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Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:34 am
by cephalogoddess
Hi friends,
I'm going to the big island next week and am very excited. Do you have any shore dives you would recommend? I really want to see some nudibranchs but I haven't found any good information on where to find them. Seems like here you can see nudibranchs at almost every dive site, which is one of the reasons I love diving the PNW.

Thanks,
Taryn

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 1:10 pm
by jmartel
When I was there I didn't see a ton of nudis. A couple on a boat dive.

Two-step is a popular shore diving site. We did 2 tanks there. Heading right from the entry is better than going straight out. Go early in the morning though. It's mobbed with snorkelers late morning/early afternoon and parking is non-existent later in the day. Plus morning is your best chance to dive with the pod of dolphins that usually hangs out there. Might want to bring a mesh bag with you to recover the snorkels and masks that get dropped down onto the bottom. I picked up as many as I could, but they were all over the place there.

The other shore dive we did was off of the hotel next to the fishing pier. Nothing super remarkable other than running into a big bait ball right after we cleared the hotel's lagoon. Mostly a weight check dive. It was fun coming all the way back in to the beach underwater and scaring the crap out of people.

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 1:25 pm
by BillZ
Where are you staying? We travel to the BI 2X a year and I've dove most of the sites. Your location and the waves are the determining factor on where you can dive.

My personal favorite is Two Step south of Captain Cook and next to Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park. I've seen everything Hawaii has to offer at the site but the biggest draw are the pod of dolphins that come in almost daily.
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii ... /index.htm
https://vimeo.com/128705557

If you're staying up north near the resorts Pukao has two really good dive sites; Church and Village. I've seen several large Mantas at Church and village end is also really good.
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii ... /index.htm
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii ... /index.htm

If you are into sharks and getting the shit scared out of you, Alua Beach near Honokohau Harbor (where most of the dive charters take off from). It's a bit of a hike with gear over lava rocks but the small beach is really cool and if you get to see Laverne it's definitely worth you time.
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii ... /index.htm
https://vimeo.com/147554489

A few other good sites:
Mile marker 4 just south of Kona Town: http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii ... /index.htm
Old Kona Airport in downtown Kona: http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii ... /index.htm
Pebble Beach on Kona Paradise(13 miles south of Captain Cook): http://www.divingkona.com/kona-paradise/
Manta Dive at the Sheraton: If your frugal (like me) and are up for a challenge this popular (expensive) boat dive can be done from shore. Let me know if you want to try it and I'll fill you in on the details.

A few tips....
Rent a small SUV or pick-up. Some of the roads can be challenging for low clearance vehicles
Jacks Dive Locker is the best place to get tanks and weights. They have the best hours for pickup and drop-off of any of the shops in town
If you can, Bring or buy your lead: This is a weird one. I use 10lbs of lead for diving warm water. To rent the lead, it would have cost me ~$60 for 10 days. I asked them how much it would cost to buy two 5 lb blocks and the said $35. I ended up buying the lead and leaving it with a friend on the island.


If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Bill

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 1:35 pm
by theonly_JT
+1 to Jacks diving locker. had a fantastic week diving with them last October. Water is warm and clear, staff was friendly and awesome. I met some local who took us out shore diving at 2-step. Gotta make sure you get on a manta ray night dive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u11ILc1qO3g

From my trip last year.

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 2:05 pm
by jmartel
For dive ops, the only one I used was Big Island Divers. Was incredibly happy with them. I accidentally left my mask on the boat and they found it months later and sent it out to me.

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 9:05 pm
by Gdog
Ive used both Jacks, and Big Island. Jacks was trying to rent me 72cf tanks, BI had 80cf tanks. Jacks is the most convenient, but I prefer BI Divers.
Billz has listed the best sites for you, make sure and check them out!

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 11:56 am
by cephalogoddess
Thank you everyone. I've been snorkeling on the big island before and two step was by far our favorite. We also really loved diving 69's beach. We plan to use Jack's :) We are staying at the Wyndham Kona resort I believe. Are there any shore dives that have soft corals or sponges as food for nudibranchs? I love two step and 69's but both are mostly hard coral from what I've seen snorkeling. (Oh, and I snorkeled with dolphins several times at two step and saw baby dolphins. Amazing. I hope to see them again this trip.) It seems like there just isn't much nudibranch food in Hawaii.

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 12:11 pm
by fmerkel
There are not a whole lot of nudis in HI, at least not easy to find. If you don't mind paying for a boat trip Kona Dive Company is excellent with critter finding and ID. Kerry Key, owner, is particularly good with nudis.

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 3:31 pm
by BillZ
As a cephalogoddess you may be a bit disappointed in Hawaii diving. Hawaii in general is great for big stuff - turtles, sharks, rays, dolphins and schools of fish - it's not so great for the macro life.

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:16 am
by Scubak
Has anyone mentioned the NIGHT Manta Ray dive?
It is a must do if you have never experienced it!
An amazing experience with some beautiful creatures.
Kona Honu divers have some very educated people on Mantas and diversity of critters in Hawaii.
Kirsten

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 4:18 pm
by Gdog
Also the blackwater dive... Epic!!

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 9:13 am
by Sharkb8
I just got back from the Big Island last weekend. I did a couple shore dives, the manta night dive and the local 2 tank trip, all through Jacks Diving Locker. I have nothing but great things to say about their operation. I think they have retired most of the LP72 tanks that people have mentioned, because I had AL80's with good to great fills the whole time. We also saw a lot of nudis on the local 2 tank trip, and the mantas showed up to party on the night dive. My favorite part of their operation was that they grouped everyone by ability level and let you dive your tank. My last dive of the trip was 82 min of following my DM and Kona's version of Jan K around finding frogfish, harlequin shrimp and other cool stuff I thought you only got to see in the more exotic locations in the world. The shore dives that my wife and I did were at 2 step and the main pier in downtown Kona. I also got some great snorkeling in at 2 step, Kua Beach, Hapuna Beach and at Richardson Ocean Park in Hilo. When I get around to finishing going through my photos I'll put up a trip report.

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 6:53 pm
by Diverdave68
MILE MAKER 4 WAS A GREAT DIVE WITH LAVA CAVES TO THE LEFT. ENTRY WAS A BIT DIFFICULT OVER THE LAVA ROCKS IN THE SHALLOWS. ONCE IN WATER DEEP ENOUGH TO GET MY HEAD UNDER, IT WAS GREAT. I SAW 7-11 CRAB, LOTS OF FISH, LOBSTER, AND A SPONGE CRAB.

DOG BEACH IS A DIFFICULT WALK OVER UNEVEN LAVA ROCKS. WHEN I ASKED THE LOCALS, ALL AGREED IT WOULD BE THE PLACE TO GO IF YOU COULD ONLY DO TO ONE. IT WAS THE BEST, FOUND FROG FISH, MANTAS, MONK SEALS, NUDIES AND MORE FISH THAN I COULD COUNT. EVEN SPOTTED A LITTLE OCTO.

PELAGIC DIVE WAS GREAT. 90% OF THE THINGS A SAW I'D NEVER SEEN BEFORE. A FEW DIVERS GOT SICK BY HANGING ONTO THE ROPE AND GOT JERKED UP AND DOWN. THIS DIVE IS BEST FOR THOSE WITH GOOD BOUYANCY AND CORRECT WEIGHTING. IT WAS ODD TO BE TIED TO THE BOAT BUT WITH A 5000 FOOT BOTTOM, THEY DON'T WANT TO LOOSE ANYONE.

MANTA NIGHT DIVE WAS REALLY COOL FOR THE FIRST 3 MINUTES, THEN IT WAS THE SAME THING ON REPEAT FOR A 1/2 HOUR. OTHERS IN THE GROUP THOUGHT IT WAS MAGICAL FOR THE WHOLE DIVE. I'M GLAD I DID IT ONCE.

Re: Diving Hawaii Big Island

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:10 am
by Gdog
AWESOME DAVE!! MM 4 IS A GREAT DIVE. HAVENT DONE DOG BEACH, BUT WE HIT OLD AIRPORT 3 TIMES LAST WEEK, SEVERAL ARCHES TO SWIM THRU. WHY AM I YELLING?!