Oahu Dive Shops/Operators recommendation

[Bedouin]

Aloha Everyone,

I have just moved to Honolulu area, and I am looking for the following recommendations:

1) Places to rent tanks (regular and nitrox)
2) Local stores to buy equipments (Oneil wet suit; dive computer)
3) Places to get more training (Dive Master; Instructor; Technical)
4) Boat dive operators to do trip with.
5) Spots for diving (shore or boat) in Oahua.
6) Place to get your stuffs services (Scuba Pro)

Mahalo

 

[justleesa]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

moved to main Ohana forum

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[ScubaAndDreams]

Since no one has responded here is my take on it, of course there are many different views/opinions so take everything with a grain of salt.


1) Places to rent tanks (regular and nitrox)--ISland Divers Hawaii http://www.islanddivershawaii.com

2) Local stores to buy equipments (Oneil wet suit; dive computer): Same

3) Places to get more training (Dive Master; Instructor; Technical): I can help with DM and Technical Training, I tend to take more time w/training whether or not that fits your style is only for you to decide....otherwise I suggest IDH again for all 3.

4) Boat dive operators to do trip with. IDH, nice boat and they put on dives others do not.

5) Spots for diving (shore or boat) in Oahua. Shore: Electric Beach, North Shore (in the summer), Kewalo Pipe (southshore). All can be found at ShoreDiving.com - Your Shore Diving and Snorkeling Web Community!. Boat..too many to list.

6) Place to get your stuffs services (Scuba Pro): IDH is a SP dealer. So is Ocean Concepts I believe.

Mahalo,

Sherman

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

So Sherman, why type of rebreather did you buy?


Sean

 

[rgbmatt]

1 - Island Divers is on Hickam AFB, so they can be difficult to deal with unless you're in the military. I tried using them a few times and found it was too much hassle to be worthwhile. If you're in Makiki (so am I) I'd recommend either See in Sea or Breeze Hawaii for gear/tank rentals. Both are close by and easy to deal with. Breeze is air only; See in Sea is great for nitrox but a little more out of the way.

2 - My wife got an Oneill suit from Breeze, and she's pretty happy with it. Unless you're dead set on Oneill, you should check out the Xcel outlet shop in Haleiwa for some dirt cheap wetsuits. I'd shop around a bit for the dive computer, maybe even buy one online.

3,4 - No opinion, since I'm not a big fan of "training" and have my own boat.

5 - The shore diving website is the best place to start. Oahu's best shore dives are on the East end, from Portlock to Halona Blowhole. Try to find an experience diver to go with, though - some of the entries/exits are tricky.

6 - Mikey's Scuba Repair is the best on the island IMO. He's in the phone book. Chances are, if you take it to a shop they'll just send it to him anyways.

 

[ScubaAndDreams]

So Sherman, why type of rebreather did you buy?


Sean

What's a rebreather ?

 

[IslandDiversHI]

Small correction about Island Divers:

Island Divers Hawaii has two locations. One on Hickam Air Force Base and one in Hawaii Kai at 377 Keahole Street (Hawaii Kai Shopping Center across from Safeway). And yes, one of the main motivations for getting a second shop was so that it would be easier to work with our non military customers. That location also has a slip on the marina about 15ft from the back door, pretty sweet for our boat charter customers diving off the 50ft Sea Fox that we brought in in August (excuse the obvious plug, but we are proud!).

We don't carry O'Neil wetsuits, so we can't help you with that one.

We do Scubapro, Cressi, Sherwood, and Genesis repairs/service in house. Mark Savel is the technician.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[NudiHuntrs]

You should check out Ocean Concepts as well.
Some folks don't like them but others do (free country)...

Anyway, good luck and shop around you'll be surprised what you can find.

 

[Bedouin]

Mahalo to all with for the great infos.

I did check out Island Divers in Hawaii Kai a while back for some advance mix air training; it was the first shop I looked at, so I didn't know if they are any good or if there are any better one out there.

I did check Xcel wet suit, but they told me I need to get custom fit for my XLS size. From what I have seen of most of the shops around here (including Ocean Concept) is that they don't have a lot of different brands/sizes in stocks; so I just want to play it safe and get the brand and sizes of something I know will fit. I might just have to buy it from the internet. Kind of strange that Breeze doesn't even show up on Oneill website as a dealer.
I will check Breeze and See in Sea this week.

Also thanks to Sherman, now I have to do more research on TDI vs NAUI certification for tech diving

Thanks again to everyone for the response.

 

[K9Pig]

I dove with Island Divers Hawaii in April 2007, where I did my OW referral dives. The staff is excellent to work with, and Matt the owner is a FIRST CLASS individual. Obviously I didn't dive with any other shops in Oahu, because for two months I kept getting the run-around from other LDS mentioned while trying to set up my referral dives. I made one call to IDH and between Louie and Matt, everything just feel into place. I even got a call from Louie out of the blue to see how my training was coming alone and if there was anything else they could do to help me. You absolutely CAN'T go wrong with IDH. Just my $.02

K9Pigolice:
Theodore Fitzsimmons