Main Menu
Join Undercurrent on Facebook

The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975 | |
For Divers since 1975
The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975
"Best of the Web: scuba tips no other
source dares to publish" -- Forbes
X
 

Dive Review of Jack's Diving Locker in
Hawaii

Jack's Diving Locker: "MANTA DIVE - AWESOME", Sep, 2015,

by William J Marlow, FL, US (Reviewer Reviewer 3 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 8592.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations N/A Food 1 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling 2 stars
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments We had the privilege of diving with Keller Laros who is the founder of the Manta Pacific Research Foundation. He also works for Jack's Diving Locker. First, Keller is an incredible person - awesomely funny - but a wealth of knowledge about the gentle giants we dove with. IF YOU ARE GOING TO DIVE WITH THE MANTAS, YOU NEED TO REQUEST Keller. He is passionate about Mantas and their protection and the opportunity to learn so much about them on a dive trip is priceless.

The dive trip itself is pretty standard - well organized cattle boat - Divers are broken into groups of 6 to 8 with a dive leader - get Keller! The first dive Garden of the Eels is an orientation dive for the area. Both dives are only 30 feet. There is a lot to see on the dive but the real show starts on the 2nd dive.

We have never been in the water with so many divers before - there were at least 10 boat and 50 plus divers in the water and another 50 snorkeler on the surface. Sounds daunting but it actually works pretty well. They put high intensity lights on the bottom to draw in the Krill, Each diver has a high intensity light and the surface snorkelers have high intensity lights. The effect is that the krill love it which brings in the Mantas.

All the divers sit on the bottom and the gentle giants come in to feed. The are nothing short of MAGNIFICENT. The swoop over the divers coming to with in inches of all of them - no problem getting GREAT pictures. No Touching. The dance through the Krill and put on a show that even jaded divers will be talking about for years.

For photographers the opportunity is incredible. Set your lights and focus at 6 ft out. That will diffuse the Krill reflection while you get amazing photos.

For the GoPro people - it is AWESOME. Remove your red filter - no need because of all the light and depth. Set your GoPro for Video + Pictures. I used a 1 sec lapse for the pictures and got some great shots that we blew up to 20 inch x 30 inch pictures.

Take advantage of learning more about these incredible creatures from Keller. Did you know that not all Mantas are black and white? Did you know they can change colors? And a thousand other interesting facts.

Keller shoots video every time he dives. He primarily does this as part of his research but being the fun kind of guy he is he does some funny stuff at the same time. We bought a couple of his video from the night we dove. We highly recommend it! Not only did we get a great video of that night but he includes about half a dozen other videos that show some incredible footage.

We dove during the super moon - dadada dum! It was awesome night and an incredible sight.

Do NOT be put off by the cattle boats or the number of divers...it actually makes no difference.
Websites Jack's Diving Locker   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Caribbean, Florida Keys, Mexico, Bonaire, Aruba, etc.
Closest Airport Kona Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas choppy
Water Temp 80-82°F / 27-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 20-30 Ft/ 6-9 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas Squadrons
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 1 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments The boat crew is VERY well trained at handling even the most elaborate and expensive set up. Trust them.
Was this report helpful to you?
Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here
 

Subscribe Now
Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 655 dive reviews of Hawaii and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

 

Want to assemble your own collection of Hawaii reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

Undercurrent Home


Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email.
And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent

Free Undercurrent Issue
Get a free
monthly email and
a sample issue!


Find in  

| Home | Online Members Area | My Account | Login | Join |
| Travel Index | Dive Resort & Liveaboard Reviews | Featured Reports | Recent Issues | Back Issues |
| Dive Gear Index | Health/Safety Index | Environment & Misc. Index | Seasonal Planner | Blogs | Free Articles | Book Picks | News |
| Special Offers | RSS | FAQ | About Us | Contact Us | Links |

Copyright © 1996-2024 Undercurrent (www.undercurrent.org)
3020 Bridgeway, Ste 102, Sausalito, Ca 94965
All rights reserved.

Page computed and displayed in 0.08 seconds