CooperGR2
Registered
Wow what an amazing trip!! We arrived on 9/14 through Honolulu International Airport. From there we went to our first hotel which was the Hilton Waikiki Beach. The hotel was very nice. It has a bar and restaurant on the main floor and a gift shop as well. There were a lot of people staying at the hotel but you would have hardly noticed. It was very nice. Also the hotel is in a great location in downtown Waikiki. Everything is within walking distance and there is an endless amount of things to do. Halfway through the trip on the 20th we switched hotels and stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. There aren't enough words to describe this place. They don't call it the Hawaiian Village for nothing. There are tons of restaurants and shops right in the hotel compound. It is right on the beach and they have numerous pools and a big lagoon that you can kayak and paddle board on. There are several towers that are the hotels that seem to fit an endless amount of people. The resort is a little farther away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Waikiki but you could still walk to everything if you wanted to. The city of Waikiki is also very nice. There is so much to do and everything is within walking distance. There are a lot of nice restaurants and whatnot and there is something for everyone. I didn't really go out to any clubs or late night bars but even the restaurant bars stay open late and have a good atmosphere for people of any age. But enough of that nonsense lets get on to what you all want to hear about...
THE DIVING!!!
I did some research and called a number of shops. There are a good amount of dive ops in the Waikiki area. The ones that I called were very honest and said that if I was to do one of their packages that I would probably get out to the sames sights a few times and wouldn't really get the diversity I was looking for. In the end I took what I read from a few reviews and called Kaimana Divers. Gabe and I corresponded back and forth via email a bit and he gave me lots of information of his operation. When I called him and spoke with him and person I knew right away that this was the shop that I was going to go with. He really worked with me and the schedule of things I had to do with my family and despite having a higher price than some of the other ops for the amount of dives I was looking to do I could tell that he was going to work with my schedule and also get me the biggest variety of diving I could get. And let me just say that I got the biggest variety of diving I could've ever imagined. I got to several of the wrecks, east side, west side, north shore with practically perfect conditions, the dark side night dive and to the corsair with unlimited viz and no current what-so-ever!!! (they say a free descent to the corsair is very rare and my luck on this trip was unbelievable) They don't have your average shop as in they aren't always open and don't really sell any gear. They are all about the diving which is right up my alley. The staff is like their operation... The best!! Gabe and Drew were really cool and run a very smooth operation. Drew had some ear issues and only dove with me once but he is very good at what he does. Every time Gabe was on the boat with me he was with another group either doing intro dives or just leading the other group. He is a really fun person and has a great personality which makes the surface intervals awesome. I don't think I can even use enough words to describe the two dive masters I had the most Christine and Liv. They are just plain awesome. They are both extremely good and attentive divers. They made safety and fun their top priorities. Almost anything I asked they had answers to and trust me I had a ton of them. I had the pleasure of being there while it was both of their birthdays and although I was unable to make it to the party they had at the shop it sounded like an amazing time and my kind of party. On two other times I had another DM who works from them named Blade. He was awesome too. Another really good diver and I got to dive with him and the dive club and got to do a dive that hardly anyone on the island has done. (including everyone else at the shop I believe) Another day I had another DM named Anna who fills in sometimes and she was yet again really cool and a great diver. I just feel like I cannot say enough about this group and loved every second of my trip.
All in all I did 21 dives while I was there. Here's the list of sites I got to see.
Sea Tiger wreck
Nautilus Reef
KoKo Craters
Anglers Reef
Shark Cove Left Side
Shark Cove Right Side
Mahi Wreck
Makaha Caverns
Mahi Wreck
Drift Dive to Makaha Cavers
Corsair Wreck
Turtles
Sea Tiger Wreck
Nautilus Reef
Turtle Canyon
Nautilus Reef
YO-257 & San Pedro wrecks
Drift dive from San Pedro to "Wine Racks"
Dark Side Night dive
Sea Tiger Wreck
San Pedro Wreck
Every single sight had tons of life. Everything from Hawaiian Green Sea turtles, tons of eels, nudibranchs, octopus, frog fish, scorpion fish, and even two hawaiian lion fish.
All in all it was an amazing trip and the diving was awesome. I will be sure to return and use Kaimana Divers again for sure and if I have the chance to do my dive master out there it will be with Gabe and everyone else for sure.
THE DIVING!!!
I did some research and called a number of shops. There are a good amount of dive ops in the Waikiki area. The ones that I called were very honest and said that if I was to do one of their packages that I would probably get out to the sames sights a few times and wouldn't really get the diversity I was looking for. In the end I took what I read from a few reviews and called Kaimana Divers. Gabe and I corresponded back and forth via email a bit and he gave me lots of information of his operation. When I called him and spoke with him and person I knew right away that this was the shop that I was going to go with. He really worked with me and the schedule of things I had to do with my family and despite having a higher price than some of the other ops for the amount of dives I was looking to do I could tell that he was going to work with my schedule and also get me the biggest variety of diving I could get. And let me just say that I got the biggest variety of diving I could've ever imagined. I got to several of the wrecks, east side, west side, north shore with practically perfect conditions, the dark side night dive and to the corsair with unlimited viz and no current what-so-ever!!! (they say a free descent to the corsair is very rare and my luck on this trip was unbelievable) They don't have your average shop as in they aren't always open and don't really sell any gear. They are all about the diving which is right up my alley. The staff is like their operation... The best!! Gabe and Drew were really cool and run a very smooth operation. Drew had some ear issues and only dove with me once but he is very good at what he does. Every time Gabe was on the boat with me he was with another group either doing intro dives or just leading the other group. He is a really fun person and has a great personality which makes the surface intervals awesome. I don't think I can even use enough words to describe the two dive masters I had the most Christine and Liv. They are just plain awesome. They are both extremely good and attentive divers. They made safety and fun their top priorities. Almost anything I asked they had answers to and trust me I had a ton of them. I had the pleasure of being there while it was both of their birthdays and although I was unable to make it to the party they had at the shop it sounded like an amazing time and my kind of party. On two other times I had another DM who works from them named Blade. He was awesome too. Another really good diver and I got to dive with him and the dive club and got to do a dive that hardly anyone on the island has done. (including everyone else at the shop I believe) Another day I had another DM named Anna who fills in sometimes and she was yet again really cool and a great diver. I just feel like I cannot say enough about this group and loved every second of my trip.
All in all I did 21 dives while I was there. Here's the list of sites I got to see.
Sea Tiger wreck
Nautilus Reef
KoKo Craters
Anglers Reef
Shark Cove Left Side
Shark Cove Right Side
Mahi Wreck
Makaha Caverns
Mahi Wreck
Drift Dive to Makaha Cavers
Corsair Wreck
Turtles
Sea Tiger Wreck
Nautilus Reef
Turtle Canyon
Nautilus Reef
YO-257 & San Pedro wrecks
Drift dive from San Pedro to "Wine Racks"
Dark Side Night dive
Sea Tiger Wreck
San Pedro Wreck
Every single sight had tons of life. Everything from Hawaiian Green Sea turtles, tons of eels, nudibranchs, octopus, frog fish, scorpion fish, and even two hawaiian lion fish.
All in all it was an amazing trip and the diving was awesome. I will be sure to return and use Kaimana Divers again for sure and if I have the chance to do my dive master out there it will be with Gabe and everyone else for sure.
