Dive Review of Bubbles Below,/Islander on the Beach in
Hawaii/Kaui'i

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Bubbles Below,/Islander on the Beach, Oct, 2011, by Michael Habib, CA, US ( 1 report). Report 6253.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This is a no frills dive operation but a good one at that. I knew they were decent based on previous reviews. In all honesty though, my first choice was to visit the Fathom Five dive shop where I had originally booked a twilight dive as their day dives were full(I should have known better to book much sooner...as opposed to the day before !). But I was feeling a little uneasy about a night dive given my absence from diving for so long. I then remembered that Bubbles Below also had a good reputation based on several positive reviews. So I went ahead and called them to see if they had any scheduled outings the next morning as I had a very narrow window given my departure in a few days. After a few calls back and forth between Sterling and Travis they had enough people for a second boat that next morning (yeah !). So I was quite pleased with that. Showed up at the little boat harbor in Port Allen where Amber (Linda Marsh's daughter) was there to greet us and get all of the paper work (liability forms) out of the way. The boat we were on, the Sea Rocket arrived around 7:45. When speaking to both Travis and Sterling the day before I had specified that I had all my gear except a BC which I needed to rent. There was a slight mix up where when I arrived; they had a regulator for me instead....thankfully they had an extra BC although I little on the small side...so I was a little miiffed by this at first...but it worked nonetheless. We were 6 passengers, the DM (Amber) and the captain (Peter). Both were great to be with...very expereienced and knowledgable. The boat was comfortable as far as capacity (in fact I beleieve it is capable of transporting 8 - 9), not state of the art by any means but fully functional with a small head on board. We were given a boat safety briefing by captain Peter and then a dive briefing by Amber. Our first dive was at Shawna's Shelves: saw spiny lobster, helmet crab, porcupine fish, schools of small fish, eel...an Ok dive. Corals were in good shape. I like the way Amber brought along her slate and wrote down what we were seeing. She is a very knowledgable DM and excellent diver. She asked everyone where we would like to dive next...she gave us options of where we might go based on what we might find there. We settled on Hale O honu (house of turtles). On the way there we spotted a pod of spinner dolphins. Pretty cool. On the second dive we saw several turtles, a few trumpet fish, fan fish and a lion fish. Also a nice relaxing dive. We were back at the harbor by about 12:00, just as they had predicted. I am glad I was able to rent 100ft3 tanks from them, nice option to extend bottom time as I am a little rusty from being absent from diving for so long. First dive was about 45 minutes with max depth of 80 ft. and second dive lasted 54 minutes with 65 ft vis. Safety stops at 20 ft for 3 mins. Snacks on board were a little on the "light" side including mini chocolate bars, cookies and granola bars along with sodas and water in stainless steel bottles. So in summary, I enjoyed my two dives with Bubbles Below,and so glad they were ale to accomodate me with my narrow diving window. So if you want a no frills but safe operation don't hesitate to dive with them, they know many of the great dive spots. They are also the only dive operation that I know of, that will take you out to the Island of Nihue year round, depending on conditions of course. Other operators stop going out there by the end of September. I heard that diving there is really incredible (3 tank dive)....but the boat ride can be brutal. So check in with them first to see if they are planning to head out there.
Websites	Bubbles Below,
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	Eastern Canada, Atlantic, Florida Keys, Turks & Caicos Islands.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	76-79°F / 24-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-65 Ft/ 15-20 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Follow the divemaster...but not necessarily right at her fins.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Bubbles Below,/Islander on the Beach in Hawaii/Kaui'i

Bubbles Below,/Islander on the Beach, Oct, 2011,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Bubbles Below,/Islander on the Beach in
Hawaii/Kaui'i