Aloha to all that are in the stages of planning your Hawaii dive trip !
Living on Kauai and having just returned from beautiful dives in Maui I just wanted to encourage people to make arrangements as far ahead in advance as possible. In more "normal" times divers can often get away with waiting to arrive in the islands to make reservation for dives. While I ALWAYS suggest doing so way in advance, now more than ever you should make your reservations as soon as possible. Especially for those long SB members - you know getting amazing advice on shops and DM's etc. is so easy to do ahead of time. I continue to be impressed by how many people on Scubaboard take time to help out others looking for an amazing experience in the islands. Bookings made now can often be tweaked later, but ensure spots now if you can.
As for the issues currently ...
Many boats are operating at partial capacity which obviously makes them fill much quicker. Further impacting the situation is that many shops are short on crew (shop,DM's, Capt's, Instructors) which limits availability in some cases. In over 20 years here I've never seen so many operations looking for help mid summer. During our Maui visit a couple of shops we visited in Maui were literally booked out for weeks. One of those shops was literally looking at shutting down (temporarily) in August as they have been so overwhelming busy and short staffed. You may also find that some shops have significantly increased the cost of diving. Kauai seems to be weathering the storm fairly well, but bookings are increasing daily with no slow down in sight.
Everyone is well aware of the car rental issues so I won't get overly into that - however, however I would continue to look at reservations as much as you can even after a booking is made. The morning before our Maui trip we found a rental that was almost $400 cheaper than our original! The morning of our trip the prices were way back up.
As a final encouragement I would be prepared to be patient. Many industries here outside of diving are also a bit overwhelmed. Short staffs at many activities, restaurants and other services are just a reality now. I think with a little mental preparation in this regard you'll be shown and feel plenty of ALOHA during your visit.
Well, I hope that these thoughts may help out even just a couple of you looking at visiting the islands. The last couple weeks have been incredible for diving and I certainly wish the same for all of you reading this. As always don't hesitate to reply and ask any questions you may have regarding your trip. Feel free to send me a PM (personal message) is you would like direct communication. I know there are numerous others here on the board that would offer and welcome the same.
Cheers and Happy Planning! Aloha , A
Living on Kauai and having just returned from beautiful dives in Maui I just wanted to encourage people to make arrangements as far ahead in advance as possible. In more "normal" times divers can often get away with waiting to arrive in the islands to make reservation for dives. While I ALWAYS suggest doing so way in advance, now more than ever you should make your reservations as soon as possible. Especially for those long SB members - you know getting amazing advice on shops and DM's etc. is so easy to do ahead of time. I continue to be impressed by how many people on Scubaboard take time to help out others looking for an amazing experience in the islands. Bookings made now can often be tweaked later, but ensure spots now if you can.
As for the issues currently ...
Many boats are operating at partial capacity which obviously makes them fill much quicker. Further impacting the situation is that many shops are short on crew (shop,DM's, Capt's, Instructors) which limits availability in some cases. In over 20 years here I've never seen so many operations looking for help mid summer. During our Maui visit a couple of shops we visited in Maui were literally booked out for weeks. One of those shops was literally looking at shutting down (temporarily) in August as they have been so overwhelming busy and short staffed. You may also find that some shops have significantly increased the cost of diving. Kauai seems to be weathering the storm fairly well, but bookings are increasing daily with no slow down in sight.
Everyone is well aware of the car rental issues so I won't get overly into that - however, however I would continue to look at reservations as much as you can even after a booking is made. The morning before our Maui trip we found a rental that was almost $400 cheaper than our original! The morning of our trip the prices were way back up.
As a final encouragement I would be prepared to be patient. Many industries here outside of diving are also a bit overwhelmed. Short staffs at many activities, restaurants and other services are just a reality now. I think with a little mental preparation in this regard you'll be shown and feel plenty of ALOHA during your visit.
Well, I hope that these thoughts may help out even just a couple of you looking at visiting the islands. The last couple weeks have been incredible for diving and I certainly wish the same for all of you reading this. As always don't hesitate to reply and ask any questions you may have regarding your trip. Feel free to send me a PM (personal message) is you would like direct communication. I know there are numerous others here on the board that would offer and welcome the same.
Cheers and Happy Planning! Aloha , A