Diving Hawaii on Pof America...any suggestions?

[deeinaz]

Hello, folks!

 

We are venturing into the unknown...we have done lots of Caribbean diving but have done nothing in the pacific--except our MIGHTY cold cert dives at Catalina in FEB several years ago!! BRRRRRRR

 

Unlike other trips, we want to do more than dive...so what two islands would you recommend among Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and BI (Kona--Hilo is not up for grabs, as we are doing the volcanoes). Please help me with your experience to determine what islands we should decide upon...I am thinkign 2 islands for 2-tank dives. The itenerary is terrific..we should not have any probs with getting dive time in pretty much any port, if the op is accommodating.

 

TIA!!!

 

You guys are the greatest...I have gotten nothing but terrific advice for the Carib dive ops we have dived with.

 

--Dee

 

Pride of America 3/20/06---we love cruising so much, we are getting married while on one! One year and a couple of days until I will be a Mrs.!!

[Hilary]

Definitely dive in Kona. If you can do an eagle ray dive, do it, it's fabulous. If you've never gone to Molokini Crater near Maui, you should consider doing that, but if diving the Cathedrals (in Lanai) from Maui is an option, that's a fabulous dive too....though they leave at like 6:30, so might not be possible from a cruise ship.

 

In case you're interested, when we were in Maui last year the dive op that the cruise ships used was Lahaina Divers. They adjusted their normal schedule for the cruise ship group (5 divers) and waited when the tender was running a little late. They run a larger boat with up to 22 divers, but it's a well laid out boat and you don't feel crowded. They also put 6 divers with a DM in the water, so you aren't bumping into anyone. We dive with Lahaina Divers quite a bit and find them to be a good op and I don't consider them even close to a cattle boat.

 

Be aware that the water in Hawaii is about 74 degrees nearly all year around, so you'll want a full suit (either 3mm or 5mm). You also want to dive in the morning vs the afternoon, since the trade winds come up and create a lot of current and wave action. Also, the diving in Hawaii is very different than the Caribbean. The coral and reef life is much different, and in many instances quite a bit less, but the animal life can be amazing. There's nothing more spine tingling than hearing whale songs underwater, or seeing manta rays gracefully swooping and diving for their dinner.

[Cavegirl]

Hi.

 

I'm also going on a cruise in Hawaii, Aug. 24 on Norwegian Wind. I'll also go to the volcanos in Hilo, but would like to dive at least in Kona. I found a lot of dive shops in Kona, several with times that fit and cheaper than through the cruise.

 

http://www.wanna-dive-kona.com/links.htm

 

I'm considering booking directly with a shop myself rather than thru the ship (NCL charges $125 + rental).

 

In Kauai (Nawiliwili harbour) am considering either diving or helicoptor tour then drive to Waimea Canyon. There are fewer shops and times are not good. NCL contracts with Sea Sport which charges $149+rental. Quite expensive.

 

While in Oahu, I have more time and hope to do 2 morning dives, and possibly 1 night dive.

 

Would like to hear others who may experience cruising and diving in Hawaii.

[sunshine426]

Big Island Divers in Kona were fabulous. Attentive and very knowledeble crew, offered assistance with giant stride into water and getting out of the water, had hot fresh water shower, new boat and new equipment. Also picked us up at the tender spot and returned us in plenty of time for our cruise ships departure.

[cruzegirl]

Hi all,

What are the boats like that Big Island Divers uses? I'm trying to get information for diving in Hawaii.... Thanks.

[bruce-r]

Here is their web site:

http://www.bigislanddivers.com/

Looks like they use smaller 6 pack boat. On their site, the boat is shown on a trailer. Many operators in Kona trailer their boats. It is less expensive than dock rental plus they get to wash down the boat frequently thus keeping the hull clean. This make the boat more fuel efficient.

 

Other things to consider in addition to boat size are available shade and if their is a head on-board. Most of the smaller boats don't have a head, which means the ocean is your restroom.

 

Here is a link to just about all the Big Island dive operators' websites:

http://www.wizardpub.com/bigisland/biglinks.html#19

[Smbruner]

We were on Pride of Aloha (1/05) and scheduled all of our dives through them. Good thing, our cruise changed order of islands a few times at the last minute. IF we had booked our own dives we would've been out $$ because of "no shows". I would NOT dive in Maui - we dove with Lahaina Divers - the deepest dive of our 2 dives was only 40 ft. The dive shop kept us waiting over an hour + so they could get more divers on the trip - including "intro to scuba" on our same boat! It was very crowded and a big waste of time. I would never dive with them again. The best sea life we saw were sea turtles and we could hear the whales - this was in Kona.

[alwayscoldmom]

I loved diving Molokini (sp) in Maui. We saw turtles, tiger sharks, eels, cleaner fish, shrimp, a manta ray,and on and on. We dove with Ed Robinson. I have to say that he was the best dive opperator that we have ever dove with. We also dove with Lahaina Divers out to lani. Not as impressed with them. We were on a land vacation so we had a lot more flexability in our schedule. I would really look into booking with the cruise ship that way if anything weird happens you are covered, and you know that the boat won't leave without you.

[CountessP]

See my response to "in search of diving information for Hawaii". I think you'll find it helpful. As for diving on your own vs. diving w/cruise ship, I arrange our diving independently all the time when cruising, and I've never had a problem. It just involved careful planning. In the case of HI, if you are a novice diver, and/or you don't want to rent a car, diving through the ship may be the way to go. Still, in Kona you don't have to rent a car, and on all the islands, there was plenty of time to dive. Also keep in mind, wih regard to the ship diving, much of it was scheduled on the 1st day (if overnight stay), and/or in the morning. If you book these dives, you cannot immediately to into the mountains afterwards. Say, Wamae Canyon in Kauai. This may not be a problem with some people, but it would have been a problem for us, as I would have wanted to rent a car and immediately start touring. We actually complained to the tour department about this. Not a good policy to schedule dive tours in the morning on islands so full of mountains.

 

Hope you enjoy your trip, feel free to contact me if you have questions, at CountessP@aol.com.

[Hilary]

The reason that dive tours are scheduled in the morning in Hawaii is because the trade winds pick up in the afternoon, which increases wave action and chop. There are sites that are only comfortable and safe to dive in the morning due to the trades picking up. Morning is not only the best time to dive in Hawaii, it is the preferred time for accessability and comfort. Some dive ops don't even schedule afternoon dives for this reason.

[CountessP]

Point well taken, Hilary. You're right. But on at least two islands, the cruise ship docks overnight. They could have arranged an AM dive tour the 2nd morning on both Kauai and Maui. That would have allowed everyone to do land tours into the mountains on the first day. And I do know that on Kauai they had afternoon dives because we tried to book a PM dive with several dive operators, after doing Wamea Canyon, and they were all booked. Needless to say, you'll have a great time no matter what, Dee, and if you only chose to do two days of diving, I vote for Maui and Kona.

[Hilary]

You're absolutely right CountessP, they should have booked the dives for the 2nd morning, there's no reason to only offer them on the first morning. I hope you suggested that to Customer Service while you were onboard, maybe they'll actually listen. Most of the dives ops in Maui offer afternoon dives as well, but typically not to Molokini or Lanai due to the rough crossings, which is what I originally meant in my last post (not that they don't offer dives at all...sorry for the poor wording earlier).

 

I agree....Maui and Kona are the 2 I'd vote for.