Quick Details
Diver
$ 325
Dive Rating
Moderate
No experience needed, but the optional ocean dive is still the open ocean. Hilo’s shore sites have some movement and a shoreline entry. Your instructor checks conditions every morning, picks the calmest site of the day, and stays with you the whole dive. If the ocean isn’t right for a first dive, we don’t go.
Book at your level. You don’t need dive experience. You do need to be comfortable in the ocean and able to swim unassisted in water over your head.
About the Experience
Breathe underwater for the first time, no certification needed. You learn the basics in our classroom and heated indoor pool. If you feel ready, you then make an optional ocean dive on a Hilo reef with a PADI instructor right next to you the whole time.
Discover Scuba follows official PADI Discover Scuba Diving standards. It is not a certification, but it is the best way to find out if diving is for you. If you sign up for Open Water within 12 months, it can count toward your certification.
How It Works
Step 1 · 45 min
Classroom
How the gear works, how to breathe, and the safety skills you need.
Step 2 · 45 min
Pool
Practice those skills in our heated indoor pool with your instructor, up to 20 ft / 6 m.
Step 3 · Optional · 45 min
Ocean Dive
We drive you to the site and you dive a Hilo reef, up to 40 ft / 12 m.
Classroom and pool are required. The ocean dive is optional.
You decide with your instructor after the pool, based on how you feel and the day’s conditions. The rest of the 4 hours is gearing up, driving to the site, and the debrief.
Price & What’s Included
Discover Scuba Diving
$325
Included
- PADI instructor
- Classroom session
- Heated indoor pool session
- Optional ocean dive with your instructor
- All scuba gear, including wetsuit
- 1 tank of air and weights
- Transport to the dive site and back
- Snacks and drinks
Need prescription lenses?
Prescription masks are available at no extra charge. Note it when you book.
Ready for your first breath?
Pick your date and we handle the rest.
Requirements & What to Bring
Requirements
- Ages 10 and up. Under 18 dives with a parent or guardian.
- Able to swim unassisted in water over your head.
- Able to understand detailed instruction in English.
- Able to carry 50 lbs of gear unassisted over uneven ground.
- PADI Medical Questionnaire submitted 72 hours before your dive. Any “yes” answer needs a physician’s sign-off before you can dive.
What to Bring
- Swimsuit and towel
- Reef-safe sunscreen
- Water
- A warm layer for after the dive
- A light jacket in case of rain
Details
- Check-in: At our shop, 1717 Kamehameha Ave, 30 minutes before your start time.
- Duration: About 4 hours, shop to shop, with the ocean dive.
- Group size: Up to 2 students per instructor.
- Ocean dive: Optional. A Hilo shore site, chosen the morning of for calm conditions.
- Depth: Up to 20 ft / 6 m in the pool and 40 ft / 12 m in the ocean, the PADI limits for Discover Scuba.
- Water: 75 to 80 °F (24 to 27 °C). Wetsuit provided.
Diving With a Certified Friend?
Certified friends and family can join you on the ocean dive. You do the classroom and pool with your instructor, then they meet up with you for the dive.
Let them know before they book.
The dive stays with the Discover Scuba diver. Maximum depth is 40 ft / 12 m for the whole group, and there is no ocean dive if the Discover Scuba diver decides not to go.
What You’ll See
Here is what divers commonly see on Hilo’s reefs.
- Coral heads and volcanic rock shaped by old lava flows.
- Butterflyfish, tangs, and Moorish idols.
- Green sea turtles (honu) on the reef.
Common Questions
I’m nervous. Is that normal?
Yes. That’s what the pool is for. You practice every skill in shallow water first, and your instructor goes at your pace.
I wear glasses or contacts. What do I do?
Soft contacts are fine under a mask. If you wear glasses, we have prescription masks at no extra charge. Note it when you book.
What if my ears won’t equalize?
You’ll learn how in the pool. If your ears still won’t clear in the ocean, you stay shallower or end the dive. We never push you down.
Do I have to do the ocean dive?
No. The ocean dive is optional under PADI standards. If the pool is enough for today, that is a real Discover Scuba. Your instructor also calls it off if conditions are not right for a first dive.
Does this count toward certification?
It can. Start PADI Open Water within 12 months and your pool session can count as your first confined water dive. Your ocean dive can count as Open Water Dive 1. Tell us when you book so your instructor adds the extra skills it needs.
Can I dive again after?
Yes. You can make more Discover Scuba ocean dives with us, always with an instructor. If more than a couple of weeks pass, you repeat the classroom and pool first.
Flying & Elevation
Wait at least 12 hours after your ocean dive before flying or going above 1,800 ft. That includes driving Saddle Road to Kona, Mauna Kea, and Volcano. Plan your day around it.
Hooked? Get Certified
Open Water Diver is a lifetime certification that lets you dive with a buddy to 60 ft anywhere in the world. Your Discover Scuba can count toward it if you start within 12 months. Short on time? Start with Part 1, the knowledge and pool sessions, for $300 and finish your ocean dives on a later trip.