Waianae vs Waikiki

[AZdiver1279]

I was diving off of Waianae last week, and I think the water temperature was ~80 degrees at about 50-feet.

If you're peeved by the ride out to Waianae - and it can indeed be a royal pain the proverbial, given the traffic - then seek an operator/guide that takes you out of Hawaii Kai. For what it's worth, the dives on both sides of the island are lovely - I don't know if you can say one is 'better' than the other. For example, Fantasy Reef on the south side and Airplane Canyon on the leeward side are among my favorite sites off Oahu, but it's hard to rank one as 'better' than the other. They're both awesome in different ways. That said, the south side has some stellar dives like Sea Cave and China Wall that you'd be hard-pressed to find comparisons with on the leeward side of the island. About the only thing one can definitively say is that the leeward side of the island has more reliably excellent diving conditions, although the south side's pretty darn decent in the winter time.

As for a day trip to another island in order to dive...I wouldn't, if previous posters' information holds true about interisland flights http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ha...-flight-kauai-next-morning-will-i-okay-2.html . There used to be a superferry that sailed between Oahu and Maui that would have probably served your purposes better, but it stopped operating some time ago.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah....wish they still had the super ferry, would've been nice. I thought about real early flight to Maui a shallow shore dive and then a real late flight back but it doesn't look like it could really work. I wasn't sure if they just used little puddle jumpers and what kind of altitude they get...........just means I have to come back again in a few months : )

 

[AZdiver1279]

Agreed with previous poster on all points. Why not set up one day in town, one in Hawaii Kai and one on the westside?

G

Yeah, closer I get that will probably be the plan - right now looks like maybe 4 days diving so it would be nice to get a variety of sites in.

Thanks!

 

[AZdiver1279]

I was diving off of Waianae last week, and I think the water temperature was ~80 degrees at about 50-feet.

If you're peeved by the ride out to Waianae - and it can indeed be a royal pain the proverbial, given the traffic - then seek an operator/guide that takes you out of Hawaii Kai. For what it's worth, the dives on both sides of the island are lovely - I don't know if you can say one is 'better' than the other. For example, Fantasy Reef on the south side and Airplane Canyon on the leeward side are among my favorite sites off Oahu, but it's hard to rank one as 'better' than the other. They're both awesome in different ways. That said, the south side has some stellar dives like Sea Cave and China Wall that you'd be hard-pressed to find comparisons with on the leeward side of the island. About the only thing one can definitively say is that the leeward side of the island has more reliably excellent diving conditions, although the south side's pretty darn decent in the winter time.

As for a day trip to another island in order to dive...I wouldn't, if previous posters' information holds true about interisland flights http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ha...-flight-kauai-next-morning-will-i-okay-2.html . There used to be a superferry that sailed between Oahu and Maui that would have probably served your purposes better, but it stopped operating some time ago.

Thanks for the report on conditions! Know of any shops that post dive reports to their website? I haven't been able to find any.

 

[kanonfodr]

Thanks for the report on conditions! Know of any shops that post dive reports to their website? I haven't been able to find any.

Island Divers typically puts up a report, but they dive predominantly Hawaii Kai sites.

Peace,
Greg

 

[selo]

In March 2010, Gabe took me and another diver to Sea Tiger for the first dive on day 1, and then Ewa Pinnacles and the Kewalo Pipe for the second shallow dive. Another day was the YO-257 and the nearby San Pedro on the first dive, and then a second shallow dive to follow.

Especially after the YO-257 and San Pedro (with the residen turtle on YO, tons of other fish and school of barracudas), surfacing to the skyline of Waikiki Beach is priceless.

I am already booked to go to Waikiki Beach in March 2011. But after Gabe's Ducks treated my Trojans poorly, I am reconsidering who to dive with!!

 

[scottitheduck]

OHHHHHHH! There are Trojan haters everywhere..... good to know my Ducks ruined your bowl game. Awww, forget it. Let's go diving.

G

 

[selo]

Hi Gabe, I'll get in touch with you as we get closer to March 2011. Take care,

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

A lot of places post dive reports on their websites. Aarons (of Kailua) does, Deep Ecology's been known to do so, and I'm pretty sure that Gabe (scottitheduck) posts videos of his dives on his website.