By Kevin Stewart Dive Guide and Scuba Instructor
There are several factors we all consider when we are looking at which dive shop we want to dive with when we go to a dive vacation location. The quality of the diving is always important, of course, like how healthy are the reefs, are there lots of fish, or whatever it is we are interested in seeing like big animals or maybe topography or even just macro animals.
It is always important to feel well taken care of and safe for your dives and have confidence in the crew and their professionalism and abilities and we also want them to be friendly and welcoming. If you don’t have your gear your also look at what quality of gear do they have for rental and that in turn includes what their boat is like. Many people will say they only want to go on a six passenger boat or what we call a six pack because they think a larger boat would be too crowded and would not be any fun while or other people want a bigger boat because they think that is more comfortable. There are pros and cons to both but when diving the Big Island of Hawaii with Kona Honu Divers their boat the Honu One has pretty much the pros of both and not the cons. I have worked on some six pack boats that were just not designed for comfort like one that had the engine compartment basically right in the middle of the dive deck so that everyone had to sit around it with very little room to a person and no proper seat. Maybe there were suppose to only be six people on the boat maximum but it would have been with less. If it get wavey or choppy a smaller boat can give a bit of a challenging ride even a large boat can but a small one is even worse. The Honu One of Kona Honu Divers on the Big Island is a forty six foot Newton which is a very nicely sized boat and very smooth in the water. That is one of the best things about it even if there are big waves it takes a lot to disrupt the ride of Kona Honu Divers boat the Honu One on the Big Island of Hawaii . The maximum number of divers that the crew of Kona Honu Divers on the Big Island of Hawaii will take on the Honu One is eighteen at one time but the boat is large enough that the Coast Guard would aloud twice that many people to be on the boat at one time. What this means is that there is tons of room on the Honu One even if there are the full count of eighteen people on the boat on any given day. There is plenty of room to spread out and move around so that some people may want to go sit out on the bow of the boat while they are traveling and watch while dolphins surf in the boat wake or a costumer of Kona Honu Divers may want to join Kona Honu Diver’s captain on the top deck or sun deck upstairs. That points out another great feature of Kona Honu Divers boat the Honu One on the Big Island of Hawaii that the main deck has a big covered area that is nice and shady so you can get out of the sun and the rain on those few days you might want to get out of the rain. I have not been on or worked on any smaller “six pack” boats that have any type of shade area on them and this can be a real drawback when you are going to be on a boat half a day or all day on a sunny day and you can’t get out of the sun. It also means you can’t get out of the wind which can be just as uncomfortable as too much sun especially if it is also raining or night at the time. Even with the shade on Kona Honu Diver’s boat the Honu One on the Big Island it is important to remember to wear a hat and some kind of sun shirt or covering on your body or use a sunscreen but be sure that the sunscreen is reef safe. All these items can be purchased at the Kona Honu Divers shop so if you forget any of these essentials you can pick them up at the shop before you get one the boat. With all the space that is on the Kona Honu Divers boat the Honu One there is plenty of room at each divers station to sit to put on your gear and to check out your gear before your dive. Another great feature on Kona Honu Divers boat at the Big Island of Hawaii is that the deck and seats are covered with a padding that makes it extremely comfortable to sit at your seat and it is not slippery at all so the chances of slipping are practically non-existent. Even if there is water all over the deck, which is not an uncommon state for the deck of a boat to be in, it is not slippery and gives you much more confidence for walking around on the deck even if the ocean is rocking the boat a bit on the day you go out with Kona Honu Divers on the Big Island of Hawaii. It also means your seat is not slippery either and who hasn’t tried to pull off a dive buddies bootie or wetsuit while they are sitting on a seat on a dive boat and have them slip off the bench which can have unfortunate consecquences. So when considering where to dive when visiting the Big Island of Hawaii remember all the advantages of the Honu One of Kona Honu Divers which will make your choice on Kona Honu Divers the best choice for diving on the Big Island of Hawaii. Most people don’t realize how good it is to dive the Big Island of Hawaii. So why not go Kona Diving with us?
