G
Guest
Anybody have any recomendations for dive operators in Oahu? I definitly don't want a cattle boat.
Thanks,
Brian
Thanks,
Brian
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OP
OP
Guest
I got a pm for Oahu and I figured I might as well post it here also.
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Yep, I went to Oahu and did lots of diving. I went with Pacific Paradise Divers (http://www.PacificParadiseDivers.com 808-262-6292). I have mixed feeling about recommending them.
Pro’s:
Absolutely great Dive Masters, picked us up at our hotel, since we dove multiple days they kept and washed our equipment between days. The owner of the company is the dive master so the customer service was very high. Great people to dive with.
Con’s:
They do not own their own boats. So you are on a boat w/ other dive groups. As such all dives are limited to 45 minutes regardless of where your air is at. Also, they do not choose the dive sites. If there is a specific dive you really want to do you may or may not get to go there, or you might end up diving the same site twice.
Also, when I called and talked to them before to make my arrangements I specifically asked them if they had their own boat and was told they had 3. The truth is they charter with 3 different companies. So I feel I was misled.
I also felt our first dive was a little rushed. My wife and I have different skill levels. I’m a dive master with 300+ dives, she’s Open Water I with (now) 50 dives. It had been over a year since our last dive so I would have preferred a nice easy first dive. Most of the problems we had diving were not under Pacific Divers control, weather and the boat breaking down. However, the last dive was canceled because the boat operator did a private charter and Pacific Divers didn’t find out about it in time to schedule with another boat.
We did have a great time diving. I don’t want to leave you with the impression it was a bad diving experience.
Oahu Diving in general
Due to the weather patterns on the island, the afternoon dives are close in land a shallow. So typically all the dive companies typically have their “Discover Scuba and Beginner Diving” in the afternoon. Since Pacific Paradise does not own the boats there are potential problems. I tried to dive 6 days, we only got to dive 3 days due to various problems, afternoon weather, boat broke down the day before.
I’m not sure I would dive again with them.
One of our dive charters was with Captain Bruce. Overall I was impressed but even though you are diving with “Captain Bruce” there are other dive companies on board. AAA Diving seems to get good web reviews, they have a smaller boat so they might be more limited by weather. However, they only had their own divers on board so my guess is you have more freedom in dive locations.
Hope this information helps.
Brian
=========================
Yep, I went to Oahu and did lots of diving. I went with Pacific Paradise Divers (http://www.PacificParadiseDivers.com 808-262-6292). I have mixed feeling about recommending them.
Pro’s:
Absolutely great Dive Masters, picked us up at our hotel, since we dove multiple days they kept and washed our equipment between days. The owner of the company is the dive master so the customer service was very high. Great people to dive with.
Con’s:
They do not own their own boats. So you are on a boat w/ other dive groups. As such all dives are limited to 45 minutes regardless of where your air is at. Also, they do not choose the dive sites. If there is a specific dive you really want to do you may or may not get to go there, or you might end up diving the same site twice.
Also, when I called and talked to them before to make my arrangements I specifically asked them if they had their own boat and was told they had 3. The truth is they charter with 3 different companies. So I feel I was misled.
I also felt our first dive was a little rushed. My wife and I have different skill levels. I’m a dive master with 300+ dives, she’s Open Water I with (now) 50 dives. It had been over a year since our last dive so I would have preferred a nice easy first dive. Most of the problems we had diving were not under Pacific Divers control, weather and the boat breaking down. However, the last dive was canceled because the boat operator did a private charter and Pacific Divers didn’t find out about it in time to schedule with another boat.
We did have a great time diving. I don’t want to leave you with the impression it was a bad diving experience.
Oahu Diving in general
Due to the weather patterns on the island, the afternoon dives are close in land a shallow. So typically all the dive companies typically have their “Discover Scuba and Beginner Diving” in the afternoon. Since Pacific Paradise does not own the boats there are potential problems. I tried to dive 6 days, we only got to dive 3 days due to various problems, afternoon weather, boat broke down the day before.
I’m not sure I would dive again with them.
One of our dive charters was with Captain Bruce. Overall I was impressed but even though you are diving with “Captain Bruce” there are other dive companies on board. AAA Diving seems to get good web reviews, they have a smaller boat so they might be more limited by weather. However, they only had their own divers on board so my guess is you have more freedom in dive locations.
Hope this information helps.
Brian
