Kona and Hilo Diving

[christineb]

I have a bunch of questions revolving around a trip I've planned to the BIG island this June. I'll be attending a "retreat" south of Hilo at the Kalani Oceanside Retreat Center for a week and want to schedule in some diving afterwards... So here I go...

1) Kona side or Hilo side? I know I want to do a Manta Ray night dive... can I do that on either side?

2) I want to spend my 2-3 days diving with the same company, but do different dives each day... Suggestions? I did some diving on Oahu and, because I dove for three days in a row, they actually rinsed out and stored my gear for me each night so I didn't have to lug it back and forth - anything similar our there on the big "I"?

3) How is the public transportation? The reason I ask is because it would cost about $250 less to fly into Kono than into Hilo. I looked into the costs of renting a car to get from one side to the other but it's about $100 to do that 1 way. I won't need a rental car once I'm in Hilo so I'd end up renting a car twice to go "one-way". I sure hope this makes sense. I've done a LOT of searching, but haven't found any info on a shuttle from Kona to Hilo or public transportation. I wouldn't mind taking the bus, but I want to bring my own gear. I think it would be a little silly to lug it onto a bus for 4 hours to get from one side of the island to the other...

So there's my story... If you can help with any information of suggestions I'll take it all!! P.S. Money is definitely an issue & I'd like to spend as much of it on diving as possible.

Thanks!! Christine

 

[Teamcasa]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Welcome to Scubaboard! I moving this question to the Hawaii forum for bettter responses...

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[Teamcasa]

Short answer:
Kona has the Manta dive. I used Big Island Divers for several dives and they were great.
Public transportation is not too good, a rent a car.
Have a great trip!

 

[friscuba]

Kona has the boat dives, and the bulk of the shore diving. Many or most of the dive operators will stow your gear between dives if you want.

Public transport is minimal. There's a bus that goes over to Hilo once a day, through many communities, then back in the late afternoon. Other than that, practically nada. I worked for a shuttle company a couple years back during the slow season... had one couple ask for a ride to Hilo, I think the bill was something in the $520 range so they rented a hotel in Kona instead. One way car rentals unfortunately do seem to run quite a bit more than same location.

I hope this helps.

 

[smellzlikefish]

Big Island Divers also does the pelagic night dives (aka blackwater). I did that over Thanksgiving and it was well worth the money. I think they will double it up with a manta dive as well if you wish. Kona has my favorite diving in Hawaii. Even if you don't find an operator that will give you variety, all of Kona's shore dives are easy entry/easy exit and easy access to amazing sites. My favorites include crescent beach, Honaunau, and Kealakekua. If you can find a boat that will take you to South Kona, that is well worth the trip.

I have also heard that Hilo has some wild, off-the-beaten-path diving, but Kona is so cool, I cant rip myself away when I get such limited time there.

 

[S0ckm0nk3y]

The Kona-Hilo bus schedule (and other routes) can be found on the Hele-On website.

The tourist dive boats really do reside on the Kona side. As everyone else mentioned, kona is the place for mantas. You can't go wrong with Big Island Divers or Jack's Diving Locker. I also recommend Kohala Divers an hour north of Kona in Kawaihae as they hit the spots less traveled by the masses.

In terms of cheaper shore diving there's a bunch all up and down the coast. The previously mentioned Honaunau (place of refuge), Kealakekua/Keei, black pebble beach, and the old airport are all easy entires. Up north near Kawaihae and Puako there's even more. PM me if you'd like more info.

-Eric

 

[fisheater]

When are you going to be diving in Kona in June?

I'll be there June 12 -21 and it would be nice to meet up with another NorCal diver.

 

[certified at 46]

Definitely Kona, Hilo is on the windward/rainy side of the island. We went with Bottom Time Divers, a very professional and fun group. We were lucky enough to have 2 hammerheads swim right up to us the first 5 minutes of our first dive.
We did the night manta dive and unfortunately they didn't make an appearance, but it was still worth it to see all the divers sitting in in a circle with our lights, just like a bonfire, and we did get a great night dive.

Have fun.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

....I have also heard that Hilo has some wild, off-the-beaten-path diving, but Kona is so cool, I cant rip myself away when I get such limited time there.

This is true. I live and dive in Hilo, and even though I'm totally biased, I'll always recommend Kona as a better dive spot to folks who are visiting. The weather here in Hilo is just too unpredictable to recommend it as a dive destination for someone who has limited time. It is entirely possible to spend three weeks in Hilo, and have zero good dive days due to poor weather. It is rare that Kona would have three bad days in any given month.

But... I have to add some of the best dives I've had anywhere have been in Hilo.... you just have to hit the right weather pattern, which this year with La Nina visiting us may not occur until July. Sigh.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[debragold]

We recently returned from a dive trip in Kona. We didn't dive Hilo, so I can't speak to that. We did most of our diving with Sandwich Isle Divers, and we highly recommend them. First, they have a 6 pack boat which means smaller groups. Second, the service was great, from my initial emails with Lara (she and her husband Steve own the shop) to the diving experience itself. Though we only dived with them 2 days, it could not have been better. They picked great sites and really took care of us, including offering to let us leave our equipment with them so we didn't have to drag it around (we didn't take advantage of this only because we were doing shore dives in the afternoon). We also rented our tanks and weights from them for our shore dives. We had two different guides during our days with them, Colton and Bob. We were a group of three, and there were usually other divers on the boat. One diver in particular, Don, has been visiting the island twice a year for something like 10 years and diving with Sandwich Isle most, if not all, of that time. He was like family to the shop. For our shore dives, Colton not only provided us details about our options, he also drew us a map of on the sites. Though my boyfriend and I brought our gear, our friends rented gear and it looked new and was in very good condition.

For scheduling reasons, we did the manta ray dive with Torpedo Tours, and they were a good group. The dive was amazing (we did it mid-April). We lucked out and had about 20 rays that night. It was the single most amazing dive I have done, even though we were only at something like 30 feet. Based on my research for our trip, I think most all dive shops will do the manta ray night dive if they have enough people. So, just because a specific night isn't listed on their website, you still might want to contact the dive shop - you never know.