soonerwatch
Registered
Just returned from Oahu. Made two boat dives. First was with Hawaiian Diving Adventures. This was my first open water dive after certification and they helped me take my time and equalize properly. I've been practicing frenzel and toynbee methods and combining them both I was able to equalize. The boat was not crowded at all, just me and one other couple. Made our first dive at horseshoe reef. Depth of about 45 feet. Visibility wasn't great. Lots of fish to be seen plus small reef sharks, turtles, and eels. Second dive was to "deep pipe" at about 65 feet. Visibility was much better. I rented most equipment from HDA and it was all in good shape. I would dive with them again.
Second trip was with Kaimana Divers (Gabe Scotti) This time my 11yr old daughter joined to make her first open water drive and my wife rode along in the boat. Bill was our dive master. There were 3 other divers on the trip who had a different dive master. Bill was very careful to make sure my daughter was comfortable with her gear before we headed out. First dive was again at horseshoe reef. Visibility was better. Saw several sharks this time. Turtles were more active. It was a great dive. We took our time equalizing and enjoyed it. During surface interval my daughter started to get sea sick. She's never done great on boats and there was some moderate swell that day. She wanted to dive the second dive to get off the boat for a while. We dove the "mario" dive site. Depth of about 45 feet again. Saw an octopus, schools of puffer fish, and turtles. I could tell my daughter wasn't doing great under water and when we surfaced she got sick. Bill was excellent at calming her down and quickly getting her back on the boat. After throwing up she felt much better. The crew reassured her that it happens all the time and was nothing to worry about. Was so thankful to the crew for helping her out and making her feel better. We might be doing shore dives or at least using dramamine for the foreseeable future.
I'd recommend both Kaimana Divers and Hawaiian Diving Adventures to anyone. Gear is in good shape, boats and dive masters at both outfits are top notch. One thing my wife noticed while waiting on the boat was that another dive boat (not sure what company) was moored near us and divers were surfacing at our boat and were lost. They said their diver master just turned them loose! Definitely worth using Kaimana Divers or Hawaiian Diving Adventures if you're diving on Oahu.
Second trip was with Kaimana Divers (Gabe Scotti) This time my 11yr old daughter joined to make her first open water drive and my wife rode along in the boat. Bill was our dive master. There were 3 other divers on the trip who had a different dive master. Bill was very careful to make sure my daughter was comfortable with her gear before we headed out. First dive was again at horseshoe reef. Visibility was better. Saw several sharks this time. Turtles were more active. It was a great dive. We took our time equalizing and enjoyed it. During surface interval my daughter started to get sea sick. She's never done great on boats and there was some moderate swell that day. She wanted to dive the second dive to get off the boat for a while. We dove the "mario" dive site. Depth of about 45 feet again. Saw an octopus, schools of puffer fish, and turtles. I could tell my daughter wasn't doing great under water and when we surfaced she got sick. Bill was excellent at calming her down and quickly getting her back on the boat. After throwing up she felt much better. The crew reassured her that it happens all the time and was nothing to worry about. Was so thankful to the crew for helping her out and making her feel better. We might be doing shore dives or at least using dramamine for the foreseeable future.
I'd recommend both Kaimana Divers and Hawaiian Diving Adventures to anyone. Gear is in good shape, boats and dive masters at both outfits are top notch. One thing my wife noticed while waiting on the boat was that another dive boat (not sure what company) was moored near us and divers were surfacing at our boat and were lost. They said their diver master just turned them loose! Definitely worth using Kaimana Divers or Hawaiian Diving Adventures if you're diving on Oahu.
