Where to shore dive or boat dive in Big Island?

[billt4sf]

We have done about 20 dives in BI and it's good, but we would like to try some new things.

First, we are just now more comfortable diving as a buddy team (no DM) and we are looking for suggestions for shore dives. One that we know we want to do is the two-step, because we have snorkeled there many times (our favorite). There must be other great places. We are novice divers, not very used to diving on our own but getting more confident. maybe we should stay in bay-type locations so we don't have to deal with current?

Second - are there boats that go to other dive locations from Kona? We usually go with Jack's Diving Locker, and they are a good outfit for us. But we would like to try other boats, maybe some that will take divers with or without a DM.

We're headed there over the Holidays.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[bygolly]

We used this site with great success when we were there two years ago:
Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: The Big Island, Hawaiian Islands

The most protected and current-free dive in the list would have to be #15 Place of Refuge. Great coral there.

These guys treated me well and were operating a six pack back then:
Scuba diving on the Kona coast, big island of Hawaii, with Sandwich Isle Divers

 

[diversteve]

Kona Diving Co. often gets good recommendations - including from my buddy. Mile Marker #4 looked like an easy shore entry also.

If you want to snorkel with lots of Turtles - Kahuluu Beach Park is the place - it's really shallow so leave the dive gear home.

 

[Tunaman68]

Wannadive Kona is great for boat diving. Small boat with small group and valet service. There are lots of great shore dives up in Puako that we loved! However, we really liked going with a local guide at first. They know where the cool (and safe) lava caves and swimthroughs are, how to safely (for you and for the coral) get in and out, and how to find your way to and from a shore entrance that looks like one of a dozen other small lava inlets that line the coast. Which coves do what depending on what direction the wind and surf is coming from etc.....we loved diving with Jackson...DIVE FROM THE BEACH- DIVE PUAKO- | Dive Puako Hawaii it was not like having a babysitter, more like diving with buddy from home who really knew the terrain!!

The shore dive site listed above has tons of great info.

Steve from Wannadive made some great observations a while back....

A couple of extra comments. Puako can be a great dive, it can also be trouble if you arent' experienced or have someone who knows it to join in. Donnyb has some great directions on the site.

I'm not sure I'd recommend Puako for beginners on thier own, especially if the 0-16 dives on your profile is accuarate. If the swell is much over 15-18 inches it can kick your arse. I've gone on 2'+ days with very experienced divers and it's on occasion been a struggle to get everyone back in to shore. Just remember, if you are having a tough time getting into the water there, you are likely to have a 3-4 times tougher go of it getting back to shore. If you can do it with someone who knows it, on a good day, you will have a great time. If you are very new at diving, and have nobody to lead you, consider doing the Place of Refuge down south, or at least start with Mahukona (It's got a chain you can follow 'til you get your navigation down) if you are staying up north.

Hint: Get really good at setting and running an out and back compass heading. Every few hundred yards Puako has a 40' or so wide public access. Get to the calmest access, decide if it's even worth going (as a beginner, I'd be skeptical if there's any waves), do the sunglasses thing and find a crack in the reef that runs close to shore to swim to, SET YOUR Compass and get to the crack. When you get to the crack drop down and follow it to the edge of the dropoff, then memorize the major landmarks rigth there... you'll want to end up back at the right crack at the end of your dive, then you can go up the crack and do a reciprocal heading and actually have a good shot at making it back to the narrow public access point. Once you get to know a few entries and compass headings you can enter in one, and get out at another, if you don't mind walking with gear.

Get to recognize swells, and your own limitations, and you should be fine. Ignore either of those and you might not find Puako shore diving all that enjoyable.

 

[Peter_C]

Shore diving Kona is great! We were there earlier this year, and did shore diving for all but the Manta dive (Which sucked BTW) We enjoyed diving when we wanted to and how ever many dives in a day we wanted to. After all it is vacation. Jacks is who we used for tanks. They were always full, which made me happy, and since we didn't need much weight only charged us for one set. They had great maps that they offered at no charge along with friendly advice. Plus for us staying just South of them it was easy to get the tanks swapped out.

We dove quite a few spots on the Kona side, but wound up snorkeling and diving just South of the harbor a few times.

 

[spoolin01]

There are many places where current won't be an issue, lots of good ones where it can be. May be best to ask about spots in one of the dive shops. I'd say try anywhere along Alii Dr. that you see a Shoreline Access sign. I haven't done them all by any means, but haven't been disappointed in any that I've tried. Either end of Old Airport runway is also good. Respect the groundswell conditions.

 

[jolie714]

Kona Diving was an amazing experience for us. Their boat is comfortable and their dive masters are awesome.

 

[mer]

FYI - Place of Refuge is the same as Two Step.

We don't have many beach entries here in Kona, rocky entries rather, which can be an issue if there's much surf. If it's calm, shore dive, get the Shore Diving Hawaii book at a local dive shop, it has descriptions and maps. The link mentioned above is also good. If it's not calm, boat dive which will take really big surf to blow out. Kona Diving Company is a great place to rent tanks, or arrange charter, and if you want to go more off the beaten path, try the Long Range dive charter which they run when conditions allow.