Hawaii (Oahu) Diving

[ArcticDiver]

Since a lot of PNW and Alaska folks go to the islands I thought it might be helpful to tell about my trip there last month. I try to make it to somewhere on the islands each January. This year it was Oahu. When I left home it was -48F and I still had some blisters from a case of contact frostbite. The warm sure did feel good while they resorbed.

As is fairly typical of Hawaii in January there were several days right after I arrived where the combination of swells and winds eliminated diving except off the south coast (Waikiki) area. I don't care for the blandness of diving there so that meant I had to "suffer" through lying on the beach watching the scenery and catching up on the news of other folks I hadn't seen in a year.

I dove with a business called Ocean Concepts. They are the sole user of a boat, they go when scheduled regardless of the number of divers on board and they do not nanny you to death. In addition they use a safety precaution I've not seen any other operator in Hawaii use; a hang bar at 15' complete with regulators from bottles on the boat. I use the hang bar fairly routinely to reduce crowding on the mooring line, especially when there is a current. I rarely ever see anyone use the regulators. But, this year there were three people who ran low and elected to use the regulators rather than blow off their safety stop.

In addition they use three methods of making sure no one is left behind. 1)Roll Call. 2)Head Count 3)DAN tags.

This trip the minumum number of paying divers on board was 3 and the maximum was 12, including a Discover SCUBA person. In each case they skillfully set up the dives so each diver got what they wanted. In one case they were certifying some Open Water folks while three of us who were more experienced were also diving. We splashed and did our thing. When we came back an hour later the OW people had been in the water, done their thing and were back on board waiting. No pressure on us to do anything except not kill ourselves and have a good time; which we did.

This operation starts the day off with a very professionasl briefing in the office followed by a briefing on the boat and a briefing before each dive. They wil, or will not, set up your gear at your option (unless you are a student of course). The food on board is very good; fresh sub sandwiches, fruit, cookies and fresh water. If you dive multiple days they will keep your gear, rinse it and have it back on board the next day.

As I intimated you can dive your own profiles or follow the guide; up to you.

I haven't dove with every operator on Oahu, there are lots and lots. But I have dove with several and this company has proven they are top rank. Over the years this company had had an outstanding safety attitude and is very customer oriented.

Oh yes, while we were gone there was a chinook at home with very warm temperatures into the +40s. But when we stepped off the airplane when we got back home temperature was back down to -40F. We missed the warm spell but we had fun doing it.

[ArcticDiver]

Gosh, I got writing about the boat trip and failed to mention the wildlife. This year I saw a couple things I hadn't before. There was what the guide called a Sea Hare, a little thingy. I saw my first purple octopus while crawling in the hold of the Mahi. It was a pretty good sized taco. There was a friendly white tip shark in Makaha Caverns that apparently hangs out there because it was there every time I was. Then there was a middlin size green turtle that decided to fly formation with me.

That was cool. I saw it and started to veer away from it to give it plenty of room. Instead it changed course, settled in about 6' off my port side and maintained that position no matter how I climbed, turned or descended.

This year the green eels seemed to be plentiful. Saw more than one that was 5' or longer. But the eagle rays were scarce; only saw one.

All kinds of various sized shrimps. And, of course, the humpbacks were thick as flies; as were the dolphins.

I had the privilege of diving one day with a biologist. He was a wonder to dive with. We focused on small, small thingys. And when we came back to the boat we had a long list. I just have to team up with someone to keep the eduation going.

Frogfish were relatively plentiful this year. And always it is fun to see the fish swimming "upside down" when the are under a ledge and substitute the ceiling of the ledge for the sea floor.

This year I saw more lobsters than last. All in all a very nice place to dive.

[OreCoastDiver]

Thanks for the report. We're headed to Maui on Mar. 10. I understand the dive boats are a lot cheaper on Oahu. I think we are mostly going to shore dive this year. There are lots of good shore dives on Maui.

I hear there's a lot fewer visitors to Hawaii this year. Was that noticeable?

[ArcticDiver]

Thanks for the report. We're headed to Maui on Mar. 10. I understand the dive boats are a lot cheaper on Oahu. I think we are mostly going to shore dive this year. There are lots of good shore dives on Maui.

I hear there's a lot fewer visitors to Hawaii this year. Was that noticeable?

Cheaper? Depends on who you are. It is a lot like paying at an auto parts store; there are multiple prices, depending on who you are.

It sure didn't look as crowded as in past years. The statistics published in the paper showed a decline, especially in oriental tourists for Oahu. Each island is a bit different and I can't say I paid much attention to Maui County numbers.

[fishb0y]

That has never been my experience with Ocean Concepts on Oahu. I have dove with them a number of times, and each time I did, I found them to be very preachy, limiting and not very willing to allow me to follow my own diveplan. While they do have the hang bar, I have always ben surprised how many people would use it because of poor air management. Pretty much the only reason I dove with them is because they were one of the few boats that went to the Mahi wreck. I also have plenty of stories of the poor service in their store (ie. unwilling to fill my steel 72 because it did not have a visual+). It always seemed as if they were taking advantage of the military since they had the Navy MWR contract

Glad to hear you had a good time in Hawaii. I know you had a poor experiance with Island Divers, but they seem to be the best operator there lately. I am looking forward to heading back for a couple of weeks in May.

[ArcticDiver]

I thought the negative advertising of the political season was over. But, it hasn't and has spilled over into other areas. Too bad.

First off, a point of clarification; when I post a trip report it is a report of my experiences. In this case experience based on several years of diving as a tourist in that environment. Frankly, I don't care who anyone dives with. I dive with several folks and offer my experiences only as an assist to other's decision process.

Criticizing an operator because they have made safety provision for those who make mistakes makes both the thought process and motivation suspect. After all, the primary market for boats like this in this tourist destination is the vacation tourist who dives very little and therefore can be expected to do all kinds of less than optimal things.

Refusing to fill a tank because it lacked the required inspection is a plus in their favor. It is one more demonstration that they are committed to safety.

Yep, Ocean Concepts does have a store on the Navy Base. Just like Island Divers has one on the Air Force Base and Dive Oahu has one in the Navy Exchange. On Oahu the military is a big economic force; probably equal or superior to tourism. It is smart business for these operations to penetrate the military market as much as they can.

So, as I would tell my flight students when they were getting out of control: Check your attitude. Don't get mired in the mistakes you've made. Get your attitude squared away and use the past as a foundation for the future, not an anchor.

I hope anyone who goes to Oahu to dive has a good time. It is one of my favorite places to dive.

[fishb0y]

I'm not trying to attack your post, I'm mearly pointing out issues I had with the dive op that you went with. Just like you giving others your views as a tourist in Oahu, I am giving others my view as a resident of Oahu for 8 years.

As for not filling my tank as being a positive safety issue... visual+ (not a required inspection) is ment for aluminum tanks, not steel. The reason for not filling the tank would either be because of ignorance (not understanding the purpose of the test) or greed to charge me for the test (having dealings with the shop, most likely)

Again, I am happy to hear you had a good time on Oahu, one of my favorite places to dive, but I only wanted to tell people the other side of a shop that does not treat the 'local' military very kindly.