Kona for Xmas - Sharks?

[Spain_underwater]

Hello,

I am new to the forum, and this is my first post... my wife and I will be in Kona for Xmas, and I was wondering if you could give advise on an operation - I read that Wanna Dive or Kona Aquatica are good ones, but I appreciate your insight. Also, any chance to seeing sharks?

Thanks!!!

 

[friscuba]

RE: Sharks. We primarily see white tip reef sharks that we can occasionally find sleeping in caves or undercuts. There are the occasional hammerhead or tiger sharks seen (I saw my first tiger in years a couple weeks ago, my DM saw one in the distance today) but it's not a common event. The Big Island is a relatively young island, and we aren't loaded with apex predators as of yet it seems. Christmas time seems to be a great time for seeing whale sharks here, although last year wasn't full of sightings. I don't know if it's that they pass through at that time of year or if there are so many boats on the water right then that they get spotted... you practically have to drive right over them to see them most of the time.

There's a bunch of good operators here, I run Wanna Dive, we're all in this together and I think people find that most Kona operators are "friendly competors". It's hard to go wrong here, you should inquire about boat sizes, number of passengers, group sizes, dive profiles and length of dives, lunches/snacks and such if that is important to you.

Have fun in Kona, and welcome to the message board.

Aloha,

 

[Kevrumbo]

What happened to the resident Tigers just outside Honokohau Harbor?

 

[Jack'sDivingLocker]

The tigers are still there. We've seen them within the last few weeks!

 

[gkndivebum]

What happened to the resident Tigers just outside Honokohau Harbor?

Hey Kevin -

Long time no see.

Saw a Tiger on Monday morning outside of Honokohau. 4 of us on CCRs; swam over and checked us out,
and then took off out into the blue. They're definitely still around.

 

[divetickets]

On the Big Island we have gone out with Pacific Rim Divers and Dive Makai. PRD is a 6-pack, great crew. I was on the boat with a newly certified diver (her first tank after her cert), and she was really scared -- They made her feel comfortable without talking down to her, and she ended up having a great time. On another day, Patrice found this tiny little rare fish, so then Dave found it on the next dive for those who had missed it. Dive Makai took 12 divers, nice people, the Manta Ray night dive was lots of fun with them. BTW, that's a dive you won't want to miss, the Mantas are amazing. Pick up 'The Big Island Revealed' guide book, there's tons of good info in there for your whole trip.

On various trips we've seen a few Whitetip Reefs, 2 Tigers, and 1 Oceanic Whitetip.