Hawaii diving

[Dragonfire]

i wonder if someone can give me information about diving in Hawaii, getting to Hawaii and any tips that may help a guy to go dive there.

[subzero]

The Hawaiian island chain is made up of 132 islands, though we generally only think of the eight main islands, Ni'ihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, Kahoolawe and Hawaii. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and located over 2400 miles from the nearest continent has created a unique underwater environment, in fact over 25% of marine is endemic to Hawaii.

The four most visited islands are Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii, they each have their own unique characteristics and dive locations. Lanai, Molokai and Ni'ihau are dived less frequently and offer some unique dives and marine life, although generally recommended for intermediate to advanced divers. If you are interested in diving off Kahoolawe you will need to charter a dive boat.

Hawaii has year round warm waters and has been a popular scuba dive location for years offering some of the best dive sites in the world. The islands of Hawaii each have their own personalities and characteristics and due to Hawaii's geographical isolation they each offer unique and exciting dive sites, and an abundance of endemic marine life.

Oahu - offers an excellent blend of dive sites that range from offshore lava formations and grottoes to plane and shipwrecks, many with large schools of colorful fish and green sea turtles.

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Maui - most of Maui's dive sites are located off the west coast and offers excellent diving for all levels of divers, including Molokini, Black Rock and Five Caves.
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Hawaii - most of the diving on the Big Island is off the leeward coast, with some excellent locations stretched all along the coast. As the coast is sheltered from the trade winds by the large mountains conditions tend to glassy with visibility around 100ft plus.
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Kauai - the Garden Island is known for its rugged and pristine diving. During the winter months large swells make the north shore generally inaccessible for diving, but during summer months and on calm days the north shore has some excellent locations.
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Ni'ihau - located 17-miles off the southwestern coast of Kauai, is home gigantic sea arches, the endangered monk seal, large pelagic fish and other rare species of fish. Ni'ihau has some amazing dive locations but is generally recommended for intermediate to advanced divers.
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Lanai - the dive sites in Lanai are best known for their lava formations which not only house a large variety of marine life but make for some amazing light effects. The lava formations range from archways, ridges, tunnels, pinnacles.
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Molokai - Along the entire South side of the island of Molokai lies the longest barrier reef in Hawaii. Seldom visited by divers, this natural sanctuary offers some of the best diving in the islands.

I hope this information will be helpful.
Have a great Dive

[BigDon]

Can you provide maybe some information about what my budget should look like for a week in Hawaii? Thank you in advance for the information.

[subzero]

Te hotel will cost you about 700 $, you can look for hot deals over the internet.

[ksmom]

If you have not gone to Hawaii yet, I would recommend diving off the Big Island (Hawaii). We stayed in Waikoloa Village north of Kona. Probably easier and cheaper to stay in Kona.

The diving and snokeling was great. If you are on a budget, you can see a lot of marine life snorkeling as well as diving. (for free)

The Night Dive with the manta rays is great - the mantas are 10 to 14 feet accross and swim right above you. We bought the video and it is amazing.

For great snorkeling there is a hotel Mauna Loa I think and they let in about 15 non hotel cars for the beach a day so go early. (9ish) The bay has about 12 to 18 feet deep areas with coral and tons of fish.

You can also see the live volcano on this island.