Dive Review of Kaimana Divers/Queen Kapioloni Hotel in
Hawaii/Oahu-South Shore

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Kaimana Divers/Queen Kapioloni Hotel, Jan, 2007, by Tom Carlson, WA, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports). Report 3290.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Kaimana Divers, Queen Kapioloni, January 2007. kaimanadivers.com. Tom Carlson (tcarlson06@gmail.com), Tacoma, Washington. Experience, 0-35 dives, Water 77 degrees F, Viz 60-100 ft, calm, surge. This was our first trip to Hawaii and we were lucky enough to connect with Gabe Scottie of Kaimana Divers. Gabe runs his own dive business and offers a personal touch not often found with other dive operators. He picked us up promptly at our hotel ever day and got us into some wonderful Hawaiian diving. The first day we did buoyancy and skills checks in a pool then did a two-tank shore dive, the next two days with him were boat dives. He knows all the boat operators and got us onto and off the boats with ease. We dove the SW, S and SE portions of Oahu with Gabe. We received a thorough briefing on each site we were to dive. Our first dive with Gabe was a two-tank shore dive at Kahe Point Beach Park (Electric Beach). There is shade, bathroom, and shower available. This is a really good shore dive site. This site is located next to an electric plant. There is a sandy entry point next to the concrete wall of the plant and an easy surface swim out to about 15 feet deep to drop down onto the coral encrusted pipe that discharges warm cooling water from the power plant across the street, and attract a large variety of life. Corals and a plethora of sea life encompass this site with a max depth of about 35 feet. The Scuba diving was fantastic and we heard the sounds of the Spinner Dolphins singing the whole time we were doing scuba dives. Snowflake Moray Eel, green sea turtles, Spotted Eagle Ray, White Tip Reef Shark, Trigger Fish, Blue Line Snapper, Sgt Major, Moorish Idols, Yellow Tangs, Convict Tangs, Black Durgan, Porcupine Puffers, Trumpet Fish, and Pencil Urchins to name a few! The second day we did a two-tank boat dive off the Kahala Kai, a 40ft catamaran at Nautilis Reef and then off to Kewalo Pipe. Nautilus Reef is a series of finger reefs formed in a spiral shape in about 30-40 feet of water. Good viz, about 80-100 feet and many tropicals including several different types of Moray Eels and Lizard Fish. Max depth 55ft, saw abundant sea life at both sites. It was shallow so we had long bottom times at two wonderful dive sites. The third dive session with Gabe was on a smaller boat out of Hawaii Kai (SE) on a 30ft boat, the Honey II. We dove Anglers Reef and Koko Craters. Max depth of 47ft. At Angler’s Reef we saw more Green turtles, Triggerfish, Elegant Coris, Yellow Margin and White Mouth Morays, Striped Belly Puffer, Octopus and many other tropicals. Second dive was at Koko Craters which is named for the large Volcanic Crater Kokohead, which overlooks the entire Maunalua Bay area. This was an awesome second dive of the day. This is a shallow reef dive that contains a series of small crater shaped reefs at about 35 feet deep, thus providing ample dive time. There are large resident green sea turtles at this site, Slipper Lobster, as well as many schools of fish, eels. Another really fun dive site with good viz. After our dives each day with Gabe we would return to the shop and it was time to get the logbooks out and start identifying the creatures we saw. You may never see some of these organisms anywhere else in the world as 25% or the species are endemic (only found in the Hawaiian islands). Gabe is an excellent instructor and has such a positive attitude he is always a pleasure to be around and to dive with. We are going back next January and will dive with Gabe Scottie and Kaimana Divers again.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	26-50 dives
Where else diving	Puget Sound
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, choppy, surge, noCurrents
Water Temp	77-79°F / 25-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Recreational limits
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	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		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Shore diving site had bathrooms and showers as well as shade. Boats all had rinse tanks for camera stuff.

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Dive Review of Kaimana Divers/Queen Kapioloni Hotel in Hawaii/Oahu-South Shore

Kaimana Divers/Queen Kapioloni Hotel, Jan, 2007,

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 Kaimana Divers/Queen Kapioloni Hotel in
Hawaii/Oahu-South Shore