Great dive shop. - They were a great dive shop. The boats were well equipped and comfortable. Safety was a priority. They also made sure we had a lot of fun. I dive with Taylor and April over 2 days, and they were both great. The rental gear is in very good condition. I will use them again when I'm back in Honolulu.

Great wreck dive in the early morning! - Good shop, friendly and knowledgeable instructors and staff. Great wreck dive and reef dive this morning. Early start 615am meet up at the shop and knocked out two dives by 10am ish. Highly recommend if staying in Waikiki!

Turtle-y awesome & helpful dive shop! First class! - Sunday’s they can take the boat out further to get to some different dive spots than other dives in the week. I needed to surface sooner on dive 1 because I wasn’t able to get my body to calm down once at depth. Taylor our dive instructor, gave me peace while helping me resurface and I was able to calm down. Never have had to end a dive short & all crew were super understanding/encouraging. 2nd dive was turtle-y awesome, calm waters & best dive of my career yet! They have clean facilities, lay out your gear before arrival on chairs so you can get ready and top of the line equipment/wetsuits. Highly recommend!

Waikiki VA Program - In depth review from someone who hated the water but drank enough to enjoy it! - No sh!t there I was, a few months ago, a total nobody. Staring at my remaining GI Bill benefits like the dirty old leg that I was. My Post 9/11 benefits were about to expire and despite my impeccable land nav skills, I had no direction for how to use what remained on my future. I was more lost than an officer staring at a compass. Fast forward to today. Today, I get to call myself Divemaster. My personal journey began a few months ago when I realized that I could use my VA benefits towards becoming a dive professional. A hobby I honestly had little to zero interest in at the time. I’d seen myself swim. It’s something that resembles if a lead anchor one day decided to identify as a fishing bobber. I just didn't see it happening for me. Despite the hurdles I needed to overcome, I decided at the very least to reach out and get some basic information. (The power of mixing monster and whiskey on a Tuesday morning is often extremely convincing.) Not as convincing though as Anna was when she IMMEDIATELY replied to my inquiries. Before I could ask if we were allowed to touch turtles, she had me dolled up like Tactical Scuba Barbie and I was in the ocean drinking salt water and peeing in my wetsuit. Just like that I was a diver. I won’t lie. Open water was rough for me. It was the beginning of the journey, and I was being a little beach. The entire weekend I had issues with ear equalizing and trying to figure out how to stop rolling around underwater. This is when “The Godfather” was introduced. Brian, the course directors, presence would not only provide the comfort of a woobie but instill discipline throughout the entire Divemaster course. Who will carry the boats? I will Brian. I will. Chad, the ex-Army snack that he is, took us through open water. Repeating exercises over and over again until we made the pool sweat under water. I’d like to say I immediately impressed him underwater but that would be a lie. I was a disaster beneath the surface and had to constantly be asked if I had read the owners manuals on my gear. I hadn’t. Not once did I receive anything other than positive feedback though. Chad gave 5 grown men more patience than a daycare teacher watching toddlers soiling themselves could have. I passed with grace. Which is just another word for barely meets minimum expectations. Regardless, Chad sent us off with an incredible foundation to grow on. With that we headed over to Jamie for our Advanced Open Water and Emergency First Responder course. Just staring at a cluster of us goons asking: Trim? Never heard of her. Yes, I’m ok, I have air, why do you keep asking how much? Why can’t I use my inflator button to rapidly ascend? Lets just say this. Jamie is going to be a course director one day. I don’t say this because she told us, I say this because when you see someone in their element as an asset to a company, you can’t help but see their potential. For the next 2 weeks she took dirty duffel bags hidden on a closet floor and turned us into somewhat pristine dress uniforms. Crayola stained? Maybe, but dress uniforms nonetheless. Alex took over for what turned into the most grueling yet rewarding course. Rescue Diver. If you’re feeling frisky and want to experience symptoms similar to being water boarded, I highly recommend you volunteering to be the rescued victim. It’s a beautiful blend of remaining relaxed and constantly being dunked by your best friends. I drank a lot of water during this course but the water drank in Rescue was by far the most appreciated. Under the wing of this entrepreneur and Tripler Hospital hero, Alex contributed his diverse knowledge upon us as we drug each other from the depths of Poseiden’s grasp and performed mouth to mouth with the homies. Skills we often practiced even outside of class. Patiently waiting, and ever-watching, we finally made our way to stand before the dark cloaked GodFather. Brian had supervised us along our journey as mere minnows to the chiseled mer-men we were transforming into. Our training culminated in 2 weeks of intense diving, swim tests and written work as Brians PADI Black belt beat us into submission. After 7 intense weeks of what once looked like submersed rocks drowning on the ocean floor, we had now become mythical Gods of the sea. We were amongst the elite. We were now Divemasters. While the training was always “fun”; often the most fun we had was with the dive masters and instructors on the boat we met along the way. April, Tay, Natasha, Anna and the rest of the crew turned every elective dive into their own unique magical experience. A diverse range of personalities that made us feel safe on every dive while also allowing us to enjoy the finer details of the ocean. Whether it was chasing bubble rings or vibing with a turtle, our extra dives were always a welcomed distraction from training. At the helm, Yoshi, Steve and the captains always ran things seamlessly. Amidst their navigating, assisting all the divers and running the crew, those guys emulated the diesel engines powering the boat. Tirelessly performing with absolute reliance. Maybe you don’t want to be a dive professional or do. Maybe you want to experience more of the ocean. Maybe you just have some benefits that you’re not sure what to do with. Whatever your situation is, I highly recommend you take a chance on yourself and check out the Waikiki Dive Center VA Divemaster program. 7 weeks before the program began I could care less about submersing below the water line. Now I’m geared out like a Tier 1 wannabe Larper and taking follow on instructor and elective courses with Kevin and the rest of the team. Were there ups and downs with the shop? Of course, just like any other experience. However after 7 weeks and 60 dives the end result and experience was absolutely worth it. So who knows, maybe you drown. Or maybe, just maybe. You too become your very own Tactical Scuba Barbie. Cheers to DM Class #002 : Dive Daddy, Care Bear, The Vagabond and The Wilderness Explorer UPDATE: I have now also added Assistant Instructor, VIP Certifier and TEC40 to my certs! So yeah. I guess you could say they did a solid job. THANK YOU!

Great Hawaii Diving - Two great dives . Fun and safe dive staff also very helpful and informative . The boat and facilities was very nice and snacks were provided in between dives. We enjoyed our day and would return .

A world-class diving experience just off the shore of Honolulu! - Two phenomenal dives with the Waikiki dive centre this morning. First was a shipwreck teeming with marine life, second a turtle sanctuary where we witnessed over 10 turtles doing their thing! Crew was amazing - they ran an efficient operation getting us back to the dive centre by 10:30am. Anna our dive guide and Zoe our photographer were both awesome!

We dove the Sea Tiger which was super cool and had swim throughs, several turtles, and a cameo by a sandbar shark! - It was an incredible experience! I’ve never seen so many turtles in my life!! April and the crew were amazing and so incredibly professional and helpful!

Diving made easy - When we arrived at the dive shop. Our gear was laid out along with a boat bag. Once we tried on the wetsuits and approved our gear it was loaded into the van which we all rode to the dock. A short 7 minutes later we were on the wreck along with 4 huge turtles and a couple of sharks. The dive master guided us through a swim through, around the wreck then back to the mooring line. The second dive was to a turtle cleaning station where I lost count of all the turtles.

Got my Advance open water diver certification with them - Best dive shop in Waikiki! Got my open water certification here several years ago, came back and went diving with them several times over the years and now completed my Advance open water certification with them. All of the dive instructors are fantastic. (especially mine. Shout out to Jamie).

Ignorant Dive Guide - I joined the wreck dive trip and had a mixed experience. The staff were helpful, rental gear was excellent, and the captain was attentive. However, our guide gave the entire briefing in meters/bar. When I mentioned that U.S. divers typically use feet/PSI, she replied that “feet/PSI made no sense. Do you know what that means. Moreover your opinion has no value here.” This was unprofessional and disrespectful. Probably somebody need to educate the dive shop/guide that Hawaii is in USA. Her continued condescending tone and focus on her own certifications been done in metric and not imperial made it uncomfortable to speak further. Divers/Customers deserve respectful, accurate communication—not arrogance. Did send email to the dive shop. Crickets!