Wife and I flying to Oahu, advice needed

[beanojones]

Look into Kayena Point"if I spelled ir correct" you can access the shore there and get into 50+ of water almost immediatly. Its been a while since I was there so I would reccomend a little research. You can take some pictures of the big Valley that the pilots who attacked Pearl Harbor flew thru to hide from our radar.( Sorry I cant remember the name)

Enjoy your trip...

I imagine that the vowel salad of Hawaiian place names has made you mix up this famous surf spot with a much easier and safer place to dive. (Repeating the advice to use local guides in Hawaii, now with a good example of how the 11 letter of the Hawaiian alphabet throws off visitors.)

Kaena Point in winter is completely undivable with waves up 30 feet in normal conditions, and is the place where the surfers riding 80-90 foot face swells were taken. In general, it is well away from any hope of help, and requires a 4 wheel drive vehicle, and some trespassing for access. I would hope no one actually took you diving there. Actually I am sure that you have just mixed up the place names.

Kaena Point with Ken Bradshaw riding a ridiculous wave:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/conditionblack/photo_pop_blue/images/popup2.jpg


The Hawaiian ocean is simply unlike the ocean anywhere else in the world because it is the most isolated archipelago in the world, and none of the experience people bring from other places works to help them with the ocean in Hawaii. Add to that the fact that to people not from Hawaii every place name seems to use the same letter just rearranged, and there are two good reasons to use local experience to help visitors have fun.

 

[scottitheduck]

Aloha!

Wow..... great post from everyone in the Ohana. I will go out on a limb here and say that you won't have a "bad" time with any of the operators mentioned in the previous posts. What is great about Oahu is that there are a dozen of so very professional, safe and reliable operators. You need to prioritize what is important to you and indeed, call around. I generally call a few operators to get the feel of their staff and how they run their dives. It's a great chance to get your questions answered and set up a dive package that will work well with your schedule and needs.

Hope to see you out here diving soon!

G

 

[landlocked!!]

Wow everyone!! Thank you for all the great tips!! I will definitely be making some calls.

@Dallaskincaid: We are flying out of California on 2/8/12 to Honolulu, and flying back on 2/14/2012. I think my wife has us booked at a hotel in Waikiki. When is your trip?

 

[Cali_Alli]

I imagine that the vowel salad of Hawaiian place names has made you mix up this famous surf spot with a much easier and safer place to dive. (Repeating the advice to use local guides in Hawaii, now with a good example of how the 11 letter of the Hawaiian alphabet throws off visitors.)

Kaena Point in winter is completely undivable with waves up 30 feet in normal conditions, and is the place where the surfers riding 80-90 foot face swells were taken. In general, it is well away from any hope of help, and requires a 4 wheel drive vehicle, and some trespassing for access. I would hope no one actually took you diving there. Actually I am sure that you have just mixed up the place names.

Kaena Point with Ken Bradshaw riding a ridiculous wave:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/conditionblack/photo_pop_blue/images/popup2.jpg


The Hawaiian ocean is simply unlike the ocean anywhere else in the world because it is the most isolated archipelago in the world, and none of the experience people bring from other places works to help them with the ocean in Hawaii. Add to that the fact that to people not from Hawaii every place name seems to use the same letter just rearranged, and there are two good reasons to use local experience to help visitors have fun.

FWIW
If you googlemap: 21.54797,-158.24162

That is part of Kaena Point State Park...I've been snorkeling there a few times before I started diving (NOT in winter)...Fun, saw a lot of Spotted Eagle Rays.

 

[lonebrave]

FWIW
If you googlemap: 21.54797,-158.24162

That is part of Kaena Point State Park...I've been snorkeling there a few times before I started diving (NOT in winter)...Fun, saw a lot of Spotted Eagle Rays.

I've seen that called Yokohama Beach Park before, however, Hawaii State Parks references it as Keawu'ula Bay (and part of Kaena Point State Park). I think everyone should do the hike out to Kaena Point, especially this time of year, since the albatross are here in addition to the monk seals and whales.

 

[Donald D]

Just got back from Oahu last Thursday. I packed a hard cased samsonite bag with my BC, 2 pair of fins, wet suits, and swim suits (for just laying on the beach). Reg, mask and snorkel went in a carry-on. The total weight was about 40lbs.

I dove with Captain Bruce - who picked me up at my hotel in Ihilani. First 2 dives were the Mahi and an LCU. 2nd day of Dives included another LCU and Black Rock. All of these were 70-90' dives (and my first 4 dives after getting certified and of course lead by a dive master). Due to swells at the time, we did not do any reef dives since visibility and surges were an issue. During our safety stops, we were being tosses around on the line. First dive had about 6 to 7 people (3 of those were me and 2 of my friends from work). The second dive had only 3 with my buddy being the dive master. I had the most awesome time.

If you have the time, I would also recommend flying over to the Big Island and do the Manta Dive. It was so awesome I did it twice. Dove with Big Island Divers.

 

[Cali_Alli]

I've seen that called Yokohama Beach Park before, however, Hawaii State Parks references it as Keawu'ula Bay (and part of Kaena Point State Park). I think everyone should do the hike out to Kaena Point, especially this time of year, since the albatross are here in addition to the monk seals and whales.

My bad :doh:

 

[XNAVYEOD]

I imagine that the vowel salad of Hawaiian place names has made you mix up this famous surf spot with a much easier and safer place to dive. (Repeating the advice to use local guides in Hawaii, now with a good example of how the 11 letter of the Hawaiian alphabet throws off visitors.)

Kaena Point in winter is completely undivable with waves up 30 feet in normal conditions, and is the place where the surfers riding 80-90 foot face swells were taken. In general, it is well away from any hope of help, and requires a 4 wheel drive vehicle, and some trespassing for access. I would hope no one actually took you diving there. Actually I am sure that you have just mixed up the place names.

Kaena Point with Ken Bradshaw riding a ridiculous wave:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/conditionblack/photo_pop_blue/images/popup2.jpg


The Hawaiian ocean is simply unlike the ocean anywhere else in the world because it is the most isolated archipelago in the world, and none of the experience people bring from other places works to help them with the ocean in Hawaii. Add to that the fact that to people not from Hawaii every place name seems to use the same letter just rearranged, and there are two good reasons to use local experience to help visitors have fun.

It was Kaena point, But it was in september..Hence my note to do some research...Thank for the correct spelling

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

Here's another site to look at for your trip to Hawaii

ierenthusiast.com/servlet/MailView?ms=NTE3ODM3NwS2&r=ODk3ODMxNzIwNwS2&j=MTkzNjc3MDk4S0&mt=1&rt=0

 

[socalmayo]

Last October I dived with Waikiki Diving Center and Arron's Dive Shop. When I return this year I will dive exclusively with Arron's. If you are staying in a hotel on Waikiki, they will pick you up and return you on time. I found them to be very friendly and knowledgeable and the dives were not rushed nor were the divers herded around. A very pleasant experience and the staff at the shop was a pleasure to deal with over the phone and via email. I never made it to the shop so I can't comment on their inventory, but if it is similar to the crew on the boats, I suspect it will be a solid shop.