Which Island?

[cruzbound]

We will be going to Hawaii in the fall of 2013 and trying to decide which island we should go to. The main focus of our trip will be diving but we would like to do some other things. We are leaning towards Maui right now - would love to heard everyone elses thoughts. Another possibility might be to stay on one of the islands for part of the time and then go to another one for the rest of the time - if we were to do this, which two islands are the best for diving. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, cruzboun

 

[smellzlikefish]

How did you choose Maui over Kona? For 7 days of nothing but pure diving, the Big Island really can't be beat.

 

[Thalassamania]

If you want to dive Hawai'i has it over all the others. If you want to sight see, Hawai'i is, at least, the equal of any other. If you want to shop ... go to Oahu, you can buy all the things that you could find at home, at higher prices.

 

[Steve Eady]

"MAUI" If you just do shore diving you won't even come close to doing 5% of all the geat places to dive on Maui

 

[DiveMaven]

IMO you can't go wrong with choosing either Maui or the Big Island. Advantages of the Big Island are the active volcano and the Manta night dive. Advantages of Maui are the ability to dive 4 islands (Molokai, Maui, Molokini, and Lanai), a lot of topside activities to do, and gorgeous beaches.

It'll really come down to personal preference as to what you want to do, see, etc. Honestly the perfect vacation would be a week on Maui and a week on the Big Island!! Then you wouldn't have to choose.

 

[cruzbound]

We have been on a cruise to Hawaii (and been to Maui, the Big Island, Oahu and Kauai) several years ago (but were not divers then). We loved Maui and Kauai. Was not impressed with Oahu. Found the Big Island very interesting - we went to the National Volcanic Park on the Kona side (I think that is the side it was on) and then we went to a waterfall hike on the Hilo side.

Thank you for all your input and suggestions. We were thinking Maui because there seemed to be lots of other things to do on days we don't dive (like the Road to Hana, Haleaka (sp ?), etc.). We are open to spending a few days on two islands so maybe we will look into that further (Maui and the Big Island). If we were to go to the Big Island which side should we stay on - Kona or Hilo? It doesn't seem like the Inter-island flights are too expensive. We have never done a night dive before - this would be the first time. We haver never gone diving without a guide so if we were to go shore diving, how difficult is it in Maui?

Happy New Year! Thanks again for all the assistance. We are just in the waiting mode for the airlines to put out the schedule for November 2013.

cruzbound

 

[Thalassamania]

If you come to to the Big Island and want to dive you should stay on the west (Kona) side.

 

[Midge907]

I have been to the Big Island, Maui, and Oahu. Diving at all three, and of course researching the heck out of each. For a Dive, dive, dive trip I would hands down go to the Big Island. Lots of shore diving choices there from very mild, to not so much, you can check out recommendations for dive sites on www.shorediving.com . Out of all the dive shops I have dealt with Kona Dive Company is hands down the top of the line. Now on the other hand I will say that I much prefered Maui when it came to topside stuff to do, and although my diving was more limited there due to weather I really enjoyed my trip out with B&B scuba when we went over to Lanai, and will probally make it back there in the future to try out all the shore dive locations that I saw. Maui seemed to have a abundance of turtles, but I love the Manta Rays of the Big Island. I did multiple boat trips on Oahu, and also a couple shore dives up at Sharks cove. The diving was good as far as wreck dives, and the reef up at sharks cove was good, but all and all I hope to never step foot on that Island again, unless its for a plane transfer Way to busy of a place, and not relaxing at all. Hope that helped some. The road to Hana is awesome on Maui, but I'd prefer to stay in the water myself.

 

[Tunaman68]

IMO you can't go wrong with choosing either Maui or the Big Island. Advantages of the Big Island are the active volcano and the Manta night dive. Advantages of Maui are the ability to dive 4 islands (Molokai, Maui, Molokini, and Lanai), a lot of topside activities to do, and gorgeous beaches.

It'll really come down to personal preference as to what you want to do, see, etc. Honestly the perfect vacation would be a week on Maui and a week on the Big Island!! Then you wouldn't have to choose.

+1 That says it all!!!

 

[freewillie]

IMO it depends on what would be more important, the diving or the topside activities.

Maui has more things to do topside than Kona. I find that there are more places to shop, dine, etc. in Lahaina and Ka'anapali than in Kona. My diving experience is limited to Molokini which was amazing but you can go to Lanai as well. Our night dive at the Mala pier was one of our all time favorite dives.

If we had to chose between Kona and Maui for just diving, my preference would lean (slightly) to Kona. Either way you can't go wrong, but Kona offers the Manta Ray Night dive. It is one of the most unique and exhilirating dives I've ever had, and I would highly recommend it at least once just for the experience. Also, the reefs are closer to the harbor which means less travel time from port to dive site, a plus if you get slightly sea sick. Travel time to Molokini from Lahaina is about 40-60 minutes depending upon conditions, but only 15-20 minutes from Keauhou Harbor.

Kona has lots little shops and lots of restaurants like Lahaina, but since we know Maui better maybe it is just our comfort level. I did drive alomost the whole big island while exploring, it's a good thing I had unlimited miles on my rental! It is quite a ways to drive from Kona to either Hilo or to Volcano National Park. It took us almost 2 1/2 hours to either of the two destinations as they are around 100 miles from Kona. You would also have to factor in the altitude of the Volcanoes at 4000 feet into your diving. We went to the volcanoes the first day we were there so we wouldn't have to worry about the altitude. There is also star gazing at Mauna Kea observatory close to 10,000 ft but we didn't do that, have to save something for next visit.

Either way you should have a great vacation.