Dive Review of Bubbles Below, in
Hawaii/Kauai

Other Hawaii reports
Subscriber Content Preview
Active subscribers go here

Bubbles Below,, Oct, 2012, by Mark A. Magers, CA, US ( Sr. Contributor 20 reports with 28 Helpful votes). Report 6751 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Had not been diving off Kauai in over a decade. The variety of fish was good, and we saw some cool things I don't see every dive, like a frogfish, a purple leaf scorpion fish, a good-sized octopus, 5 different kinds of eels. The good - the divemaster and captain were knowledgeable and good, and were keen for us to enjoy the dives. The aforementioned cool fish, and the divemaster's ability to spot them was very good (the frogfish was almost invisible, in a bunch of cup coral, on the underside of an arch). The less-than-satisfied part - we signed up for the 3-tank "adventure" dive, billed on the website as a "when you've seen Sheraton Caverns enough..." alternative (their words, not mine). Yet dive #2 was...Sheraton Caverns. All dives were up and down the Poipu side of the island, between Port Allen (where boat leaves from) to Poipu, in spite of amazingly calm weather after several days of near-record wind and surf on the usually calm Poipu side (the surfers said the First Break off Poipu was as good as they had ever seen it). Dive day was calm, water clear, currents minimal. It did not feel like an adventure at all. The back side of Klein Curacao in an inflatable boat, that is an adventure. The boat was small, and kind of dirty, though the engine (where they heated the pizza for lunch) was spotless, and I would prefer that to the other way around. Apparently someone had stolen some equipment off the boat recently, so I think it was not as well equipped as it usually is? The cost for 2 of us for 3 dives each, with Nitrox on 2 (not sure why we did not get nitrox on the first dive), was $500. That is a ton of money for what we got. So net - service and attitude was very good, some of the fish we saw were very cool, boat was so so, and the value and adventure was not there for us. Next time will just wait until we can get to Niihau and Lehua. Did that in 1999 and it was awesome. This was not a liveaboard though the website form will not let me change that.
Websites	Bubbles Below,
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	GBR, Dominica, Cozumel, Hawaii, Cayman, Turks, BVI, USVI, Cabo Pulmo, Saba, La Paz, Bonaire, Curacao, Cuba
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	77-79°F / 25-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	40-70 Ft/ 12-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	500 psi or 1 hour dive time
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	no table or rinse tank in this boat for cameras (I am not a photographer)

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

Subscriber's Comments

By Robert Halem in CA, US at Nov 03, 2012 01:04 EST

I have done the three tank adventure dive when the weather permitted access to the Napili coast. That was one of the best dives I have ever done. One thing about Bubbles Below, they are VERY conservative about the weather. I can understand why they would stay on the leeward side of the island if there was any question. I have had them cancel dives the night before based on the forecast and then have perfect calm weather in the morning.

By Jill Rain in WA, US at Nov 04, 2012 11:00 EST

I did a 3 tank dive with them to Nihau island an hour's bumpy drive sw of Kauai, which is also weather dependent. It was a fantastic set of dives, and the staff is very competent. Marginal getting there, with the swells, but really good diving once there. Sorry the weather was bad for you. Too bad you weren't able to cancel once you knew you couldn't go.

Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here

Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 665 dive reviews of Hawaii and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

Other dive reports on Bubbles Below,

All Hawaii Dive Reviews and Reports
Diving Guide to Hawaii
Diving Reviews for All Dive Destinations

Want to assemble your own collection of Hawaii reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

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.

Undercurrent Home

Page computed and displayed in 0.83 seconds

Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email. And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent
Get a free monthly email and a sample issue!

Dive Review of Bubbles Below, in Hawaii/Kauai

Bubbles Below,, Oct, 2012,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Bubbles Below, in
Hawaii/Kauai