Has anyone done any dive excursions in Hawaii???

[cruzegirl]

While on the Pride of America using NCL dive operators? I'm just wondering how the dive operators are and what your experience was like..... Any info. would be great.....

thanks.......

[10X]

I've made several dives in Hawaii but not when aboard a cruise ship.

 

In Oahu, I went with Aaron's Dive Shop, and had some great dives. The only problem with them is that they do not own their own boat and you might be aboard with divers from antoher dive shop as well. You might not get to go where you want because of the needs of the the other dive shop. They did run some nice, safe dives though.

 

On Maui, I've dived with Maui Dive Shop and Mike Severns Diving.

 

Maui Dive Shop is more of a cattle boat operation, but they have it down pat and run some great dives. They move a little too fast through the water for me though, because I enjoy underwater photography and I need to go a little slower.

 

Mike Severns Diving is a great operation that moves a little slower and actually tries to find the underwater critters for you to photograph. I very much enjoyed my dives with them.

 

That being said, everything on the islands starts early. Many dives boats are already heading out before 7AM. The trade winds kick up about noon, so everyone tries to get out as early as possible so they can be coming in before the water churns up as the wind increases.

 

As a result, you might be stuck with the ship's excursion since most dive boats will already be gone before you can get off the ship.

[Hilary]

Last spring when the NCL ships docked off Lahaina, they used Lahaina Divers for their dive op. We dive quite often with Lahaina Divers when in Maui, mostly because we stay in Kaanapali and don't want to dive to Kehei early in the morning. They run two 46' boats that carry up to 22 divers. Although the boats are large, they are well laid out and the one time we had 22 divers, we didn't feel crowded. The DM's are excellent and they lead groups of 6-7 divers, so you get plenty of personal attention. They also will switch over your tanks for you, and offer you any other assistance you need. During the SI on morning charters, they offer sandwiches, chips/salsa, lemonade, and water, and on the way back to the harbor, they break out the warm cookies. YUM!

 

This summer while in Maui, the cruise ships all seemed to dock at Kahului, and we didn't have any cruisers on our charters.

[Middleager]

I was on NCL Wind, and arranged my own trip for scuba and snorkeling. I remember reading NCL's excursions and the certified dives go to a max. of 60'. Well both dives I did in Kona were to 91'. I wouldn't want to be limited to 60' for a certified dive. When we got to the sandy bottom (around 90') we saw an eagle ray sleeping. Then moments later it woke up and we were able to swim near it and took pictures.

 

The other consideration is in Kona NCL's dive contract is with a dive op that has a big boat that takes up to 22 divers. I'd be more interested in a smaller boat with better chance of more personal service.

[saydiver]

My husband and I, who are experienced divers (AOW and PADI Divemaster), cruised on the Pride of Aloha in August and arranged our dive excursions on our own before we left on the cruise.

 

Monday in Kauai - 2 tank dive with Fathom Five

 

Did the paperwork at the dive shop, took the dive gear to their boat and then met them at the boat landing at Koloa Landing.

 

Climbed into the boat and then it was launched into the water. (first time for that) Only six divers on the boat plus two crew members, but the boat was small, had no ladder, no shade and required you to do a backward roll into the water. The backward roll is no problem, but I'mnot as limber as I used to be so I prefer climbing into the boat using a ladder instead of removing all my gear in the water and them hopping onto the back platform. Each dive was close to an hour. Fathom Five does not require you to go back to the boat when the first person runs out of air, which is one of the questions we ask when booking a dive trip. Each dive was close to an hour but the surface interval was only 45 minutes and since I wasn't doing Nitrox, my computer time ended my dive, instead of my air supply. Water temp was 79. Snacks during the surface interval were water, juice, soft drinks, chips, etc. The crew was very friendly and good and it had been almost 10 months since our Wakatobi dive trip, so I was happy to be underwater, but the diving was nothing to write home about.

 

Thursday in Kailua-Kona - 2 tank dive with Jack's Diving Locker

 

We dove with Jack's Diving Locker in 2001 while on our honeymoon, so we called them again to arrange to go diving while we were in Kona. We met them on the pier at approx 8:15 and then we were transported to their new shop to complete the paperwork and then they transported us back to the pier where their boat was located.

 

There were 12 divers on the boat, split into two groups of 6 each and a divemaster. Each dive was an hour plus. Water temp was 80. Snacks consisted of club sandwiches, cookies, water and punch. Plenty of shade and areas to move around to on the boat, a good ladder, a wonderful hot water rinse and a long surface interval between dives allowing for maximum dive time underwater. Jack's in a great dive operation and we will probably never use anyone else while in Kona.

 

Sat in Maui 2 tank dive with Ed Robinson's

 

Arranged to dive with Ed Robinson's. Got up before the crack of dawn and drove across the island to Kihei to meet the boat at 6:30 AM. There were 13 divers on the boat, split into two groups of 6 each with a divemater and one person with a private divemaster/guide. We had two 1 hour dives at Molkini Crater. Very nice dives and we saw a rare Green Hawksbill turtle, several eels and a couple of small white tip sharks along with lots of Tang and Morish Idols. Water temp was 80.

 

Sue