Island Rates

[diver4life]

Hello,
We are heading to one of the islands (oahu or maui) at the end of October and we were wondering if there is a big difference in hotel rates between them. Which has the best beach dives for that time of year. And are there beach front places to stay other than the big expensive hotels.
Thanks,
Doug

 

[pmetz]

Oahu from what I see is cheaper......alot more competition due to hotels being everywhere on the south shore. As for beach diving.....Oahu has some options, however october is the time of year when the north shore starts firing up (as it did a little last week) until around may when it flattens back out. The south shore has some shore diving options, but on oahu, north shore diving is alot better.
As for Maui, shaka doug from what I heard is the one to talk to.
On oahu, ff you want oceanfront, you have lots of options and you can always find deals. But if you want to be able to throw on tanks and walk out your back door to dive the options are few and far in between. You can check out craigslist, sublet or realitor websites and you can rent a place at a reasonable price on the beach.
There are a ton of operators here on the board, so I am sure they all have good package deals for boat diving....
Hope it helps!

 

[friscuba]

Come to Kona, stay in a condo and get a bigger nicer place than most hotels with all the amenities. You'd have to drive a bit, but there's lots of exceptional shorediving at the Place of Refuge, Puako and several other spots, the boat diving's tough to beat too. October usually offers very good water conditions in Kona.

Have a blast wherever you end up.

 

[Shaka Doug]

Aloha Doug,

Good questions. Easy answers. Are you specifically looking for inexpensive hotels or accomodations? Would you consider a condo? I don't know how the hotels compare island to island but we do have a wide range of rates here in Hawaii in general. You could be talking $150 a night up to $500-$600 a night in hotels that are not all that far from each other.

No offense to Oahu but I think Maui is traditionally known for better beach diving overall, no matter what time of year it is.

I know of many beach front accomodations pn Maui that are significantly less expensive than the big resorts. There's a link to one on my website that you might want to look at. Nothing fancy but it is right on the water. You'd need to contact them in advance to check availability. It's about halfway down on the second page of my website: www.shakadivers.com . It's called the Leilani Kai Condos.

Good luck and have fun!! Let us know what you find out and how it goes.

 

[DiveWestOahu]

don't know if true on the other islands, but now on O'ahu many hotels are offering 50% off rates to offset the high cost of travel.... might be worth your while to call before coming and seeing what kind of deals are offered

 

[twhi]

The choices for dive sites on Oahu in October become limited.

With a little research, you can find competitively priced accommodations in Kona and maximize your options for diving from shore and/or boat.

(PS: i live on Oahu and am not in the diving business)

 

[jjgibo]

haha i am sure i will take some crap for this, but Oahu has some of the best shore diving year round! Granted you generally can't do shark's cove or three tables in the winter, but the trench is generally open during the winter. In addition winter usually means it is time to hit the south shore with portlock, lanai lookout, and blow hole(although don't do lanai lookout unless you have someone to guide you to the exit), the west side can also be available during the winter with makaha caverns being one of the finest dive sites in the state. And yes the trench has great diving, you just have to be willing to look. If you take your eyes off the wall you may see manta rays, eagle rays, and some of the biggest turtles, like ever. With all of that said, I don't think you can go wrong diving anywhere in Hawaii. There is always a lot to see in the waters of Hawaii.

 

[twhi]

"Oahu has some of the best shore diving year round."
As an active resident Oahu diver for 20+ years, I agree.

"Portlock, Lanai Lookout, and Blow Hole... some of the finest dive sites in the state."
Once again, I agree,

however...

according to news reports that I've encountered, these sites (portlock, lanai lookout, and blow hole) especially in winter,
are the ones with the most incidents of accidents and deaths, even among local fisherman, local divers, and military trained divers.

Diving on the North Shore and west shores in winter is a roll of the dice.
Yes, it may be calm and tranquil when you enter the water, but between the months of October and April, I've seen the surf come up dramatically to 4-5 feet in the course of a few hours.

Visitor or resident, as always, its your call.