KONA SHORE DIVERS — Attraction in Hawaii

I'm new at scuba. The wife and I chose to go to Kona because it's supposed to have good diving, classes were available for my wife's continuing education, and, well, it's Hawaii. My wife wanted to do shore entry because I need a few days to get my sea legs on small craft and not get sick (I didn't oppose much). So bring on Kona Shore Divers.

Timing for Chris wasn't great. It was off season so he was busy renovating his shop, trying to hire dive masters for the upcoming season (he was the only one at the time), and he was helping with issues with his wife's restaurant. But he took us on.

Weather was an issue. The mornings were good because the sun shined and the wind and swells were down. My wife had morning classes. The afternoons were mostly cloudy with wind and bigger swells and chop. When we showed up to Kona Shore Divers, Chris told us the conditions were bad. But given our circumstances he geared us up, got us in the truck, and we headed out to check the diving spots. What few little beaches Western Kona has were not good. Big breakers beat them steadily. The boogie boarders and body surfers loved it. However, not workable for us. It was disappointing.

Then Chris asked if we minded jump in entrees? He had spots off an old lava flow (O'oma) that might work. We were game so off we went to look.

According to Chris the O'oma conditions were also sketchy. But no breakers. Just swells rolling in and bouncing off the rock walls. Our first day we started in what I liken to a micro cove. He explained that we wait for a lull between swell sets to jump in, and then immediately scuba or swim out the little channel to the open. Chris explained risks involved. Mostly about miss timing the swells and getting washed back onto the rock. Then we'd need to try again. Of course the decision to go was my wife's and mine (my wife's) to make. We decided to go.

What a gas. We launched off a ledge that was pretty close to the tide level. So it was a big step rather than a leap into the water. Once we were safely out of the micro cove, the dive was amazing. Our dive followed a big wall with small canyons. We were over coral that had colorful fish, an octopus, and a sea turtle. Just amazing. Our exit was exciting. We went under an arch and up into a pool (a blow hole without the blow). The pool has a rope across it which we used to pull to the side. There we stood on a ledge and took off our flippers and got out. An amazing adventure we had to repeat the next day.

Day two had better swell conditions. We entered via a larger cove which involved a 2 to 3 foot drop. It was smoother than the prior day. We saw a couple eels the second day. One was a snowflake. Our exit was through another arch and up over a shelf area to a small entry channel to a tidal pool where kids swam. We needed to wait for an inbound swell/current to push us through the channel. The wife and I were slow and missed the current that Chris used. We clumsily drifted about outside the entree channel trying/thinking we could get in against the outbound current. Don't do that. The current reversed and pushed us in. What a cool gig.

The two dives presented unusual tasks and challenges but were a lot of fun. I didn't imagine that I was in for such an adventure. Chris told us that the local divers refer to O'oma as the "tink tinks" or the "tank tinks". This because of the tanks tinking off the rocks on occasion.

Now before I sign off, I'll tell you that I swam competitively and feel bulletproof in water. My wife was already an experienced diver. So in defense of Chris, don't expect him to take just anyone to O'oma. Those entries and exits do have hazards. The wife and I snorkeled all the other days in the turtle cove, and I off the beaches in the mornings. It was all very enjoyable. Have a great SCUBA!...

I’ve been diving with several outfits in Kona, and I prefer Kona Shore Divers over any other option.

KSD divemasters’ knowledge is outstanding. Each divemaster is thoroughly familiar with each dive site — they know the exact places for the smoothest and safest entry and exit, to the point where they show you the best sandy patch to put on/take off your fins. They also know the reefs so well that there’s no danger of getting disoriented. Along with knowing how to keep you safe in the water, KSD divemasters are so knowledgeable about their dive sites that they’ll be able to reveal unique features to you, like individual resident fish or amazing reef formations, with a higher level of detail than you can find anywhere else.

In addition to having fantastic knowledge of the local area, KSD divemasters approach dives with a down-to-earth honesty. Leading dives necessitates excellent customer service skills, and KSD divemasters are great at building trust with their clients by asking thoughtful questions to tailor the dive to the client and following through while on the dive. If you haven’t been diving in a while, or you are a new diver, I especially recommend KSD. A 1:1 client:divemaster ratio is not uncommon, and that extra level of personalization is awesome.

If you want consistent professionalism and excellent character from your divemasters, choose KSD. It’s really fantastic to dive with this company. I’m especially grateful to Carly, Katie, and Jake for their guidance — I cannot recommend these divemasters highly enough. The company is also veteran-owned and has a great shop. Cheers KSD!

One last note: many boat charters will dive at sites that can be easily accessed from the shore, so you’re not losing any range if diving...

Chris was a wonderful instructor and shop owner! I was originally planning to finish my open water dives before coming to Hawaii but the water conditions changed at my hometown so I had to last minute find a shop in Hawaii for open water referral. Chris was extremely helpful! He would patiently answer all my questions via text/ call in such a timely manner that I felt very supported.

Because of COVID, he only does private lessons but that experience was super nice since I don't have to wait for other students to do their skills as I do mine and it was just so nice to have one on one attention from the instructors. He also helped me to add my boyfriend, who is already certified, to dive together to make the experience even more enjoyable. On the day of the dive, Chris and Maria were very attentive to my needs and patiently went over all the skills and demonstrated for me before we got into the water. I had trouble establishing neutral buoyancy but the instructors were so great and took their time to figure out the problem with me and teach me how to adjust. We even saw a green turtle when we were doing our dives!

Overall, this training day was such a great and fun experience and I would totally dive with Chris again. On a side note, when we were going through how to do the skill on land next to the road, so many people waved and said hi to him and some even asked him for advice about today's water conditions and etc. That's when you know that he's truly loved by the community and you definitely can't go wrong joining his crew for any...