Aquatic Life Divers

Hawaii, United States

The team at Aquatic Life Divers feel less like a shop and more like your buddies with a boat. They’re based in Kailua-Kona and their whole operation feels wonderfully low-key, which we love. You won’t find any pushy sales or overcrowded boats here. Our favourite trips with them are the morning two-tank dives out to the local lava tubes and the vibrant drift dives along the Kona coast. Think schools of yellow tang so thick they turn the water gold, or the way the light shafts down into the Cathedral, illuminating sleeping white-tip reef sharks. They run their PADI Dive Boat speciality course, which is a smart pick if you’re looking to get comfortable diving from a smaller vessel – super useful for navigating Hawaii’s often lively surface conditions. We’d suggest booking your trips for earlier in the week, as they tend to fill up fast, especially for their popular manta ray night dives. It’s a classic Kona experience, but Aquatic Life keeps it intimate. Just be prepared for cooler water at night; a 5mm wetsuit is definitely not overkill.