I took my first dive lessons on Hawaii and I couldn't have been happier with Jack's. They are located along Ali'i Drive which is convenient. The initial class was supposed to be an hour and Elaine spent two hours with me. Part was classroom and about an hour in the pool. The next day the shore dive was awesome! Larry was very patient and made sure I understood everything. Boy is there a lot to learn about diving! They were very safety conscious which I appreciated. I would highly recommend Jack's to anyone no matter what their level as they seem to be highly respected on the island. The price for both lessons including equipment was only $80.

We're the Powells, and we're addicted to snorkeling. Being unable to control ourselves, we sought recommendations for dive certification while on this vacation (on Konaweb.com) and ended up (very happily) at Jack's Diving Locker. If you too are addicted to snorkeling - consider diving - it's out of this world!

To get certified, you have to be at least 10 years of age and in decent health (or OK'd by your doctor). Call ahead to reserve classes, and get books/DVD sent to you. Then study... have all the tests in your book done PRIOR to arriving to class - and be ready to be tested on them.

Classes run for 4 days from 8am to 4pm or so. The first 2 days you are in the classroom and pool. The classroom part is to be sure you know your textbook - NOT to learn it there. The pool part is to be sure you can swim/snorkel and have "hands on" with all your dive equipment. This is fun and exciting, but be sure you are up to it. You need to tread water for 10 minutes and swim a fair distance first... no cheatin'. For the pool part, you will go through ALL the exercises described in the book.

It's a bit, but it's not difficult. We all did it just fine—with kids ages 10, 11, and 13—who were all quite used to the water and snorkeling. Be sure your kids are up to it if you sign them up... they need to want to do it themselves. Diving is no place to force your youngsters to join you...

Now the last 2 days... FOUR open-water dives! Open, as in "out in the ocean," diving from their boats... you not only go through the same pool skills you just did, but you also get to DIVE! It's a REALLY, REALLY, fun experience - and a great "high" for those of us addicted to snorkeling.

Jack's Diving Locker has our utmost endorsement. EVERYONE there was friendly and accommodating to our needs. The instructors were patient and fun. The group was small (seven—we were five of them—with two instructors). The boat crew was awesome; funny, but professional too. If you want to get dive certified while in HI, or referral certified, definitely consider them.

My husband decided to do his checkout dives for PADI in Kona. He found Jack's to be the most resonable place to do this on the island. The staff was very nice and hooked him up with someone to do that. Additionally he made it available for us to snorkel and be with him one of the two days he checked out. While he did scuba we snorkeled - it was great. The staff was wonderful (we have two young children and they again were very good with them). Use Jack's dive shop if you want to check out in paradise.

This is a 'must see'! The warm waters average about 78 degrees. Fish are seen in every color you can imagine and the shells are everywhere. Over 1,500 varieties can be seen on the bottom. In some areas, the fish are so used to humans that you can feed them. Barracuda, sharks and eels might be lurking around, so you might get that wonderful surprise also. One note of warning, the waters can have strong currents so watch up above. The lava can be very sharp and you wouldn't want to get pushed into it.