Reef Pirates Diving — Local services in Honolulu

Reef Pirates is as professional as they come!

But,

If you have read Jessica or Jennifer’s negative reviews down below, just know that I was the “student” on the boat along with them. I want to make it clear I have no affiliation with Reef Pirates, except for my great admiration of them.

Because of the false accusations in Jennifer and Jessica‘s reviews, I feel compelled to go line by line in refutation . . .

Their Claim: They booked their 12-year-old daughter on a 3 tank dive and then said “my daughter had done discovery dives at greater depth” than 60 feet. And “nowhere on the booking page does it say kids under 15 couldn’t join.” This is “an obscure rule.”

My Refutation: No reputable dive shop would ever take a 12-year-old under 60 feet. This is a well known rule. In fact, the paperwork given to the parents at the time of booking clearly states, in at least 2 places, that no one under the age of 15 can dive below 60 feet.

Their Claim: They wanted to “leave my 12-year-old on the boat with the captain” and “it felt racist and predatory,” and “then change the rules and said none of us could even stay on the boat during that deeper dive.” And “the dive master’s attitude turned downright hostile and nasty.”

My Refutation: It is standard practice for those who are not at a skill level to be safe on a more difficult dive to stay on board with the captain. Obviously, these captains all go through extensive background checks. From my point of view, throwing out the word “predatory” and “hostile” and “nasty” and “racist” toward men who are conducting themselves in a safe and professional manner, is slander. That being said, no, the rules were not changed. It was never, ever stated that the women could not stay on the boat together during the deep dive. The seas today were very rough, and the warning was simply that waiting on the boat would be risking sea sickness.

Their Claim: “We were told the dives were going to be based off some student diver.”

My Refutation: That I was a student had nothing to do with their situation and would not have impacted their dive experience, even if they all could have joined in. However, in order to help their situation, I suggested that, since I had two other dives planned this week, we could stay shallow for all 3 dives. I was willing to give up my deep dive today for their sakes—and the captain and dive master were also willing—but the women didn’t take me up on this offer. I don’t know why.

Their Claim: “No snacks; no hydration.”

My Refutation: There are snacks aplenty, and I ate a granola bar from the boat’s offerings today between dives. The water situation—not providing communal water—is typical of many dive boats since Covid. Even so, the captain suggested to the women that they go buy more bottled water at the restaurant right next-door. But, for whatever reason, they did not want to do this. I don’t think any of this was about use of plastics.

Their Claim: “I’ll be reporting them [Reef Pirates] to the proper authorities for unsafe practices and shady behavior.”

My Refutation: I witnessed zero unsafe practices—and of course, there was no shady behavior—on the part of the captain or the dive master. On the contrary, what I witnessed was very much accommodation to the women while also adhering to safety. In fact, these men spent quite a bit of time troubleshooting when trying to get Jessica, Jennifer, and their daughter ready to dive. For example, two of the regulators the women had brought with them were not working, so the dive master and captain made sure to supply shop regulators. Also, one of the women screwed a regulator on the tank backwards, clamping it down so hard, the captain had to use wrench to get it off.

Final notes: The fact that the dive master and the captain would not allow the 12-year-old on a deep dive was absolutely following the rules for her own safety. So, if Jessica does make a formal complaint against Reef Pirates, I am here to provide a witness statement in absolute support of the dive master, the captain,...

My fiancé and I, along with our friend dove with Reef Pirates on 08/10/21 and 08/12/21. The 4 star rating comes specifically from our dives on 08/12 with Divemaster Joe, Captain Noah and the additional staff member, Hannah that joined our charter. Joe was great at communicating the options of various dive sites and made our group feel comfortable with the dives planned, as we are all new to diving with less than 15 dives each. He communicated the dive plans very well on the boat and made sure that everyone in the group knew what to expect on each dive. We dove the Baby Barge site and Fantasy Reef, both were great sites. We were blessed with fairly calm seas and visibility at about 80 ft which was much better than our first day of diving. We were very happy with Joe and his team and would highly recommend him to charter another dive trip in the future.

Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about the crew we had the first day of diving on 08/10/21. Andrew was our dive master, and he seemed relatively new to Reef Pirates. His group was all inexperienced divers with two people around 12 dives, one person with 6 dives and the last group member doing their first dive after OW. The dive plan was not discussed well, signals were not communicated prior to getting in the water and members of our group were not weighted correctly. It was assumed we all just knew what to do like an experienced dive group. On a normal dive these issues wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but visibility was around 8 ft or so under water, which made the dive sites more complicated. First, we had a group member surface more than once on the dive, which shouldn’t happen. Secondly, it was admitted after the dives that our dive master lost us and the boat on more than one occasion. Thirdly, the communication wasn’t set on the boat that was needed for us to know what was going on during the dive so a few of us came up to about 12 feet on more than one occasion because of improperly weighted group members and no communication as to what was happening above us. Luckily, they were shallow dives around 35 ft, so the risks were very minimal, but it did not make us feel very comfortable in the staff leading up to deeper dives. Thankfully Joe reassured us on our second dive day and we had AMAZING dives.

We understand the diving industry suffered through COVID, and many people lost their jobs or their staff, and new staff is to be expected. We just hope in the future the crew knows their dive group a little better so they can work through issues and concerns to make sure everyone is diving with clear communication and is comfortable. Dive sites, visibility and the rough waters are definitely uncontrollable, but making sure things are well communicated and that all divers are safe is to be expected. To be honest if we had showed up with Andrew as our master on 8/12 for our second dive, we probably weren’t going to dive based on overall safety because we were being pushed to do the Corsair dive site at over 100ft.

Overall, we give Reef Pirates a 4 star because the second day was some of our best diving to date and Joe and his team deserve the higher rating. They were fantastic and made our dive trip memorable! We hope the rest of the crew working can work on safety and communication to meet the same standards we...

This is probably a gateway to my obsession with scuba diving so if you are ready for a juicy review, keep reading!

How to get there: They are located at the shopping plaza (will get an email stating how to find it). But in case you are like me who got lost still, you want to put Sophie’s pizzeria in the address and then park anywhere since it’s an open lot. Then you have to walk back to where the bay is and there will be a small shop with reef pirates. We arrived at the plaza early but ultimately ended up being late since we had to circle around to find it.

Communication: Satoshi (owner) is very responsive, despite being so busy with others when we arrived. I didn’t speak with him personally because he was preoccupied but he seems like a nice person.

Grouping: We were in a group of 8 people, I read some said they do groups of 6 but maybe that has since changed. Nonetheless, quality of care was still great.

Instructor/Captain: Joey and Hannah were our instructors. They are very informative and provided great instructions for us and made my first dive really enjoyable (and less anxiety inducing). They are really easy to talk to and cared for us to detail underwater to make sure we are OK (👌🏻) underwater. Our captain, Chris, was very nice and always helped us out. From when we jumped into the water to when we got up from the surface. Those tanks and scuba gear are heavy and getting out of the water with them might be a struggle to some.

Amenities: They provide wet suit (for scuba and snorkeling), diving/snorkel masks, as well as snacks for the ride. One thing to note is that they don’t have water on board but they do have a bubbler at the shop that you can refill your water bottle to bring along the ride. They will also have a GoPro and will help take photos for you during the dive (will attach below).

What we saw: lots of celebrities houses, the only seaside Costco, oh and the sea animals. There were dolphins, sea turtles, and a good amount of fish. I felt like I was aqua man reincarnate when the fish swam close to me.

Time: Our reservation was 12p-4p, with the first hour being waiting for others to arrive, paperwork, and pre-quiz to make sure you know your stuff before getting into the water. Then we spent the next couple of hours or so to dive. This is a group activity so it’s one person jumping in then the next. With competencies in the water as well to really make sure you will be prepared when you go deeper.

Final verdict: Would recommend going and will go again if I ever visit...