Kona in March - Water temps? Whales etc

[SandyUT]

Hi all,

We are in process of setting up a week in Kona in early March. I am finding the reported water temps to be quite variable. 72-76. Any feedback or a quality refernce would be very helpfull. We are thinking of using 4/5 wetsuits. My wife will add a hooded vest with hers. That should be good, yes? 7ml seems too much.

I think the whales will still be around this time of year. Should we book a whale watching boat or will we see them while out on the dive boat?

Lastly - any must see items on the surface that are not a long drive from Kailua Kona? We are diving 4 days and lounging/sightseeing for 2.

We are diving with Pacific Rim, have a condo rented in Kailua Kona and have the 4x4 researved.

Many thanks.

 

[SandyUT]

Mostly looking for exposure suit thickness. Anyone been to Kona in March?

 

[Gombessa]

I've been to Kona in winter/early spring. Low to mid 70s is pretty accurate. I'm very sensitive to cold and the 3mm suits most operators provide are barely adequate, but chilly if you're doing more than one dive a day. I'll often add a 3mm suit + shorty, so I think a 5mm would be fine. Yeah I'm a big wuss.

 

[fisheater]

That's an impossible question to answer with any reliability.

Even if you knew precisely what the temperature would be, people are extremely variable in their cold tolerance. Personally, I'm good with a 3 mm piece-of-crap shortie down to 72-73F. On the same dives, other divers will be too cold in their full 5 mm.

 

[SandyUT]

valid point - I can extrapolate if I had a bead on the temps.

I am about average, I can take 78-76 degrees in my 3mm shorty. My wife was freezing in the same water in her 3/2 full. We are leaning towards a 5/4 full and having my wife add a hooded vest.

 

[Token]

I was in Kona in March a couple of years ago. Water was mid-70s...'freezing' by local standards , but I was quite comfortable in my Bare 3/2 fullsuit. I'm pretty cold-tolerant however, so a 5/4 and a hood or vest might be a good idea for your wife...she can always take off the vest or hood, right? That's the strategy I use for diving cold water [by my standards ].


Whale watching.... Whales are terribly uncooperative with tour boats. I'd rather take my chances seeing something on a dive or snorkel tour than a dedicated whalewatching tour. Anything can happen, however.

 

[tracydr]

Hi all,

We are in process of setting up a week in Kona in early March. I am finding the reported water temps to be quite variable. 72-76. Any feedback or a quality refernce would be very helpfull. We are thinking of using 4/5 wetsuits. My wife will add a hooded vest with hers. That should be good, yes? 7ml seems too much.

I think the whales will still be around this time of year. Should we book a whale watching boat or will we see them while out on the dive boat?

Lastly - any must see items on the surface that are not a long drive from Kailua Kona? We are diving 4 days and lounging/sightseeing for 2.

We are diving with Pacific Rim, have a condo rented in Kailua Kona and have the 4x4 researved.

Many thanks.

When I was there in mid-March, I saw a lot of whales off the dive boat. Even saw a baby nursing a momma. In fact, they raised our boat up when they came to the surface!
heard whale singing, too.
if I go back to the Big Island, I would try to go around the same time of year. It was fantastic!

 

[Nwcid]

We just went in May. Water was 75-77*. While we are new divers that is the warmest water we had/have been in. I had 2 choices of what to take (what I own), my full 7mm or my drysuit. I figured I would take my 7mm and would be hot but could always flush water though it. I am not cold sensitive, people usually think I have places too cold.

Diving here (even dry but not to the same extent) you go in the water warm to hot and come out cool to cold depending on the exposure protection you have. What I noticed diving my 7mm was that I went in the water warm (comfortable) and came out at the same temperature. Keep in mind that even at 77* that is 20* colder then body temperature. I did feel slightly cooler on our night Manta dive. It was dive #2 and you just sit on the bottom.

If I did a lot of diving there or other similar places I could see using a 4/5 and might consider buying one. I am sure I would have been just fine in a 4/5 but since I have a 7mm when I go back to HI I will use it again because it worked.

 

[DiveMaven]

If you plan for 72-74 degrees, you should be good for exposure protection. Personally, I wear a 5mm Merino lined full suit with a Lavacore long sleeved shirt under it. I hate being cold and although I wish I could say I'm "warm" with this combination, I can at least say I'm not cold.

If you haven't purchased a hooded vest for your wife, consider buying a Lavacore hooded long sleeved shirt. I find them far warmer than a vest, and they are neutrally bouyant (or nearly). And I haven't met anyone who has tried them who isn't sold on their warmth.

Also make sure you take something WARM to wear during your SIs. Too many people think Hawaii is warm, when in fact you are more likely to have clouds and wind, making for a very cold SI if you don't have a good boat coat or at least a sweatshirt.

 

[SandyUT]

HI DiveMaven, We never heard of the Lavacore shirts before. I like the idea for sure. I may even go that route over the 4/5 suit - for me. I really don't get cold all that easy. I wore my 3ml shorty down to 76 - it was cool, but i wasn't shivering or wanting to get out of the water. Might be a good addition without the added buoyancy (for me anyways) under my 3/2 full. My wife gets cold all the time - we will cover her with what ever it takes - like a 4/5 plus the Lavacore.

thanks for the tip and the temp range!