a boat that the dive co. chartered a few seats on, and the actual intinerary the captain planned was something totally different than what they divers had been expecting. I like being spontaneous but I also just want to get a feel for what to expect seeing as I've never visited HI before. I will understand though that you need to be flexible.

Thanks for the tips though!

Getting transferred around shouldn't be a big issue in Kona. There are no boats that wholesale seats on a regular basis like in some areas, pretty mcuh every dive compnany owns thier own boat or boats. If you are moved it's usually because of some type of mechanical breakdown issue and the dive operator is trying to make sure you get a dive in.

Few, if any, dive companies in the Kailua area have a "group ascends when the first runs low policy". I've yet to see it here. Everyone I've worked with or gone out with drops off divers at the boat as they run low and continues on with the divers who have more air. Some companies are more liberal on their bottom time policies than others though, so if you are real good on air you will want to compare operators.

The standard here is for all dives to be guided, so finding a company that sets up buddy pairs to go off on thier own is rare. The few divers I've met who've been hospitalized (twice over the years I've met divers who did their own thing and ended up getting spit out through a skylight onto the rocks with concussions or dislocations) were going out with a company that allowed that several years back. A good DM can lead a group dive, keeping everyone one in sight range and showing them specific critters or structure found at the site without making the dive seem overly controlled.

I'm curious if what you've heard was Kona specific or possibly on another island. I don't think it's common here at least.

aloha,

 

[Aric M L]

Well I really know very little about Hawaii so if Kona is the name of the big island, then it was Kona specific. I'm glad to hear things aren't that way, so in your experience what would say are the top few dive shops in terms of; small group size, value, and knowledge of DM's? I'd appreciate any info at all or even just tips so I can know where to go my first day and check out for myself

 

[Wildcard]

Getting transferred around shouldn't be a big issue in Kona. There are no boats that wholesale seats on a regular basis like in some areas, pretty mcuh every dive compnany owns thier own boat or boats. If you are moved it's usually because of some type of mechanical breakdown issue and the dive operator is trying to make sure you get a dive in.

Few, if any, dive companies in the Kailua area have a "group ascends when the first runs low policy". I've yet to see it here. Everyone I've worked with or gone out with drops off divers at the boat as they run low and continues on with the divers who have more air. Some companies are more liberal on their bottom time policies than others though, so if you are real good on air you will want to compare operators.

The standard here is for all dives to be guided, so finding a company that sets up buddy pairs to go off on thier own is rare. The few divers I've met who've been hospitalized (twice over the years I've met divers who did their own thing and ended up getting spit out through a skylight onto the rocks with concussions or dislocations) were going out with a company that allowed that several years back. A good DM can lead a group dive, keeping everyone one in sight range and showing them specific critters or structure found at the site without making the dive seem overly controlled.

I'm curious if what you've heard was Kona specific or possibly on another island. I don't think it's common here at least.

aloha,

This sounds like Oahu diving not Big Isle diving to me too. I hate when people spout off about things of which they know nothing of. I have only had one bad deal on the big Isle but the operator seems to be OK just one snooty little puke at the counter. Im sure my rants about avoiding them have cost more than the $25 they refused to refund for leaky rental gear for a friend. Big Isle operators are all very good, they have to be.