Dive Review of
Wanna Dive Kona/Kona Coast Resort II in
Hawaii/Kona

Belize Atolls, Cayman Brac/Little Cayman, San Salvador Bahamas, South
Caicos, Grand Turk, Cozumel, Sea of Cortez, Monterey Bay

Dive Conditions

Return with 500 pounds of air.  Depth isn't much of an issue in Kona.  

Camera rinse tank on board.  

Overall Rating

Wanna Dive Kona is a small (6-pack) dive operator who runs a 25-foot newly
refurbished boat out of Honokohau Harbor (where most of the operators in
Kona depart).   We did 6 days of 2-tank dives the last week in April. 
Owner (Steve)and divemasters (Bob and Kathy) provided an excellent
experience for our 3 divers and one rider.  We were pretty much confined to
sites north of Honokohau Harbor due to weather, but saw schooling spinner
dolphins every day above water, and on one day about 25 of them paid us a
visit underwater.  It was pretty spectacular.  We also saw one manta, a
white tip reef shark, a large leatherback turtle and two spotted eagle
rays.  The water was a little colder than we anticipated and the
"vog" hanging over Kona kept the sun from warming us up between
dives.  Steve was kind enough to provide us with thermal protection (no
extra charge) and we got through our 60 to 70 minute dives without freezing
to death.  Steve provides a sandwich lunch every day, as well as drinks and
snacks.  He includes gear storage, set up and rinsing at the conclusion. 
Divemaster Bob is the first divemaster I have run into in a long time who
really loves what he does and was very knowledgeable and excited about the
sites and fish we encountered.  Steve gave us an excellent price for the
diving and charged about half of what everyone else in Kona charges for a
rider.  In fact, my husband wasn't feeling well and decided on short notice
to sit out one of the dive days on deck mid-week and Steve only charged him
the rider rate for that day (unheard of in Kona).  A couple of the days we
had the boat to ourselves, but on days we had one or two additional divers,
the boat was very comfortable for all aboard.  We highly recommend Wanna
Dive Kona.  If I have anything negative to say it would be that he gets
kind of a late start (we met at 9:00 every morning and didn't leave until
closer to 9:30).  That put us back on shore at about 2:30 to 3:00 every
day.  We didn't mind because we came there to dive, not sightsee.  We
didn't notice any difference in the water conditions in the afternoon as
compared with the morning.  We have been diving in Kona before (with Jack's
Dive Locker) and prefer the small boat experience and attitude of Wanna
Dive Kona any day.  When I was researching dive operators before the trip,
one of the larger operators (Kona Honu) actually told me they don’t have a
6-day package and would not give us the same price for the 6th day of
diving as the previous 5.  The sixth day was going to cost $10 MORE than
the 5 previous dive days.  Unbelievable.  Steve’s website provides good
restaurant recommendations and you should also check out his blog.   

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