Jack's Diving Locker, Kona, Hawaii
We were going to be in a condo in Kona for a week, so we figured it would make life easier to pick one dive shop and do all our diving with them - and we are so happy we picked Jack's!
Firstly, it's a big, professional dive operation so they have plenty of dives to choose from. The shop itself is huge and has everything you could want, whether to rent or buy. They took our gear on day one and brought it to and from the boat for every dive, rinsing it at the end of each day. If you don't have a car to get to the marina, they will transport you from the dive shop in the center of Kona. So in short, they make life very easy.
Secondly, they offer a great option for divers with a bit more experience - one boat each day heads out with only 'advanced divers'. OK, it's slightly more expensive, but you have your pick of dive sites that are not on most itineraries. Some of these sites are a longer boat ride away, but not all, and we never ran into another dive group on any of them. The crew and guides are very flexible too - if you have a preference for a site or type of dive, they will do their best to accommodate you. They also go to great lengths during the surface interval to seek out whales, dolphins etc - and you can jump in with mask and snorkel for a closer look. 'Advanced' dives may include lava tubes, drift diving, slightly deeper wrecks etc.
Thirdly, Jack's really understands that after spending thousands of dollars on a trip, you don't want to be told that you have to surface after an hour, or when the first person gets low on air. The norm was 80mins, but we often had longer. This was a big plus in my book.
Next big plus was the marine life. We added all sorts to our tick list - conger eels, dragon morays, viper morays and an assortment of fish that are only found in Hawaii, such as flame angelfish and various butterfly fish. The dive guides were great at letting us know what to expect to see at each site, so we knew what to look for and where, plus of course they also found many of the creatures for us.
And I've saved the best for last - the Pelagic Magic dive. I would go back to Kona and do this every night for a week if possible. Jack's offered this dive twice, but we were so desperate to do it again we added a third with another dive shop. Jack's definitely have the edge - they show you an intro video at the dive shop before you go out for the first time, which is very reassuring for those who need it and also very informative. The dive is limited to six, plus guides, which works well and once again they allow an 80 minute dive time so no one feels cheated. Jack's use a parachute in the water to keep the boat from drifting in the wind - this is a great feature as without it all the tiny creatures drift by too quickly to see them properly or take photos. I can hardly begin to list what we saw, mostly because they all have long latin names, but it was awesome and each of the three nights threw up a myriad of different creatures from the depths, from larval stage fish, crabs and lobsters to pelagic octopus and box jellies. One night we had dolphins hunting around us for a full hour, on the others we had squid darting all around feeding.
So, in short, if you are considering Kona, head to Jack's Diving Locker and you won't be disappointed.
