Big Island of Hawaii Scuba Diving

I did 11 dives with Aquatic Life Divers and would have booked more but I caught a cold after my 1st 2 days in the water with them. The diving experience was made awesome by the professionalism of the captains and dive masters. I’ve always tried to pick smaller operations as they are normally those that offer more of the type of diving I like. My trips are always planned around diving and Aquatic Life Divers did not disappoint. Strangely the last surface interval was one of the highlights of my stay on the Big Island as Captain Tara found a pod of pilot whales that she dropped us off in front of to snorkel with. If there were more than 5 stars for rating this operation,,, they'd get it. I did all of the tours they had available.

After our advanced open water course on Kauai was cancelled due to Hurricane Lowell, we called three dive shops in Kona to see if we could do the course on the Big Island. The first two shops quickly told us no, but Patti at Jack's Diving Locker started working magic in their scheduling system and soon had us scheduled for the required three days of diving. When power outages at the Lihue airport caused us to arrive in Kona a day late and miss our first dive day, Patti again worked magic and managed to still find a way to reschedule us. She was amazingly friendly, helpful and patient, and we could not have been more impressed.As a dive operator, Jack's boat and crew is great. The dive groups were small (six people with each divemaster during our dives) so the divemasters aren't distracted with a ton of divers. The rental equipment is in excellent condition, they picked great dive sites with optimal visibility that were mostly protected from current and swell, the guides were enthusiastic about pointing out marine life and letting us dive for a full 80 minutes (air permitting), and they did a great job in getting us through the skills for each part of the course while still ensuring there was time to explore the site and see the fish (a monk seal, an eagle ray, a snowflake eel, and of course mantas were the highlights for us).We will 100% go back to Jack's in the future if we're in Kona, and we're immensely grateful they were able to somehow find a way to accommodate us given the weather challenges. Thank you so much Patti, Sabrina, Carlos and Ciara for a great trip!

Wonderful days dive. We booked a private shore dive with Jacks due to coming off a cruise ship at a tender port, thinking we would miss all the boat dives as they tend to leave too early from a different harbour about 15 minutes drive away. However our dive guide Mel thankfully gave us the option of joining the boat dive, which would see much better dive sites, and that is what we did. The boat trip was not too long, only about 10-15 minutes out of harbour. The 2 sites were both great dives, and Mel a great dive lead. The crew looked after us with great attention to detail, the snacks were tasty and plentiful and the boat very well equipped. Jacks diving locker is one of the best boat dive operators we have been with.

Aquatic Life Divers offers a fantastic experience! I’ve now dove with them several times and have also dove with other companies on BI. ALD is by far the best experience. The boat is easy to board and de-board. It’s quite comfortable with a lot of amenities. The dive gear is top of the line and very well maintained. Where ALD really shines though is the staff. They go above and beyond to make the trip a memorable experience. I highly recommend them for both diving and private charters.

The boat capt and guides (Colin, Dylan, and Jack) were friendly and welcoming and made sure everyone had a great time from showing up on the dock, in the water and back to land! They will be my first pick for any Kona diving trips in the future!

I am an active divers with more than 500 dives and all my family dives with me. We went diving in Kona, Hawai with Aquatic Life Divers and it was the best experience ever we had with a diving center. Excellent dives, with a lot of variety and various level of difficulty. Very good service, very competent and friendly team (instructor, DiveMaster, captain, admin…). The boats are very comfortable and the equipment is top tier. Don’t miss the night dive Manta Ray dive, which is not a difficult dive, but a very spectacular one.

We enjoyed our experience with the daytime Aquatic Safari trip so much that we followed up with the sunset Manta tour; Mike and Rachael did an incredible job of making us feel comfortable (especially those of us a little more "snorkel-challenged"), and made the trips unforgettable. This is an independent business with over 30 years experience; we definitely recommend using Torpedo Tours!

Rachel and Mike are the kind of guides I would actually vouch for and recommend to anyone. It was such a pleasure and it felt like we really had a lucky trip. It was educational, light hearted , and awe inspiring ; the boat ride there is a beautiful time, the boat ride back was so serene below the moon and stars, and being in the water with those luminescent lights below that burning sunset all while manta rays are twirling and dancing below you with various silver blue yellow fish tickling your legs make it such a strong recommendation I’d have to give. Do bring a towel though ! It may be a little chilly on the way back. Thank you Rachel, thank you Mike ❤️❤️

Jacks diving is the best!!! We had a super tight window as we were flying to the big island that day, and wanted to do the Manta Ray Night dive (highly recommended ) I had to do a refresher course, as my last dive was a few years ago. My instructor MEL was awesome and made it happen, while making sure my skills and knowledge were up to par! Thanks again Jacks and MEL !!!!!PS - you get a sick sunset from the boat after your first dive!!!

Captain Gary and dive master Shannon, highly experience and knowledgeable. And easy to get along with. We did two advanced dives to the black hole and golden arches. The time Shop makes waivers and check-in very easy, and they have the most extensive waiver I have ever seen. We are going with them again for sure.

Fantastic boat, dive sites, Captain and Guides. Thumbs-up to this awesome crew and business. They made our diving in Big Island Kona unforgetable! Special mention to Elle, our dive Guide for looking-out for us tiger sharks, barracudas, shrimps and flounders! The best

My friend booked the night Scuba and I booked the night Snorkel tour with Aquatic Life Divers in early August 2026. Our captain was Tara, our Dive Queen was Mary, and our Snorkel guide was Tara. They all did a wonderful job especially Mary who explained the safety and manta stuff clearly and loudly. Safety is #1 for me and they had EVERYTHING from pfd for poor swimmers to AED and flare guns covered! I went as a snorkeler and we held on to a paddleboard as a group but noticed other tour groups floated on some pool noodles. I am glad I did the paddleboard thing because there was less people bumping into and kicking me. Best of all, I got the most amazing UP CLOSE views of the mantas and a few fish too! My friend enjoyed it too but told me he wasn’t pleased when they wouldn’t let him rinse his snorkel gear in their freshwater buckets 🤦‍♂️. I liked they also offered extras including bean bags on the front of the boat deck 🙌, POG juice, and some snacks like rice krispy treats. We also got a very small cup of hot ginger tea at tour’s end. The waves can make the boat feel rocky so I got a bit dizzy at the end, but lying down on the bean bags really helped curb any vomitting. I did the snorkel with the sharks tour in Oahu too & that tour was way more dizzying despite me taking Dramamine. The manta rays tour, personally, was hands down better than the shark tour just cus the mantas brushed up against me and didn’t kill me. FYI: Remember to bring your own dry beach towel as they don’t provide them.

I did the one tank manta night dive with Aquatic Sports twice, once with Jaime and the next night with Dylan. Both of them were awesome, enthusiastic, competent, and very informative about the dive and its procedures! We saw so many mantas!! I couldn't have asked for a better time. Colin was the captain both nights and he was excellent; great sense of humor and fun to talk to. I absolutely recommend these guys! They know what they're doing and they're always smiling! :)

Had 4 amazing scuba dives with the aquatic life crew. These were my first dives ever and they were so welcoming and helpful. My instructor was incredibly patient and did an excellent job preparing us for the dive and the entire experience. I will definitely be back to dive again and they will be my first choice every time!

Amazing crew and excellent boat.Did the am 2 tank and night manta dive. Give both of them a 10.I don't usually write reviews but this group deserves it.

We had an amazing Manta Ray night dive with Ana, Rachel and Capt Mike. They took amazing care of our small group. They always made us feel safe and worked hard so we could see as Mantas as possible plus eels and other kinds of fish while we were diving. I loved that we were a pretty small group. Amazing experience, highly recommend Torpedo Tours!