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#264
Kailua Kona Hawaii
CallieJax - 5/29/2012 10:29 AM
Category: Travel
Replies: 5

I will be going to Hawaii and staying on Kona. Has any one ever dove there. Any advise on where to go or local spots of interest?
#10632
m_grieco - 5/31/2012 6:51 PM
I have dove there before (and stood on the Big Island for almost a week)...if you’d like more details about my diving experience, read my Hawaiian diving blog (it’s my only blog and can be found on my profile). I researched diving in Kona pretty extensively prior to booking, and Kona Diving Company was my personal choice. I was very pleased with my experience with them, and if you do book with them, I highly recommend the three tank long range trip and the manta ray night dive...both were great, the manta ray dive far exceeded my expectations. If you’d like any additional info, feel free to message me, I’d be happy to answer any additional questions you may have.

Mike
#642
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MaryW - 5/31/2012 7:00 PM
we’re diving with the Kona Diving Company in July (partly due to Michael’s article (thanks Michael!, but also other reviews). There are lots of dining reviews on tripadvisor.com and konaforum.com . I used vrbo.com for a condo rental. There are so many things to see and do depending on your interests. The condo we rented is walking distance to the downtown area and 3 miles from the dive op. We’re also doing our AOW while there, and Kerry has been most helpful in that regard!
#10632
m_grieco - 6/01/2012 4:33 PM
Glad to hear you’re diving with Kona Diving Company, you won’t be disappointed. The downtown area has lots of restaurants, best advice I can give is ask the locals...they know the island best. The dive staff was great, my wife and I spent quite a bit of time chatting with them (particularly Katie and Paul) and if there is something you’re in the mood for, they’ll know where to find it. Also (and I didn’t write about this in my blog)...check out the photo gallery of a guy by the name of Joshua Lambus. He’s an incredible underwater photographer (he sometimes dives with KDC too, he know the staff quite well) and he’ll talk as long as you’d like about diving on the Big Island and places only the locals know where to find. We went to this beautiful lagoon call Kiholo Bay on his recommendation, he knows all kind of neat places off the beaten trail, so if that strikes your fancy, check out his gallery (it’s right by a shop called "Just Ukes"). Enjoy Hawaii and look forward to hearing about your trips.
#264
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CallieJax - 6/05/2012 6:51 AM
Sounds like Kona Dive Company it is. Thanks for the feedback.
#642
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MaryW - 7/13/2012 6:56 PM
not sure if you’ve gone yet or not, but I can now add my first hand recommendation! We had such an awesome week diving with the Kona Diving Company. We took our AOW with Kerry, the owner, and she was amazing to say the least. Her crew is obviously carefully chosen, and each and every one of them went the extra mile during our dives. The manta night dive was life changing - I can’t say enough about that experience. We also did the 3-tank long-range dive, and it was amazing as well. They feed you well, hot showers on the boat, and under water get ready for some education about fish behavior. Really superior service, imo. Highly recommend. Can’t wait to get back there, and KDC will be my first and only choice for dive shops in the area.