Dive Review of SeaSport Divers - Poipu/n/a in
Hawaii/Kauai

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SeaSport Divers - Poipu/n/a, Feb, 2009, by Marta Arensberg, WA, United States ( Sr. Reviewer 7 reports). Report 4679.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	SeaSport Divers, February 2009 Diving was excellent. I booked with SeaSport Divers in Poipu. Friendly faces greeted me the morning I arrived for my first of 5 trips out with them this February. Several of the dive masters, and the boat captain remembered me from Feb 2008. DM Adriana asked me if I needed a wetsuit, I told her “no, I’ve got my 3mm”. She said the winter water temp (low 70’s) was cooler this year then last, and that I would probably get chilly. I took her up on the offer of a 5mm loaner, which was in like new shape, and was happy I did. After all divers were checked in, we took a five minute drive to Kukuiula Bay Boat Harbor, during which Adriana gave us a short briefing about how our morning would progress. Arriving at the dock, we were warmly greeted by Capt Andrew, and watched while he and Adriana transferred tanks and dive gear for all six divers, from the van to the dive deck of the boat. The 48 ft Anela Kai is the largest dive boat on the island of Kauai. Very diver friendly, with a spacious and well laid out dive deck, half covered – half not, and an upper fly bridge, it is extremely clean and organized, which makes for efficient diving for up to 18 divers for south shore morning and afternoon trips. This morning, with only 6 divers onboard, it was like having our own private dive charter. Safety is of high importance to SeaSport, and on each trip the captain and dive masters gave us detailed information on emergency boat procedures, and detailed boat diving procedures before leaving the dock. Safety is my number one concern, so I appreciated their thoroughness. On the way to our first dive site, Adriana briefed us on the underwater topography of the Hawaiian Islands, likely fish and critter ID, the expected current – as our first dive would be a drift, water entry, descent, ascent, safety stop, and boat entry after the drift. First up was a great drift from Turtle Bluffs west to General Store. As we neared 80 ft, an eagle ray did a fly by directly below us. Nice start for a dive that also included sightings of yellow trumpet fish, pyramid butterfly fish, banded angle fish, pink tail trigger fish, large green sea turtles getting attended by cleaner wrasse, white tip reef sharks, morays, a variety of nudibranchs, and black tree coral. Visibility was easily 60 ft. Adriana deployed her safety sausage while we ended our drift, and as each diver completed the safety stop and surfaced, Capt Andrew was there to get everyone back up the two stern ladders and onboard safely. On the Anela Kai for our surface interval, we enjoyed bottled water and sodas, cookies and assorted granola bars, and ripe bananas that Capt Andrew brought from a tree in his yard – nice touch. Next up was a whale show that was pretty spectacular because of the view from the fly bridge. Several sightings of blows, fins and backs, and a breaching, all in the distance, entertained us. There is plenty of room for moving into the sheltered, but open area on the main deck to avoid the sun or wind. Nice amenities are a large camera table, separate rinse tanks for camera equipment and facemasks, and hot water showers on the back dive deck. Our second dive of the morning was the famous Sheraton Caverns, which is in the 30 – 65 ft range. Three lava tubes are the resting place for several large green sea turtles. A white tip reef shark was in residence this day too. We saw two spotted morays, a whitemouth moray, sergeant majors guarding their purple eggs, and a large porcupine fish. Sighting highlights for me were the baby octopus and the lobster that the DM pointed out. As we were about to start our ascent, a lone manta ray made his way toward our group – wow! We could hear the humpbacks singing the entire dive – a bonus. A short cruise back to the harbor and the crew thanked each of us personally for choosing to dive with SeaSport. Capt Andrew, Capt Ryan, and DM’s Brownie and Adriana are a pleasure to dive with. It is apparent that they love the ocean and genuinely enjoy sharing Kauai history and underwater adventures with the divers. Each trip was highlighted by some particular find – spiny lobsters, leaf scorpian fish, white ghost shrimp, lizardfish, guardian crab, and the list goes on. Back at the shop, SeaSport has a very nice outdoor gear rinse tank and plenty of hanging pegs – an especially nice touch for those divers who bring all of their own gear. The rental shop has reasonable pricing on everything you need if you didn’t bring your personal gear. Included in the trip cost ($125), for the south shore dives are 2 tanks, computer, weights, safety sausage, wetsuit, mask, snorkel and fins. Nitrox is an extra $20. SeaSport Divers also has a great website www.seasportdivers.com with ALL the information, and online reservations ability. The retail sales personnel at the Poipu shop are friendly and attentive. SeaSport stocks everything from fish ID books and underwater DVD’s to a huge assortment of dive, snorkel and beach gear. After trying out their loaner 5mm wetsuit (thanks Adriana), Roxanne, Micheal and Darrell were happy to answer my numerous inquiries about sizing and cost, and when I finally placed my order, they made sure to have it arrive before my departure from Kauai. Other services include onehour photo, dive video from your dive trip, shore dives, and PADI dive instruction and certification.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Kona, Cayman Islands, Palau, Fiji, Belize, PNG.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy	Seas	calm, choppy, currents, no currents
Water Temp	72-74°F / 22-23°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	30-80 Ft/ 9-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	depth limits, back onboard with 500+ lbs, stay with group on drift dives.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
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	N/A	Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of SeaSport Divers - Poipu/n/a in Hawaii/Kauai

SeaSport Divers - Poipu/n/a, Feb, 2009,

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 SeaSport Divers - Poipu/n/a in
Hawaii/Kauai