Which Island To Try First?

[KrisB]

And opinions are all we're looking for! I haven't been to the Big Island, so I can't compare them... I think it's like anything else, all of the islands have their own feel and everybody has their favourite. I *really* like the fact that I can fly direct to/from Vancouver from Kahului (Maui) airport.

 

[ronrosa]

Agreed, we all have our individual favorites and it's great that we can discuss it on boards like this.

The Big Island and the manta ray night dive holds the top spot for me. Flowing lava 5ft away, a huge manta ray doing loops inches away then bumping me, getting it all on video............priceless.

 

[trucker girl]

You need to change that... not having to worry about a barb to the heart... priceless...

I would really like to see the lava flow. I had two weeks on Oahu with my sister, her husband, their two kids and my parents (sis, hub, 2 kids live there and provided the free board). We barely had time for anything and I had to fit beach days in! I insisted on my 4 days of boat diving and 1 day of shore diving. I was sick the first week, though.

Barring time and money... I would have loved to see the other islands. I've read about the Molokini Crater for years and it MUST be in better shape than Hanauma Bay on Oahu! And Kauai is where my sister and her husband like the best- for the nature.

I've got to stop reading posts like this one. I have a job, you know. I'd like to quit and just be independently wealthy but I haven't figured that one out yet.

 

[ronrosa]

We were fortunate enough that our 1 week stay on the Big Island was relatively cheap. Air was with frequent flier miles, we stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa for $125/night through Priceline. Car rental $17/day on Priceline.

Take a look at my vacation video if you like.

Right click and "save target as" to download.

Topside

Diving

 

[KrisB]

You need to change that... not having to worry about a barb to the heart... priceless...

I would really like to see the lava flow. I had two weeks on Oahu with my sister, her husband, their two kids and my parents (sis, hub, 2 kids live there and provided the free board). We barely had time for anything and I had to fit beach days in! I insisted on my 4 days of boat diving and 1 day of shore diving. I was sick the first week, though.

Barring time and money... I would have loved to see the other islands. I've read about the Molokini Crater for years and it MUST be in better shape than Hanauma Bay on Oahu! And Kauai is where my sister and her husband like the best- for the nature.

I've got to stop reading posts like this one. I have a job, you know. I'd like to quit and just be independently wealthy but I haven't figured that one out yet.

Well, you could always sell all your posessions and find work over here -- it seems everywhere is looking for staff...

 

[friscuba]

Ron: would the one manta dive be enough to justify picking the Big Island over the others? To me, mantas are cool... but I wouldn't give up the diving I've done on Maui just to dive with a bunch of them -- especially when there's a chance of seeing them here.

If you've dove Maui a bunch of times, give the Big Island a try. The island is different (only a handful of 6 story buildings here) and the diving is different... it certainly isn't worse diving, and you may find some things about it that you prefer.

 

[KrisB]

If you've dove Maui a bunch of times, give the Big Island a try. The island is different (only a handful of 6 story buildings here) and the diving is different... it certainly isn't worse diving, and you may find some things about it that you prefer.

I may have to do that -- right now, I'm living on Maui, so we'll see about a little hop over there if the expenses work out at some point.

 

[friscuba]

I'll make one comment about Kona that may be somewhat telling. No matter which beach, or seawall, or shoreline, that you go to, unless the surf is absolutely huge you can look into a waveface (if there are waves that day), and not only see fish in the wave, but identify them. I've seen brown water here once from rainfall, and once or twice from some oddball algae bloom that was over in 2 days. When I go to the other islands, the shore diving just doesn't look all that appealing most of the time.

 

[Perrier]

Thanks everyone for the comments & suggestions. Now...wish me luck on getting reasonable airfare from the Missouri! Ugh! It's awful!

Thanks again!