Dive Review of Jack's Diving Locker/Mauna Lani Resort in
Hawaii/Big Island - Kona

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Jack's Diving Locker/Mauna Lani Resort: "Surprised by Jack's Dive Op", Oct, 2022, by Francis Loncar, WI, US ( Contributor 15 reports with 6 Helpful votes). Report 12263.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	During my dive trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, I ended up using 4 different dive ops during my stay, each of which had unique features. In common, they all had the policy of no “island time” where Check-in was concerned, the goal was an on-time departure. The DMs at all the shops were mainly composed of veterans, middle aged full-timers to retirees that help part-time. Weather was in the mid-80s every day, and with water temps around 80F, I did not use a wet suit, but I was in the minority. I will review each dive op separately. Note diving in Hawaii is expensive. Jack’s Diving Locker was the op that surprised me the most, as I usually shy away from big outfits with multiple boats, but somehow they managed to make the experience seem individualized. After my first dive trip, I kept signing up for more trips even though it was 30+ minute commute to the boat. Highlights were the double dip Manta dive, where the 1st dive is in daylight so you can get your bearings and see Mantas in the daytime, have dinner and then dive for the Manta show which was excellent. The Advanced Dive trips were only available after they had assessed your skills on a standard dive, these trips went further to sites that were less visited, had some very nice dives. One final dive that they only take 8 divers is the Black Water dive, where they go out to the deep ocean and tether you to the boat with a 40’ line. Get to see creatures from the deep come up to the surface to feed on plankton. A great sight to experience 80 minutes went by in a flash. The boats depart from a marina north of town, a car is needed, but parking is free and of adequate capacity. Crew is very helpful and you have the option of setting up your gear or having the crew do it. I did not rent any gear, however I did not note any of those who used rental gear having issues with it. Boats vary in size from 20 divers to 8. On the large boats, they arranged your gear location carefully, with groups 1, 2 & 3, from most to least experienced. At the site Group 1 geared up and each had the space of 3 tanks on each side, so gearing up went quickly, then Group 2 took their place and were geared up before G1 was finished entering the water. G3 geared up towards the bow where there was enough space for the crew to assist these divers. The process went quicker than the typical madhouse on other boats where everyone gears up at the same time in close quarters. Coming back to the boat the process was reversed: 3, 2, & 1 got on the boat in order. One little change made a large boat seem small. I appreciated not having to bounce around on a tag line 10 minutes, while the DMs sorted out the chaos. All the boats had a camera bucket, and sandwich box was provided during the surface interval which was one hour. Prices were comparable with other dive ops, note that it is expensive, a 2-tank trip starts at $160.
Websites	Jack's Diving Locker
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Kauai, Cozumel, Fla Keys, Wisconsin, Palau, Maui, Grand Cayman, Aruba
Closest Airport	Kona	Getting There	Flights from major West coast airports
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy	Seas	choppy, surge
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	50-150 Ft/ 15-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Wanted divers to start for the boat at 700 psi Dives were limited to 80 minutes Dive guide mandatory
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Camera water bucket available, no mask s allowed

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Dive Review of Jack's Diving Locker/Mauna Lani Resort in Hawaii/Big Island - Kona

Jack's Diving Locker/Mauna Lani Resort: "Surprised by Jack's Dive Op", Oct, 2022,

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 Jack's Diving Locker/Mauna Lani Resort in
Hawaii/Big Island - Kona