In Reply to: Re: Need Suggestions for Dive Operators Near Kona posted by Anastasia L on November 14, 2007 at 16:49:47:

I've heard really good things about Jack's Diving Locker, although I've never been on their boat. The one time I was hanging out at the harbor and saw the JDL boat pull up it looked like there were ten too many people on the boat for the size of it. I don't know what kind of trip they were running but it seemed to me to be way too many people for it to be a dive charter?.

I've used Red Sail Sports that leaves out of the outrigger resort beach which is about 20 minutes north on the highway from Kona. They seemmed good. All the times I went on a charter they had open water students on board so they had to tailor the sites to suit them. Bless their hearts for getting certified but I expected more for the money I paid.

I also found a really neat little shore diving spot right between the Outrigger Hotel and the Hilton. There is a little beach path that conects the twp resorts and it is a nice little hike through the trees and across the beaches and rocks. all along the path there are places to get into the water. I stayed at the Outrigger and every morning I would grab my freediving fins and dive right off the point at the southern end of the Hilton. I found a great little ledge that started in about 15 feet and bottomed at about 40 feet. At the edges of the ledge there were many lava tubes that I found that I could soar through on a breath hold dive clutching my Nikonos camera. I got many great shots of turtles on and around that ledge.
Those freedives were more enjoyable than the scuba charters, in my opinion.