Hawaiian Scuba Shack

This was the worst dive experience I have ever had, and I have dived with shops in many different cities and countries. If I could give 0 stars I would. The staff was more than curt and rude; they were downright hostile at times. They did not take us to the first dive site they promised (we dove twice in the same spot instead of two places). They did not offer us any thing to eat during our surface interval though an all you can eat meal was offered. The dive master was aloof to his customers and harsh with his staff. The boat was dirty, uncomfortable, and ill suited for the number of people on board. The customer service was the worst I can imagine and the staff even smelled bad. I could give more detailed descriptions of why I will never dive with this shop again, but I don’t want to waste any more of my life thinking about it.

I have been on dives all over the world and this was the most unprofessional staff. Jay is extremely rude. He treated his staff just as poorly as he did his customers. Yelling at them as much as us was unacceptable. The prices were cheaper than other dive companies but would have much rather paid a higher price. You get what you pay for. The dive was unorganized. We took an old dirty boat out, they told us to jump in water and just snorkel until they prepared or equipment. We waited over thirty minutes for them to finally get all gear ready for only five divers. I have never waited that long to simply go on a dive. We approached the boat several times to see if they were ready and were not. We didn’t pay to snorkel, we came to dive.
After when I went to purchase gear jay was extremely rude again and continued to raise his voice with me. Horrible customer service. Also employees had terrible body odor.

The owner-​jay is a world class jerk! He ripped me and my friends off. Wouldn’t refund our money as per agreement. This dive shop should be avoided as it is a tourist trap. jay is old and worn out. he should retire. Love the photo of the old blonde, fake boobs, priceless. This service is a scam, brah. I’d take a dump on Scuba Shack if I could! Suggestion– rename your business to Scuba Dump. Also the used gear was dirty and not sanitized properly — OCD alert. If you use this service after reading this…

We did many many shore dives on the big Island… there are so many that they could take up your whole vaca. Jay is the only person of all the shops that gave us information on shore dives. Everyone else was tight lipped because they wanted to charge us hundreds of dollars to do shore dives by boat. Jay was also by FAR the cheapest to rent tanks and weights from and gave great rates on certifications. Since he was so generous we figured we would try out some boat dives with him and boy are we grateful that we did. I’ve been diving for 15 years… Australia, Fiji, Saba, St Croix, Mexico… I experienced the best dives of my entire life with Scuba Shack. The night Manta dive should be on everyone’s bucket list. Jay is an awesome instructor and is hands down the best operator of all the boats. He had the biggest lights of everyone and attracted 15 huge Manta rays — it was amazing!

Great outfit. Takes out 6 divers/​snorkelers.
The Manta Ray dive was fantastic. I dove and my wife snorkeled. I felt comfortable with their rental gear. Also rented booties and fins from there for the week. Wasn’t used to all this lava at shore dives.

The shop is well outfitted and two of the employees we worked with are nice; they were particularly helpful in explaining local shore-​dive spots, however the owner is a a jerk. He talked down to me, my friends and his employees.
It wasn’t blatant, and he wasn’t yelling or anything… the owner just mis– used «textbook» customer service methods and passive aggressive comments that he believed were over our heads.

My boyfriend and I are shore divers in Hawaii and had taken some time to go around to many of the shops in Kona. We fell upon the Hawaiian Scuba Shack while going to Costco. They had great prices, were very flexible with return times and were very helpful with sites. The BCDs were current and not those «super» old style… We also loved that you could call during the day and order your replacement tanks (free for refill), they will lock them outside, and you can pick them up in the evening. We’d swing by while out for dinner =) The only thing I’d have a complaint about is that our regulators didn’t have compuses on them. We have a very new dive computer so we were set but if you were planning on using the compus on the equipment, make alternate plans.
Additionally, my boyfriend needed a new mask and they had a WIDE selection of masks to choose from! So many that we kind of got lost. We noticed they have a great selection of many other gear you may need during your trip.

It was Labor Day weekend and a bunch of us were in town for the Queen’s Outrigger Race. Unfortunately by the time I actually got around to researching and making reservations for the Manta Ray night dive — all the major dive shops in the area were already at capacity. I luckily stumbled on this outfit and they were able to accommodate the 3 certified divers and the 1 snorkeler. The boat launch is only 5 minutes away and we were a total group of 6 customers plus 1 dive master and 1 captain of the boat.
The boat is kept in great /​clean condition and ultimately, for the manta ray dive, it’s all at the same location so it doesn’t really matter what company you go with. However I have high praises for Scuba Shack given that:
1) max passengers is 6, the other boats we saw pull up were filled with easily 2 dozen people
2) prices are very reasonable (if not quite competitive to the major dive shops) and the equipment was in great shape.
3) For the manta ray dive, they had the BRIGHTEST lights and I swear the mantas recognized our dive master. The 3 of us divers had front row seats to the entire experience.
It had been over a year since my last dive and being a night dive, it was quite cold in the water. I would absolutely do the dive again … but probably after a refresher dive or two first.

We went diving with Scuba Shack to see the manta rays near Kona and it was one of the most amazing experiences. Unlike other tour groups who fill their boat with 15 – 20 divers, Jay’s boat has a maximum capacity of 6 passengers. Many of the other shops try to charge a lot for a single night dive, but we were got two dives (a late afternoon and night dive) for almost the same price that others were charging for one.
They will make the trip out with as few as 2 people, so we got lucky and had our own private boat and the cost was still less than other dive shops. Scuba Shack is also an equipment rental place, so they have some of the best gears with a lot of size options. Everything is provided on the boat from food to drinks to towels and jackets. Once in the water, Jay is very hands off so we were able to spend all our time enjoying the manta rays. There were over 30 of them dancing around us that night, it was an experience not to be missed!

This is one of the best shops I have ever used. The manta dive is absolutely a must do! I will recommend this shop to anyone who wants to dive this island. I will return again to dive using this shop.

Great shop — nothing fancy, so if you’re a style-​and-​fluff diver, don’t bother. But if you like a simple, direct style with excellent service, and lower prices (and the best Manta dive on the island), then this is the shop you want to visit.
Jay, the owner, is a great guy who looks for ways to get you the most reasonable deals. We were going to rent gear for a week, and when he priced us out, he suggested that we buy a used octopus rather than shelling out $ 20 extra dollars just to rent. He’s a great guy, and all about promoting this great sport.
It’s a little bit tucked away, but it’s worth finding, especially if you’re staying in the Waikoloa Beach resort area — much nicer than going all the way down into Kona! When we return next year, we’ll definitely be renting our gear from him — and going on another Manta dive!