cawhite

Hi everyone,

It looks like our family of 4 may take a 7 night last minute vacation to Hawaii in mid to late August so my newly scuba dive certified DH and DD can dive. DD dove in Cozumel in April, but DH hasn't gotten to dive since his certification in March.

Now, I KNOW the Big Island is really the best island for diving, including the evening manta ray dive (and we MAY still go to the BI)... but on our 4 island trip last summer we spent the least amount of time on Oahu and Maui, so the kids need to see some more of those islands.

But, which has better diving... Oahu or Maui? If so, where is the best spot? On Oahu, I assume somewhere near Shark's Cove is best? What about Hanauma Bay... too overrun with snorkelers for diving?

What about Maui? I know the back wall of Molikini is supposed to be the best... but that's for more advanced divers. What is the best spot there for newbie divers?

If you could only select one dive location, would it be Oahu or Maui?

Thanks everyone!!!

ajcolorado

Last year my husband and son were newly certified divers. We did a lot of research and two names kept coming up for Maui: Ed Robinsons Diving Adventures ~ http://www.maui.net/~robinson/erd1.htm. And Mike Severns Diving ~ www.mikesevernsdiving.com. Both have a strong reputation for safety and quality dives. We went with Mike Severns because of their safety record and the fact that the company is owned my marine biologists. We were going to do a second dive with Mike Robinson but ran out of time. My husband, son, and brother-in-law were very pleased with their dive experience, the dive master,and the quality of equipment. They've since had the opportunity to dive in Florida, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands and said have not yet encountered an outfit that impressed them as much as Mike Severns.

Hope this helps & I hope you have a great trip.

chepar

It's hard to say what the "best" diving spot is - it depends on what each individual's criteria is.

Any of the dive spots on the North Shore (of Oahu) are good - and lots of people prefer Shark's Cove. Personally, my favorite is Three Tables, which is down the road. To me, Shark's Cove is too crowded and I don't really care for the entry/exit and trying to navigate the rocks. Once you're in the water it's a nice dive - but the hike back to the car and trying to avoid the hordes of swimmers/snorkelers is not my cup of tea.

Hanauma Bay is nice for snorkeling. You can do guided dives with certain dive companies. I'm not so sure I would recommend diving on your own (without a guide) - inside the bay is too crowded, and outside the bay can be a bit difficult if the ocean conditions are not right and you're a new diver.

cawhite

Thanks!

ajcolorado - I have heard good things about Mike Severns too.

chepar - They will definitely be going with a dive outfit. Can you recommend any on Oahu? I know there are 2 recommended in Oahu Revealed (Maybe Oahu Dive Center and Ocean Concepts?? I'll have to check.)

cmcfong

Another vote for Mike Severns. A very good company with an excellent safety standard. I have been diving for over 25 years and I give them very high marks. I prefer Maui, by the way.

chepar

>They will definitely be going with a dive outfit. Can you recommend any on Oahu? I know there are 2 recommended in Oahu Revealed (Maybe Oahu Dive Center and Ocean Concepts?? I'll have to check.)<

Sounds like they are thinking about doing boat dives. I used to do quite a bit of diving with Ocean Concepts, and can recommend them - especially for new divers. However, they dive primarily out of the west side of the island, not the north shore.

If you're looking for a guided shore dive on the North Shore, I know Deep Ecology offers them. I've never used them, but someone I met who was visiting used them and was pretty satisfied.

Aaron's Dive Shop also offers guided shore dives, but again, I've never personally used them. They do have a solid reputation here, though.

Visit the message boards at www.scubaboard.com and check out the Hawaii forum. Probably more information than you'll ever need about operators and dive sites. Also a good resource for info on local diving in your area.

cawhite

Thanks cmcfong and chepar.

chepar - I have done a little research on scubaboard, but will continue to do some more. Also, re: our "local area"... that happens to be San Diego, and after getting certified in the freezing Pacific Ocean in March, my DD refuses to do ANY diving here. She was miserably cold. She doesn't even want to do it in summer. I had to take her to Cozumel just to prove it can be an enjoyable temperature!!

chepar

cawhite - I feel your DD's pain. I often take for granted the easy year round diving here in Hawaii - last month I did a couple of dives in Catalina and although I love diving, if I had to go through that much effort each time I went diving, I'm not sure I would do it.

It was a toss-up between wrestling on the 7mm farmer john wetsuit or staggering over to the water carrying almost half my body weight on my hips and back that really made me appreciate the ease of diving in Hawaii.

cawhite

chepar - That's funny... we're going to Catalina ourselves in a couple of weeks and my daughter also won't dive there either. In Cozumel she was perfectly fine! And she loves to snorkel in Hawaii, so I'm sure she'll love diving there as well.

BarbaraS

We dove with Deep Ecology in Oahu two years ago, and they were great, good equipment and personalize service. We just did shore dives at Shark's Cove and later Three Tables. Both were excellent dives, lots of turtles and even a shark.

We are going to Maui in March, so I would love to hear your trip report .