Oahu in June..who, where to dive ?

[Sea Monkey]

Hi all..I'm taking my newly certified son to Oahu in June and need some pointers as to who, where to dive. I will only have 2 days to dive so I want to make the most of it. I figure to do at least one boat dive and some shore diving and hopefully a night dive. I've been to Shorediving.com and I'm not sure what to pick or which dive company to go with. Any places that are a must dive? Thanks for any pointers and if it matters we'll be there on the 19th.

 

[Warhammer]

I was there in May, but I didn't dive with any of the ops. I was told that Deep Ecology and Ocean Concepts were the best ops on the island. But I didn't get a chance to dive with them. Popular wrecks there are the Mahi and the YO 257. The best shore diving is on the north shore. We dove a site called Shark Cove on the north shore and another site called The Wall. Both were good dives. Shark Cove was my favorite with huge lava tubes, formations and etc, but it isn't for the faint hearted. It's a rather difficult entry and exit, you have to practically go rock climbing in full scuba before you can dive and on your exit. If you decide to go there, I'd definately find a good guide who knows the area.

 

[Sea Monkey]

Thanks to you Warhammer. Those web sites are a great help. I'm starting to get really excited now!

 

[Warhammer]

If you get a chance to dive without your son, definately see if you can get one of the ops to take you through the elevator at Shark's Cove. I say without your son, because it's considered an advanced dive, surge can be strong and it's an overhead environment for a ways. It's basically a large hole around 8 to 10 ft in diameter in the lava formation of the beach. You'd actually enter the dive through this hole, then follow one of the 3 tunnels(tubes) out to the sea. One of the tunnels has an underground room that you can surface in with room for 3 or 4 divers. We had planned to do it when we dove there in May. One of the guys with me entered it and reported unfavorable conditions though, so the rest of my group entered Shark's Cove elsewhere. Probably your best bet for this dive would be through Deep Ecology, as I'm pretty sure they do it when conditions allow. If you go to Oahu expecting 100+ vis and lush reefs, you'll be disappointed. But if you like wrecks and lava tubes in moderate visibilty you'll be pleased. The place is crawling with both.

 

[Sea Monkey]

Sounds Awsome.....but my son and I are really tight. We do it all together. From camping to sandrailing to diving. I could not leave him behind. It will have to wait till he gets more time under his weight belt, then maybe we will go back. =:{) I'll keep the tip handy though! I'm sure your suggestion will help many more people that read this thread. So thanks for your insight.