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Dive Review of Kaimana Divers in
Hawaii/Oahu

Kaimana Divers, May, 2014,

by Michael Kay, CA, US (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 7592.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 2 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 3 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments I found Kaimana customer-service oriented. From the beginning making reservations, owner Gabe was very accommodating, from making arrangements to pick-up and drop-off at our hotels. They kept our gear between dives. Except for one dive, where the DM grabbed an octopus, causing it to squirt all its ink, and held it (even passed it around for other divers to hold) the DMs were generally respectful of the sea life and very helpful in pointing out critters.
4 of the 5 days were from the boat slip on Sand Island for South Shore dives. The boat was pretty basic with no cover. The diving options are pretty limited on the South Shore. In just 8 dives we revisited one of the dive sites. The YO is a purpose sunk tanker, max depth 87' with lots of coral, visited by white tips, green turtles, spotted eagle ray. 100' Hole (88' max) is a lava outcrop covered in coral; turtles present; Ewa Pinnacles, 84', had turtles, eels, pennant fish,, long nose puffers. Magic Mushroom, 79', colorful slugs, nudis, eels. Sea Tiger, is a wreck in 120' of water, but you see everything in 100'. Frog fish, trumpet fish, more turtles. Mario's, 48', is a shallow field of rocks, not much in the way of fish, but some slugs, a flounder, and a spaghetti worm. The San Pedro is another artificial reef, 90', with several turtles, a spotted eagle ray, blue dragon nudis, but the best part was hearing whales, a surprise this late in the season. LCM, 64', is an unidentified WW2 landing craft, with shark, rare pipefish, puffers, and eels.
We dove 1 day from Waianae on the Leeward side. This was a chartered boat, larger, with cover and a head. Dove the Mahi, another purpose-sunk wreck at 91' max. Eels, spotted eagle rays. Makaha caverns, 52' is a shallow wall dive with some interesting swim-thrus. Turtles, trumpet fish and pennant fish.
All in all they're a good operation (with the exception of the fish-mauling DM) but I don't think Oahu (at least the sites I saw) offer as much interest, either for the coral or fish, as the Big Island, or Kauai. Still, if you're only going to be on Oahu, I'd recommend them for their customer service and generally excellent crew.
Websites Kaimana Divers   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Virgin Islands, GBR, Indonesia, Thailand, Florida
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather rainy Seas choppy
Water Temp 76-77°F / 24-25°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility - Ft/ - M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Able to dive own profile 8 of 10 dives. Others DM had us ascend when the first diver went up.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 2 stars Tropical Fish 2 stars
Small Critters N/A Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

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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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.

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