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Dive Review of Fathom Five Divers and Ocean Quest/Marriott Kauai Beach Club in
Hawaii/Kaui

Fathom Five Divers and Ocean Quest/Marriott Kauai Beach Club, Nov, 2009,

by Lynda Durfee, VA, USA (Top Contributor Top Contributor 49 reports with 24 Helpful votes). Report 5265.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations N/A Food N/A
Service and Attitude N/A Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 4 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Fathom 5 limits shore dives (at Koloa Landing) to no more than 4 divers per DM. Uses 6-packs for boat dives and separates divers by experience if more than one boat is scheduled that day. Crew assembles your gear on tank, helps you into the SCUBA assembly while you're sitting on the gunwhale, then it's a backroll into the water. Swim to mooring line and go down line if there is current. Two ladders at stern; take off your fins at ladder, hand them up to crew, come up ladder, turn around to set tank on swim deck, then crew takes off your unit. Crew switches tanks between dives and rinses your personal gear at dock at end of dive. DMs good at describing sites and looking for critters. Consistent tank fills of 3000 PSI plus. Cost of dives includes tank, weights and wrist computer. Discount (not advertised on web site) for multiple days of diving. Snacks and water/soft drinks provided on board. Sites chosen on customer request/preference, considering conditions. No working head on boat, but captain would do the surface interval at the harbor if requested. I made 30 dives over a four-week period (Oct 25-Nov 19); winter swell, high winds and small craft mornings came up at start of the 4th week, so there was only one good dive day with poor (30-40 ft) visibility due to sand in water. I'm not comfortable with hurrying into gear (due to waves and current) and the backroll, but it was worth it to dive in small groups and to my no-DECO limit (several dives were 55 minutes or longer). If you plan to dive on Kauai with F5, recommend you book in advance, since the limit is 6 divers per boat and they need 3 divers for a 2nd boat. This is the island to dive if you want to see LOTS (12-15) of turtles on one dive (at Sheraton Caverns). Several white-tip reef sharks on several dive sites. 25% of the fish varieties are endemic to Hawaii. I plan to dive with F5 next year.
Websites Fathom Five Divers and Ocean Quest   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Florida, Aruba, Bahamas, Saba, Statia, St. Kitts, Lake Tahoe
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy Seas choppy, surge
Water Temp 76-80°F / 24-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 30-70 Ft/ 9-21 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions No deco limit; maximum depth on any dive site was 55-95 feet. Individuals make safety stop when about 700 PSI left. Buddy can stay down with DM. Dive on computer profile (computer provided if you don't have your own).
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 2 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 1 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Fathom 5 uses 6-packs only for boat dives; no rinse tanks, but all sites no more than 15-20 minutes from the dock, with rinse hose available at dock.
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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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