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Dive Review of Aarons/Royal Hawaiian in
Hawaii/Ohau

Aarons/Royal Hawaiian, Feb, 2006,

by William Boswell, MD, USA (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 9 reports). Report 2350.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 1 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 1 stars
Advanced 2 stars
Comments Diving on Ohau was uneventful. Which magazine rated Ohau one of the top ten (what a joke)? The dive shop (Aarons) was the worst we've ever encountered. They had six resort (discover) divers. The medical releases were handed out on the way to the dock, no pool or shallow water time only a 45 min breifing at the dock. Then, the dive masters wanted to do the Corsair site 110 feet! Two of my children hadn't been diving in a year. I told them we wanted to do a shallower dive, which we did (Angler 55 feet). Two of the six discover divers never made it off the boat, two went in the water and immediately got back on the boat the other two, one of which had done a resort dive before did go down to 35 feet for 20 minuets. None of the six resort divers did the second dive. On day two we had two newly certified divers as well as experienced divers and this day we did the Corsair (110 feet). One of the newbies never made it off the boat (equipment) and the other panicked at 105 feet (I could hear her scream at 105 feet). When I turned around one of the divemasters was in hot pursuit because this woman was going to the surface. When we got back on the boat everyone was ok except for some seasickness. Although we have our own equipment, I've seen better rental equipment in third world countries. I'm not sure how this establishment received a PADI 5 Star rating. Aarons doesn't own any boats, they charter the boats so that it's easier to dive different sides of the island. Captain Johns Diving was the boat we were on these two days; John and his girlfriend should get out of the dive boat business. There was no interest in safety only the fact that the platform had been recently painted and not scratching it.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Sea of Cortez
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, rainy Seas choppy
Water Temp 71-73°F / 22-23°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions When we dove the Corsair 110 feet, our time was restricted.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

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

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

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 1 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 1 stars Shore Facilities 1 stars
UW Photo Comments Hawaii is not diver friendly. No place to clean your gear or hang it up at the hotels or condos.
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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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