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Kailua-Kona Scuba Diving Tours
Kailua-Kona Scuba Diving Tours - What to Know
Kailua-Kona scuba diving tours are the best way to experience a once-in-a-lifetime dive with manta rays. Globally renowned for its unique night dives, Kona is one of the best places to witness these gentle giants up close. Kona’s rugged and less developed coast, being the youngest geologically and lacking a fringe reef, provides hidden dive spots the local guides love to bring visitors to. The knowledgeable guides will help you find elusive octopuses, rare spotted eagle rays, and the occasional prized tiger shark! While on boats, keep your eyes peeled for the pilot whales that inhabit the island. Experienced instructors will select dive sites based on the best conditions and visibility to ensure your shore or boat dive is successful!
Kailua-Kona is a featured dive destination in our article: Top Scuba Diving Destinations You Can Feel Good About, due to plentiful marine conservation efforts of our dive shop partners, including reef cleanups, education programs, and supporting manta ray identification and protection efforts.
Why Choose Kailua-Kona for Scuba Diving
Kona scuba diving is home to two extraordinary dives that are rare to find elsewhere in the world. The first is the manta ray campfire, a night dive where divemasters set up bright lights in a circle of rocks, attracting plankton and manta rays. As you lay on the ocean floor, you’ll be within a foot of these gentle giants as they somersault and swirl around you, feeding on the plankton. The second unique dive is the pelagic blackwater dive, which was pioneered in Kona. This late-night dive, conducted a few miles offshore and hovering over thousands of feet of open ocean, is designed for advanced divers with excellent buoyancy control. Tethered to the boat, you’ll witness the largest migration of animal life on Earth as creatures from the Twilight zone ascend to the surface. Fluorescent and transparent jellyfish, squid, and even seahorses float by, creating an otherworldly experience.
Where to Go Scuba Diving in Kailua-Kona
Manta Heaven
This is the primary place for manta ray night dives where divemasters set out bright lights in a circle as divers lay down to enjoy the graceful swirling of the gentle giants.
Pelagic Blackwater
There is no specific place for this dive, but the boats go offshore over the open ocean.
Reef Exploration
There are many reef sites all over Kona and the specific ones will depend on the daily conditions. The reef forms right along the shore, creating the opportunity to dive both from the shore and boat for many of the same sites.
Top Tips for Scuba Diving in Kailua-Kona
- Best Time to Scuba Dive: You can dive year round, but from April to May and September through November there will be fewer crowds with ideal weather. The best time of day to dive is early in the morning before the wind picks up and when the seas are flatter with better visibility. During the winter, you have the chance to hear Humpback whales singing and witness them breaching from the boat.
- Use Reef-Safe Sunscreen: Please use reef-safe sunscreen to avoid polluting the clear waterways! With so many visitors a year, it is essential to keep the waters as clean as possible for the wildlife!
- Respect Marine Life: Observe wildlife from a distance without chasing or harassing them. Never feed or touch animals, even if they approach you out of curiosity. Please stay off the reef at all times. Green sea turtles, seals, dolphins, and many more species are protected, resulting in a fine or jail time if you’re found harassing them.
- Stay Hydrated: Swimming, diving, and relaxing on the boat in the hot Hawaii sun can be intense. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
- Follow Leave No Trace Principles: Keep all trash with you and secured down while on the boat or shore and dispose of it properly when you’re near a trash can or back at your hotel.
Other Kailua-Kona Adventures
Check out other Kailua-Kona Adventures at Kailua-Kona, HI Outdoor Activities! These include snorkeling, surfing, freediving, kayaking, paddleboarding, rafting, and hiking!
Can I go if I’ve never been scuba diving or are not certified?
You can scuba dive in Kailua-Kona without certification with a trusted Kona dive shop and divemaster and/or instructor. If you’re not certified, look for Intro or Discover scuba-labeled tours. There may be restrictions to diving as a beginner, including the manta ray and pelagic blackwater. Please check on the tour to ensure you are not required to have a certification.
Is Kailua-Kona good for scuba diving?
Kailua-Kona is incredible for scuba diving, hosting two extremely unique dives: the manta ray night dive and pelagic blackwater dive. The waters have great visibility, warm temperatures, and a plethora of marine life, from tropical reef fish, coral, sea turtles, spinner dolphins, rays, whales, and spinner dolphins. It is also home to unique topography created by the lava fields that have collapsed to create underwater swim throughs.
What do I bring with me scuba diving?
- Swimsuit
- Towel
- Reef-Safe Sunscreen
- Extra Layers of Clothing
- Dry Bag
- Snacks & Water
- Certification Cards if applicable
- Required Paperwork (Signed medical forms, waivers, etc.
- Waterproof & Pressure Proof Camera
- Seasickness Medication
Can I fly after diving?
Flying directly after scuba diving is incredibly dangerous and could result in a life-threatening illness called the Bends/Decompression Sickness. The Divers Alert Network (DAN) guidelines for flying after diving include:
- A single no-decompression dive, a minimum preflight surface or any driving to above 1000ft (305m) interval of 12 hours suggested.
- Multiple dives per day or multiple days of diving, a minimum preflight surface or any driving to above 1000ft (305m) interval of 18 hours is suggested.
- Dives requiring decompression stops are recommended to have longer than 18 hours.
Please discuss with your dive guide ahead of time what is suggested!
DO NOT DRIVE BACK TO HILO OR SOUTH OF CAPTAIN COOK after diving! The roads enter unsafe elevations after diving, so please treat driving to other parts of the island as you would a pre-flight surface interval.
Are there health restrictions for diving?
You need to be in reasonable physical health; certain conditions will affect if you can safely dive or not. Discussing with your doctor ahead of diving is the best way to check your eligibility to dive. There will be a medical questionnaire that must be filled out ahead of the dive. If you answer yes to certain questions, you may be asked to obtain a doctor's note clearing you for the activity. The questionnaire often used can also be searched as the PADI/DAN Medical Scuba Statement. It will be up to the divemaster if you can participate depending on your comfortability in the water in order to keep everyone safe.
What about sharks?
Sharks hunt at dusk and dawn and therefore rarely, if ever, seen on tours. They are simply wild animals that also share the ocean, but most often people rarely see them. The most common sharks to spot are small reef sharks that prefer to immediately leave the presence of people and boats and tend to be harmless towards people.
Do I tip my guide?
Your guide/instructors work hard before, during, and after your tour to provide you with a great experience, and while not expected, gratuities are always highly appreciated. If you had a safe, educational, and fun experience, gratuities typically range from 15 to 20%.