In search of dive information in Hawaii.......

[cruzegirl]

I'm going on the Pride of America cruise of the Hawaiian Islands in

October 1-8, 2005... My itinerary is as follows...

 

 

DayPortArriveDepartSat.Honolulu, Oahu

- -

 

8:00pm

 

 

 

 

Sun.Hilo, Hawaii

8:00am

 

7:00pm

 

 

 

 

Evening sail by Mount KilaueaMon.Kahului, Maui

8:00am

 

overnight

 

 

 

 

(Optional tour to Lanai is available)Tue.Kahului, Maui

- -

 

6:00pm

 

 

 

 

Wed.Kona, Hawaii

7:00am

 

6:00pm

 

 

 

 

Thu.(Scenic cruising) Nawiliwili, Kauai

10:00am†

 

overnight

 

 

 

 

Fri.Nawiliwili, Kauai

- -

 

6:00pm†

 

 

 

 

Sat.Honolulu, Oahu

7:00am*

 

- -

 

 

 

 

Does anyone have recommendations regarding diving at Kahului,Maui or Kona,Hawaii or Nawiliwili, Kauai? I know I can do the excursions via the cruiseship but I'm apprehensive of the "cattle boat" effect I've heard of... And I'm a novice and would actually like a dive company that would have a divemaster go with me.... Also, has anyone who's gone diving on Pride of Aloha with the ships dive excursions versus privately, do you have any info. on your experience? Size of boat, type, amount of people on the diveboat, the divemasters? Any info. would be appreciated.... Thanks. :)

[budaman]

Hi there Kruzegirl.....Last year in Kona, we used Kona Coast Divers and liked them very much. They are located at the small boat harbor in between Kailua/Kona and the airport. Very nice boat. Did shore dives in Maui and my wife did boat dive in Kauai. Don't have the specific operators here at work, but will check later...know I have it somewhere. The water there is a little cooler than the Caribbean, but not too bad. We were in Kona the end of Sept. last year and I used a shorty for a late afternoon and night dive. Too bad you're not in Kona overnight, the night Manta Ray dive is awesome.

 

Since your overnight in Maui, I would highly recommend doing the Volcano Sunrise/Bikeride.

 

Mike

 

www.homepage.mac.com/csealove/

[Crablegs77]

We will be on the Pride of Aloha Sept 25th to Oct 2nd 2005

Would really appreciate the names of good Dive Operators and good dive sites. 2 of us are also novices "certified" divers and would prefer beach dives.

 

Thank you

[bruce-r]

In Kona you might check this site: http://www.wanna-dive-kona.com/shore_dives.htm for information on guided shore diving. Do it yourself shore diving would also be fairly easy, but you would need to rent a vehicle. Several dive shops are helpful for shorediving. Jack's Diving Locker is a good source for gear and tanks.

 

As for the shore dive sites themselves, http://www.shorediving.com is where to look.

 

The authors of the fantastic book "Hawaii, the Big Island Revealed" are also divers and give excellent information about dive operator, shore diving, and dive sites.

[CountessP]

Here's what we did when we sailed on the POA in March....

[CountessP]

Sorry about that. Entered in error. Here's what we did off the POA, in March, 2005...

 

Kauai: Shore dive at Koloa Landing. It was a really interesting dive, lots to see among the boulders. There are two dive shops on the way where you can rent tanks and equipment, Fathom Five and Seasport Divers. Personally, I would have preferred a boat dive but did not want to committ before seeing Wamea Canyon, and by the time I tried reserving space, they were booked.

 

Kona: After seeing Volcano National Pk the day before (definitely a must), we dove with Jack's Diving Locker. We dove Long Lava Tube and The Dome. Both interesting dives, with some unusual fish, but not spectacular. JDL good operator, good dive masters, good equipment.

 

Maui: After doing Road to Hana first day, got up very early 2nd day in Maui to drive to Ed Robinson's to dive Molokini Crater. Unfortunately, weather did not cooperate and ended up diving north side of island, Pinncle Pt. This is also a good dive operation. Frankly, they were the only ones that would reserve space for us. None of the other operators believed we would get to them so early from where the cruise ship was docked.

 

All in all, good but not spectacular diving. Some very unusual fish, even saw several frog fish which were fascinating. I will say that it was the dive masters that found most of these fish. Great camoflage and some are very hard to spot. But there is no soft coral, and very little hard coral on the HI islands, and it just wasn't as scenic as I'm used to, diving the Caribbean. Still, I'm glad we did the dives and would definitely say it's a must. Another important item is to plan your diving after your climbing. No tours or driving into mountains after you dive! Final comment, I wore a 3mm shortie under my 3mm full suit, with head cover, and I'm glad I did. Average dive was a temperature of 73-75 degrees. Very cold for someone used to diving the Caribbean! Any questions, feel free to contact me at CountessP@aol.com.

 

Enjoy your cruise. It's a great ship!! Millie

[cruzegirl]

Does anyone have any dive experience in the Honolulu/Waikiki area and can you give names of dive operators? I will be in Honolulu for 3 days and want to do a boat dive while there prior to my cruise on P of America.... I'm not a fan of Shore Diving so not interested in that.... Thanks......

[sunshine426]

Big Island Divers in Kona offers both "discover scuba" courses, and regular dives accompanied by a dive master. They had great equipment, picked us up at the dock, etc. My husband and I did the "Discover Scuba" course and found it excellent. We had a terrefic experience. I would highly recommend this company. If you have any questions, just let me know. I try to check this site frequently.