Dive Review of Jack's Diving Locker/RAVC Keahou Kona in
Hawaii/Kona

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Jack's Diving Locker/RAVC Keahou Kona: "A good trip to Kona", Jul, 2014, by Joel Horie, UT, US ( Sr. Contributor 22 reports with 15 Helpful votes). Report 7861.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		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	• Dove three days with Jack's. The main retail shop is in the Coconut Grove shopping center. You can enter from Alii Dr, but it's easier from Kuakini Hwy. Ride their van from the shop or meet at their little shop at Honokohau Harbor. If you dive multiple days, they'll store your personal or rental gear at the harbor. Shop has a pool for training and a large gear selection. We were there July30 to Aug1. Water temps right at 80, 80 to 90' vis and air temps upper 70s. All the Captain's and DMs were friendly, professional and seemed like they enjoyed being out. • 2 tank day dive at Hoover and Eel Cove. Diver II boat, Capt Jeff and DMs Sarah and John. Sarah is really up on her sealife and especially the small stuff. At Hoover saw all the usual, plus a single Manta flyby, Conger eel, Thorn of Crowns, Pipefish and Morays. • 2 tank afternoon/night dive. Apparently, vanilla night dives are relatively rare, since the Manta night dives are almost everyday. Only about 10 total divers including. Some locals and DMs on their day off. Did Honokohau Harbor mouth. We did this late afternoon and it was surprisingly good, for being just a few minutes out of the harbor. Large frog fish, Morays, Crevalle, Flame Angel, Gold Lace Nudibranch, Trumpet fish. I really enjoyed this, but… there is noise from boat traffic overhead. Our visit just happened to be during the International Billfish tournament, so there was more boat traffic than normal. Kind of like playing next to the freeway, but I'd do it again. We didn't see any, but they said Tigersharks some times cruise the area. • The night dive was just off Pine Trees beach at Pyramid Pinnacles. Large Viper Moray, Snowflake moray, lots of sleeping fish, Yellow Sponge crab. Capt Laura and DM Matt, on Diver II. Marker lights and hand torches provided. • 2 tank Manta night dive. This is big fun, showy and well choreographed . We went out on the Kea Nui, a Newton 46. Capt Alexia, and DM Keller Laros. Both dives are at Garden Eel Cove. The boat is a mix of snorkelers(they hang on to paddle boards) and divers. The late afternoon dive is a familiarization dive for the sight. They go over location and overview for the night Manta dive. Even so, it was very good dive on it's own. Pod of about 20 spinner dolphins, 5 Manta flyby, flame angel, Black Butterfly, Garden Eels. The night Manta dive. Okay, this reminded me of a Vegas show, the movie Thunderball, and those underwater Mermaid shows. Sitting in a circle, on the sand, the group's upturned torches attract zooplankton. They just collect on the lenses of the flashlight. That attracts the Manta to fly and zoom in and feed. However, I enjoyed the smaller stuff too. Two species of Goatfish just fed on the flashlight as if it were an ice-cream cone. Above them, there was a little 10' tall tornado shaped cone of Opakapaka. A nice Yellow Margin Moray sat in my lap and then wrapped around my wife's shoulders. A good size trumpet fish did a headstand next to my right shoulder. Most of the Manta action was in shallow water, with the snorkel groups. Keller led us over and it was a riot of looping Manta Rays(5 or 6?), curtains of bubbles, with all the flashlights making it look like an underwater stage act. It's quite a spectacle and would have been good even if only a few Manta showed up. There are quite a few boats and a lot of people in the water. The DMs did a good job of getting everyone back on the correct boat and there was no big rush to get everyone back aboard. In fact you could stay down and use your air, even after the show was over. I guess you really are fish feeding, if that bothers you. Will do the Pelagic Magic night dive next time we go. Everyone who took the trip , said it is a must do. If you're hungry late night, most restaurant kitchens close at 10 pm. Humpy's on Ali Dr has a descent late night menu. We ate there after the night dives. The dives are pricey, but all their boats are in the water at Honokohau Harbor; no launching. The gasoline at the pumps next to the harbor shop is pretty reasonable. We saw a number of airport shuttle vans filling up there.
Websites	Jack's Diving Locker
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Belize, Grand Cayman, Socal
Closest Airport	Kona	Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-80°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	80-90 Ft/ 24-27 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Stay with the divemaster, but ascend in pairs when ready. Divemaster stayed down with the longest lasting divers.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	1 or 2
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 Jack's Diving Locker/RAVC Keahou Kona in Hawaii/Kona

Jack's Diving Locker/RAVC Keahou Kona: "A good trip to Kona", Jul, 2014,

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/RAVC Keahou Kona in
Hawaii/Kona