Dive Review of Pacific Rim Divers in
Hawaii/Kona

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Pacific Rim Divers: "Favorite dive operator in Kona now even better with a brand new boat", Aug, 2016, by Jim Schoeneck, CA, US ( Reviewer 3 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 9091 has 3 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My family has used Pacific Rim Divers as our dive operator in Kona for the past several years. Patrice (the owner) and her crew have always done a great job on the boat and finding interesting things in the water. We've always loved having a dive operator like Pacific Rim Divers who will let you dive your air and your computer rather than doing a preset, timed dive like most of the big shops do. Plus you get Patrice's special brownies during the surface interval. Now the experience is even better. Pacific Rim Divers has a brand new, custom-designed 12 guest dive boat that is about the best we've seen anywhere. It's comfortable with lots of space for people and gear. Entry into and out of the water is also easy. They considered many comfort and safety factors. For instance, the two ladders lock in place to avoid the dangerous swinging that can happen without this design. If your group includes a non-diver who snorkels, Pacific Rim can accommodate them and will go to appropriate dive sites. Important to us, Pacific Rim will keep your gear overnight if you are doing multiple dive days, rinsing and hanging it each day. They will also do a thorough rinse of everything on your last dive day before you pick it up about 20 minutes after the boat is out of the water. During that time, we've been known to grab a cold schooner at the Harbor House, which is a few steps from the boat ramp and pier. On this trip, we did 6 dives, averaging about 85 feet max depth and 88 minutes per dive. Nitrox was helpful for the profiles the first day, but not really needed for the other 2 days. Interesting critters during the 3 days included: Eels: dragon, snowflake, viper, conger, zebra, stout, tiger and white mouth Nudibranchs: gloomy, fuchsia, gold lace, white margin and many others Fish: oval, teardrop, reticulated, saddle and many other butterflies; flame and banded angels; long fin anthias, fire darts, Whitley boxfish; razor, dragon and psychedelic wrasse; leaf scorpions and 3 of the biggest frogfish we've ever seen (including swimming or more waddling). Invertebrates: Harlequin, marbled, ghost and urchin shrimp, lobsters and over a dozen active octopi. Bigger stuff: many dolphins, turtles, eagle rays, and one reef shark Within the past 2 years while diving with Pacific Rim we've also seen: a whale shark (then hung around with us on the surface after the dive), hammerheads, tiger shark, Blaineville's whale, monk seals and manta rays (both day and during the famous Kona manta night dive). The one downside recently in Kona is the coral. Hawaii has never had the prettiest coral and now the ocean temps have bleached much of it. Hoping for lower sea temperatures and recovery. For the land portion of the trip, we recommend renting a condo on Alii Drive, preferably within 2 to 3 miles south of town. We find this much better than farther north (Waikoloa as known locally as Waiko-blowa). For food, some of our favorites include Kona Brewing Company (known locally as the Brew Pub), Jackie Rey's, Mi's Café (Italian), Ke'ei Café (our local #1 for celebration dinners) and Annie's Burgers. For wine locally, we think Alex at Westside Wines is the best in Kona. Overall, we highly recommend diving in Kona and specifically with Pacific Rim Divers. We will be back multiple times a year as it's an easy trip from California to warm Hawaiian waters!
Websites	Pacific Rim Divers
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Palau, Indo, Galapagos, Great Barrier, California, Baja, Turks, Bahamas and all over the Caribbean
Closest Airport	Kona	Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	80-150 Ft/ 24-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Only restricted by your computer and air (or nitrox); depth/dive profile with group
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	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		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Pacific Rim Divers in Hawaii/Kona

Pacific Rim Divers: "Favorite dive operator in Kona now even better with a brand new boat", Aug, 2016,

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 Pacific Rim Divers in
Hawaii/Kona