How's the diving in Waikiki?

[Jake]

Friends of mine are planning their summer vacation and are looking at the Islands as a destination. They'd like to do as much diving as possible, but I don't know anything about how Waikiki compares to elsewhere. Is it worth building an entire dive trip around Waikiki, or is it better to just plan for elsewhere?

 

[Teamcasa]

If diving is the primary goal I’d suggest you go to Kona. However, if visiting museums, shopping and wide sandy beaches are the focus, Waikiki will do fine.

 

[Damselfish]

I suppose it depends what you like in a vacation destination, but I wouldn't plan a vacation to Waikiki, let alone build a dive trip around it. Waikiki may be famous, but I would say thats more of a past glory thing - much better places in Hawaii to go now. It's a bunch of hotels and tourist traps jammed along the edge of a big city along a famous beach, which is just a beach. Much prefer Big Island or Maui for a vacation. I haven't dove when I've stayed in Waikiki but from what I know Big Island or Maui (where I have dove) are better places to dive.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Lots of where you go depends on how much diving you want to do vs. what you plan to do on surface intervals. I haven't dove Oahu but many here have and love it.

 

[Jake]

Lots of where you go depends on how much diving you want to do vs. what you plan to do on surface intervals. I haven't dove Oahu but many here have and love it.

The primary reason they would choose a destination is for diving. Surface stuff is secondary. They have a timeshare and can choose from different destinations. They've had great luck on other islands and because Waikiki is a place they can stay, they wanted me to ask.

They have other options as well, like Florida. So...if diving is only average in Waikiki, they'd probably rather go elsewhere. Especially if the surface is not very fun.

 

[Gombessa]

How long are they going to be there? Waikiki and Oahu in general has great diving, lots of wrecks, and more dive ops than you can shake a stick at. It makes sense to shop around, since a lot of ops mainly go to 3-4 set places, and they each have their own set. Another plus is that even when you want to dive on the other side of the island, most operators will pick you up from your hotel in Waikiki.

Downsides are that there are quite a few cattle boats, and a lot of dives tend to be "follow the DM" guided dives, so if those aren't your thing, you should definitely do some research on the operator first.

Another plus is that it's pretty easy to island hop. You could stay in Waikiki for 3-4 days and take a quick flight or ferry to Maui.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Oh there's good diving there. You'd like any of the islands.

 

[friscuba]

The primary reason they would choose a destination is for diving. Surface stuff is secondary. They have a timeshare and can choose from different destinations. They've had great luck on other islands and because Waikiki is a place they can stay, they wanted me to ask.

They have other options as well, like Florida. So...if diving is only average in Waikiki, they'd probably rather go elsewhere. Especially if the surface is not very fun.

When you say they've had luck on other islands, do you mean luck on other Hawaiian islands and now it's time to try Oahu and Waikiki, or are you talking "islands" in general? Diving in Waikiki is not like diving elsewhere in the state, even on Oahu itself... there's a lot more going for Oahu than just Waikiki (Oahu does have some good wrecks and I've heard Makaha caverns is a pretty good dive) and there's better overall diving on Maui and the Big Island than Oahu from what I've heard.... I just think it's a bit odd that the diving options would be Waikiki or off to Florida unless they've already done the other diving available in Hawaii.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Take a look here for Oahu (Town Side/Close to Waikiki) dive site descriptions; Island Divers Hawaii is the dive ops I use on stopover days coming back from Micronesia and South East Asia Dive Trips (Waikiki reacclimates me back to "urban cattle boat diving", but still is nice nonetheless. . .)

 

[Jake]

When you say they've had luck on other islands, do you mean luck on other Hawaiian islands and now it's time to try Oahu and Waikiki, or are you talking "islands" in general? Diving in Waikiki is not like diving elsewhere in the state, even on Oahu itself... there's a lot more going for Oahu than just Waikiki (Oahu does have some good wrecks and I've heard Makaha caverns is a pretty good dive) and there's better overall diving on Maui and the Big Island than Oahu from what I've heard.... I just think it's a bit odd that the diving options would be Waikiki or off to Florida unless they've already done the other diving available in Hawaii.

They're planning a summer vacation and are a little late. So, their timeshare options are more limited than they would have been earlier. Thus, the only option they really have available in Hawaii is Waikiki.

By "the other islands", I meant specifically Hawaii. They've really enjoyed their time diving on other islands in the state, so Waikiki sounded ok. They weren't too excited to stay there because of the topside considerations, but since their primary motivation is diving, if below water conditions were great, they have no problem going there.

I've personally heard that the reefs outside of Waikiki have seen better days, but I don't know if this is accurate.