Oahu Dive Shop Help

[justleesa]

Good choice Waternow,

Guessing you'll need about 45 minutes (+/-) to get there.

 

[Wildcard]

Thats about right. I live just a couple of miles from Ko olina and I can make Sharks in about 35 minutes early or during the week. Add time on weekends or during big surf, but you don't want to go there during big surf anyways.

 

[Underwater15]

Wish I had looked at this site before diving in Oahu!
After making a bunch of calls, settled with pacific paradise divers for boat dives because they (1) agreed to pick me up at a nonwikiki hotel and (2) sounded nice.(2tank).

Why it turned out to be a mistake for me:

1) Group of 3 (me (male) and 2 females) with 2 dive instructors. Each dive instructor took one female. Oh, I wasn't sure who to dive with and they didn't seem to care. Oh yeah, and I mentioned I hadn't dived in a year.
2) No explanation of the new dive site after the first site aborted. Any they made eyerolling gestures at another group leader who was bothering to explain the dive to his customers.
3) Rough seas/severe current at 1st dive site. Another boat/group abandoned it all together, but there was a long debate about whether we should do it. I always thought safety was first, but apparently only after long discussion.
4) 3 minute safetystop down to ?45sec because the sea was that rough and the cattle call of people trying to make it back up to the boat made it impossible to stay hanging on to the line anchoring the boat.
5) Turned down the 2nd dive after this initial experience. Afterward, Chris told me he'd get me hooked up with a discount for a dive later in the week and would give me a call later that day "after discussing it with my boss" (had no intention of diving with him again, but simply wanted to see if he'd follow through) - still waiting for that call 1 wk later - guess I should stop holding my breath.

Simply wanted to post for those who are considering diving in Oahu. May your experience be better than mine.

 

[wetrat]

I had also been looking at
Aaron's Dive Shop
Island Divers Hawaii

I've used Aaron's and was treated quite well. They have a free shuttle from the shop in Kailua where I was staying to the Wainae Harbor. The divemaster was very knowledgeable, experienced and friendly. He told us about the local sites and asked us all what our preference was. We dove on the wreck of the Mahi and another great spot - Makenna(sp?) I think. The boat was a six pax - not fancy, but well run.

Aaron's has been in business a long, long time and is still actually run by Aaron, who enjoys chatting with customers and has a lot of pictures of himself with all the movie stars that have dove with him over the years. It seems to still have a personalized type atmosphere as opposed to some of the cattle barge operators.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to PM me!

wetrat

 

[Kevrumbo]

Thanks for all your feedback...I think we'll stick to the West side during the week and go to Kewalo Basin on the weekend. By the way, how far is the drive from Ko Olina to Haleiwa (Shark Cove & Three Tables/Ledges)?

Drove out there last month August, early AM from Honolulu Airport Hotel and easily made it in an hours time. Did a training dive with Island Divers Tech. Diving Crew, doing the Sharks Cove to Three Tables Circuit, exploring just about every cavern, swim-through, crevice, nook & cranny along the way (my Wreck Instructor Joakim "Jo" Hjelm was practicing for an upcoming Cave Class in Mexico). One of the best shallow dives I've ever done, 40' max depth with a bottom time of 137 minutes (double AL 80's): Wonderful and exquisite Fish/Invertebrate Life all over the place! First time visiting the North Shore in a non-Winter Month; surprised to see firsthand how mellow the beach conditions can be! (http://www.hawaiitechnicaldivers.com)

 

[ch0ppersrule]

Wish I had looked at this site before diving in Oahu!
After making a bunch of calls, settled with pacific paradise divers for boat dives because they (1) agreed to pick me up at a nonwikiki hotel and (2) sounded nice.(2tank).

Why it turned out to be a mistake for me:

1) Group of 3 (me (male) and 2 females) with 2 dive instructors. Each dive instructor took one female. Oh, I wasn't sure who to dive with and they didn't seem to care. Oh yeah, and I mentioned I hadn't dived in a year.
2) No explanation of the new dive site after the first site aborted. Any they made eyerolling gestures at another group leader who was bothering to explain the dive to his customers.
3) Rough seas/severe current at 1st dive site. Another boat/group abandoned it all together, but there was a long debate about whether we should do it. I always thought safety was first, but apparently only after long discussion.
4) 3 minute safetystop down to ?45sec because the sea was that rough and the cattle call of people trying to make it back up to the boat made it impossible to stay hanging on to the line anchoring the boat.
5) Turned down the 2nd dive after this initial experience. Afterward, Chris told me he'd get me hooked up with a discount for a dive later in the week and would give me a call later that day "after discussing it with my boss" (had no intention of diving with him again, but simply wanted to see if he'd follow through) - still waiting for that call 1 wk later - guess I should stop holding my breath.

Simply wanted to post for those who are considering diving in Oahu. May your experience be better than mine.

We have dove with the crew before and have never had any problems with them. I am assuming you live on O'ahu since you are still waiting for the call, so you should call them back to arrange another dive. DM's and Instructors cannot control the roughness of the seas and it is the responsiblity of the diver to do their safety stop. On our trip to Cozumel the DM kept telling us to surface and I refused and did my 3 minutes. They cannot make you surface or leave you if you don't.
I am not affiliated with Pacific Paradise Divers but I do know they are very professional. Hope your next dives be more enjoyable with whomever you dive with.

Melissa