Oahu Diving

This was a great experience and the team was so accommodating! I called on a Thursday afternoon to see if they had any open spots on dives for that same weekend. Due to last minute planning on my part, there was only 1 spot open on an introductory dive the next day which I ended up signing up for. Their boats have 6 spots and I was joining a family of 5 who had no scuba experience (I'm open water certified) but they assured me that I'd still have a fun dive experience. There were 2 instructors on the boat and they were aware that I already had dive experience so when we arrived at the dive site, 1 of the instructors got right in the water and I was able to essentially have a private dive tour with him while the other instructor was going over the basic dive info with the family! The first tank dive was 30 minutes of myself and 1 of the instructors and the last 2 minutes were with some of the others in the family. We saw 3 green sea turtles, an octopus, a ton of fish, and a bunch of cool sea slugs!All in all, I was so happy with how the team was able to accommodate my last minute desire for a dive and the differing skill levels within the group!

SCUBA diving with Erik was a blast! Oahu Diving was highly recommended to me by a family member who had recently visited Honolulu and dove with him. I scheduled a dive tour for my boyfriend's birthday and our experience with them from start to finish was 5 stars!To SCUBA dive, you obviously need to know how to swim. There are also a few other requirements that must be met to participate and they're all laid out on their website. You also fill out a health questionnaire to ensure you're fit to dive. This experience is cash only, so be prepared to have your payment with you the day of your dive. The tours are semiprivate, with only 4 of us in our group, but others were on the boat and diving separately.We signed up for the "first time SCUBA diving tour." I have (limited) experience SCUBA diving in the past from a college course I took several years ago, but this was all new to my boyfriend who has never done this before. Erik did a great job giving our group the 411 on everything we'd need to know for our two dives together and making everyone feel comfortable. We went over things like how to use the equipment, the valsalva maneuver, and important hand signals several times before getting on the boat. We also did a few practice rounds of mask clearing on the boat before we jumped into the water. Safety first! I'll be honest, all morning leading up to our dive, I was a little anxious because I didn't remember much about diving from my college years (shocker lol) but after Erik taught us what we'd need to know and once I got into the water, it all came back to me and was not stressful at all, just fun! I think I speak for everyone when I say we all had a great time! We went on 2 different dives and saw a variety of different fish, eels, corals, and other sea creatures but the highlight was definitely getting to swim next to the giant green sea turtles. They were so much bigger than I expected! Truly beautiful animals. The first dive was shorter and more of a chance for us to just get used to the tanks and being under water with the SCUBA gear on. The second dive was longer, and all about exploring. Erik took GoPro photos of us during the dives and emailed them to us. They came out great! I would wholeheartedly recommend Oahu Diving to anyone looking to SCUBA, especially non-certified or first-time divers. Erik makes it fun, easy, and well worth the cost! I hope to be certified by the time I'm on Oahu again, but I'm definitely going to try and do another dive with them in the future!

Absolutely perfect diving experience in Oahu with divemaster Erik! We had originally booked a party of 4, but our son had a sinus issue the day before and Oahu diving was easy to reach by text and change to 2. Erik met us at the dock and being super personable throughout, made it a simple and enjoyable process. I am certified, my son isn't, but Erik made a personized experience for us that was unforgettable. We ended up on a comfortable catamaran with about 15 total people (including crew), but it was just the two of us with Erik throughout. Erik briefed the site, and we went on two dives. We saw tons of fish, lots of live coral, enormous turtles, a white tip reef shark and much more. Erik took pictures throughout and sent them to us the same day - made us look like Jacques Cousteau. High recommend Oahu Diving and would definitely do it again!

First time scuba diving experience with Erik at Oahu Diving was fantastic! Erik was patient and professional, he showed us everything we needed to know before getting into the water, and had us to practice a few techniques as well. Our group had 5 people including us, all first timers. We got on a boat with a few other divers and instructors (all from different diving companies). The boat ride was roughly 20 mins out and we had 2 separate diving sessions, about 20 minutes each. The first session was mainly for us to get used to the gears and equipments, especially at equalizing our ears and breathing through a tube. Right after the 1st session Erik had our oxygen tanks refilled and ready to go, the 2nd session was much easier for us to dive into. Erik is super chill and passionate about scuba diving, he is also a great teacher. He took great pictures of us during our dive and emailed them to us that same night. We had a blast and definitely recommend going with Oahu Diving if you are a first timer!

Best part of our Hawaii trip. Eric was an awesome instructor, made sure everyone knew and got to practice all the scuba techniques needed before we ever got in the water. He was great at pointing out interesting fish and sea life and making sure everyone was comfortable the entire time.The scuba diving was amazing! We got to do two dives. The first was an easier one to get comfortable in the scuba gear. We got to see lots of fish and eels and corral. For the second, Eric took us to where the turtles usually hang out. He knew exactly where take us and we got to see several giant turtles! Also tons more cool fish and other sea life.Was the highlight of our trip to Hawaii and would definitely do again!

My friend and I had a great experience scuba diving for the first time under the guidance of Erik and his assistant (apologies forgot her name but remembered she was an instructor in Monterey)! I felt safe, informed, and supervised the whole time despite the host of nerves I had going into the activity (anxious excitement!). We got instructions on land and on the boat. Erik also took great underwater pictures which were included in the package. Among the two of us we got a total of 40+ photos (note the group size later on) and met 5+ sea turtles who were resting on the floor or swimming in circles. There were also many other color fish, sea urchin and eels. The entire trip lasted about three hours and we had two dives (~40 min each) in similar areas although I was told the latter was a couple feet deeper. It was a group of 8 people and frankly maybe 6 made it below the surface and 5 to the sea floor (30 feet down). By the second dive, only 4 of us were still strolling. Erik was very sensitive to everyone's fears and at one point escorted a diver up while his assistant stayed with the group. This isn't for everyone but thankfully I'm a strong swimmer (although I had only snorkeled once before and that was earlier in the day) and felt comfortable to keep going. I had a blast though! Scuba diving at turtle canyon was 10x better than the snorkel catamaran we did in the same area later on.Note all the equipment was provided but some people opted not to wear wet suits. I personally felt more comfortable though with a full body suit and didn't feel too hot in August. Make sure to call and book over the phone as they need a credit card to hold the reservation. We got email and text confirmations. Pay in cash.

I'm very happy with my experience with Oahu Diving! We met up at the boat and couldn't find them right away so i gave the number a call and found Erik standing right next to it. He gave us our wetsuits, flippers, and mask outside of the boat and once we've boarded, he started explaining to us everything right away. I was very nervous but he explained all the concerns and reassured us that everything is all good. He went through all the procedures on breathing with the regulator, clearing the masks, etc. We did this a couple of times on the way to the spot which was extremely helpful because he made sure everyone knew what they were doing. I was the first to dive in and panicked on the way down because i got water in my mouth and completely forgot how to breathe. Johnny helped me go back up and Erik calmed me down and reminded me the guidelines. He stuck with me on my way back down and I felt safe knowing he was there! Both Erik and Johnny were checking up on me during the first dive which was comforting. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do the second dive so I just sat on the boat with Captain Dan and their dog Milo! I enjoyed the scenery of the clear and blue ocean while my boyfriend was down in the water where they saw an octopus. Overall, we had a blast! Erik emailed us the pictures that evening. The crew was extremely patient and attentive throughout the whole excursion. They don't pressure you to do anything you're not comfortable with and they go with your pace so no rush to the bottom and make sure you pop your ears on the way down! :)

First dive was preselected by Dive Oahu (Sea Tiger) the second dive allowed diver input. We ended up at Mario Bros for the shallow dive. We have a three shark minimum (cumulative) in all our site requests.... this crew met the quota. With a 100+ boat dives they are in my top five, friendly, responsive, safe and knowledgeable. Next visit to Oahu they are on my priority list.

There's so many positive things I could say about this experience that I don't know where to begin! Firstly, Erik is truly an amazing guy. You can tell that he loves what he does and has a passion for the ocean and the creatures that live in it because you learn so much while you're with him. He's down to earth and very chill, never once making me or my husband feel pressured or silly.He took the time to make sure we understood how to use all of the gear confidently and then once we hit the water on our first dive, he didn't rush us and allowed us to take our time going down. Erik also would use hand signals to help us remember to equalize the pressure in our ears. By the second time, we were comfortable with diving and he took us to see some honu which was magical! I loved that he took pictures of us and would signal us to pose. He pointed out so many different fish and sea creatures and later told us some cool information about the various species we saw. If you're wanting to try scuba diving and are a bit nervous, I couldn't recommend Erik with Oahu Diving enough! My husband and I are set on diving with him again when we come back to Oahu because it was such an amazing experience. Please give him a chance and give it a try, you won't regret it! Sending you my best wishes, Erik. Aloha!

Violet was am amazing instructor during my open water certification. I initially failed the 10 min water threading and lost the drive or will to continue. Violet and her assistant insisted that I could make it and motivated me to succeed. Needless to say am now a certified open water diver. Am forever grateful to Violet, her assistant, the rest of my group and dive Oahu. Violet is a great ambassador for Dive Oahu Albert