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Dive Review of Ocean Concepts Scuba in
Hawaii/Oahu

Ocean Concepts Scuba, Jul, 2003,

by Gerald Canning, Nevada, United States . Report 601.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 3 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 3 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments I had the occasion to be in Honolulu for other reasons. I had very low expectations of diving in Oahu and couldn't find any information on island operators -- but I had two days I could dive and didn't want to miss the 80 degree water.

Ocean Concepts Scuba was a delight. They included complementary round trip transportation from Waikaki to their operation on the West Shore in the price. They picked us up on time, were very courtious and friendly, and saved us from having to figure out how to get to their operation which was 45 minutes away and required going through Honolulu.

The dive operation was a pleasant surprise. Both the shore safety briefing and the boat orientation and dive site briefings were well done and professional. Their rental equipment was new ScubaPro regulators, BC's, full foot split fins and UWATEC dive computers in the console. Everything was set up on the boat at your assigned seat. Tank fills were consistently in the 3400psi range. Dive sites were a relatively short distance from the shop.

Diving was in small groups (3-5 divers) grouped after reviewing your prior dive history. The typical dive was lead by a divemaster (one per group) who handled the first 2/3 of the tour to find you the small critters and point out the highlights of the site. The remainder of the dive was on your own -- leaving you with instructions to be back on board with 500 psi. You could burn out your air -- on both of the shallower second dives, I logged more than an hour of bottom time.

There were great sandwiches between dives and fresh fruit (including pineapple) after the dives. The boat crew and divemasters were top notch professionals who went out of their way to be helpful.

I had low expectations for the diving. It wasn'tt great but it was better than I expected. We didn't have the hard and soft corals of the Caribbean, but we did have an amazing diversity of Hawaiian fish life. Some of the fish that were new to me included various triggerfish, a tiger moray, saddled goatfish, a bird wrasse, ketail needlefish, Moorish Idol, Orangspine Unicornfish and a Peacock razorfish. There was a wide selection of other fish varieties on the dive.

I wouldn't go to Oahu just for the diving. However, if you have to be there for other reasons, I can strongly recommend Ocean Concepts Scuba as a diving operation who will show you the best of Oahu diving.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Broad Carribbean, Lake Tahoe, Cozumel, Roatan, Maui
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm
Water Temp 78-83°F / 26-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 0
Water Visibility 75-200 Ft/ 23-61 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions Be back on board with 500# -- though I never saw anyone actually check to verify that we were complying with this restriction.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 1 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments The boat had a dedicated rinse tank for dive cameras. Dive masters would hand you your camera in the water and take it back before you got back aboard and they would put it in the rinse barrel. This was not an overnight operation so there were no camera facilities.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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