Reef Pirates Diving

Diving with the Reef Pirates was a great experience! It’s a family run company, and you can tell everyone does it for the love of diving. The locations are gorgeous boasting clear warm water with a beautiful array of fish and turtles. After spending a week in Hawaii, this was definitely the highlight of our trip!

We did the afternoon reef dive, and had a great time! The group was small, we were able to stay down a long time. The owner, boat driver, and master diver were friendly and knowledgeable. There were snacks in between dives, and everything was executed safely and efficiently. Equipment is in great shape and prices are competitive. We saw lots of turtles, beautiful reef fish, some sea slugs, etc. I’d definitely recommend them!

Fantastic diving experience with them and great for all range of experience. Bud was great with the beginners and showed a great amount of experience and patience.

My husband and myself were very apprehensive of going scuba diving. We wanted to do something different this trip to the islands and agreed scuba was «get over our fears» excursion. All our thanks to Pete for making our very first scuba not our last! He was very patient and laughed at all my husbands jokes. Bud was the captain for the day and was delightful. And not to leave out Michael who was great help to our every need. We are SOOOOO glad we went with this small group when we were leaving a boat came in with at least 15 people compared to just 3 of us on our dive. Both dives were amazing THANK YOU REEF PIRATES
Rebecca and Nathan

I had a fantastic first time scuba experience (the discover scuba program), as well as lots of personal attention and training. They can pick you up from your hotel in Waikiki, or you can get to the dive shop yourself.
They take no more than 6 students on the boat at any time, and there is at most 4 students per instructor. There is a 15-​minute orientation/​training before you get on the boat as to the equipment we used, hand signals, and safety instructions. Bob and Pete recap some of that while on the boat too, as well as pointing out local landmarks. On your first dive (there were 2 30−40-minute dives on the tour), they guided us through water entry (falling backwards off the boat), practice finding our respirators if we lose track of them, finding and using the alternate respirator, clearing water out of the respirator, equalizing ear pressure, and clearing our masks. It was a very thorough introduction with practice before they brought us more than a few feet below, and I felt like they were very concerned about our safety. Bob and Pete stayed by us the whole time to make sure we were ok and weren’t in distress.
There was water and snacks on the boat (although not a full meal). They took everything with good cheer and aplomb: my husband had a panic attack, and I and another student had equalization issues (just sensitive ears) and took a very long time to descend. Bob and Pete were very patient, friendly, and encouraging. Pete even offered to take us all snorkeling instead when the three of us couldn’t make it down to the bottom for the first dive.
When I did finally make it down, I got to see lots of turtles, and lots of colorful fish.
It was just a great experience with knowledgable, friendly, and informative instructors who clearly take safety very seriously.

Very friendly and helpful. Day one cancelled for thunderstorms. Rescheduled for the next day. Afternoons tend to be more geared toward beginners. Did that since I had new gear. Next day went in the morning. There was only one couple, me, and the dive master. Went deeper and saw some sharks by the landing craft. Several eels, octopi, and sea turtles over the two days.

We booked the boat for the entire day for our family and I would highly recommend it to others. The diving was amazing, the aircraft dive was very cool. The kids saw a lot of turtles and had an amazing time with Bud, Peter and Amber. Thank you for providing an amazing experience for our family.

I was diving in March with Reef pirates and had a great experience! They are a professional, fun and very nice group of people. they are the only operation that schedules dives very early in the morning and will not take more than six divers. I’ve been diving all over the world and will only go with operations that take small groups but they are not always easy to find. My experience with smaller groups is that you have a lot more fun. Also, as difficult as it is to get up that early on vacation, its worth it! You’re out of the water before any of the other dive operations arrive and you have you’re entire day ahead of you to relax and enjoy a mai tai or two or schedule other activities. thank you to the crew of Reef Pirates for a wonderful 3 days of diving! Hope to return soon.

I had a BLAST!!! –I didn’t give 5 stars because the boat is too small in my opinion but I like the «no more than 6 divers». I know that’s why it’s a small boat, but the boat is still a bit too small.
Sean and the crew are friendly, highly professional and safety conscious.
I did 2 days, the Landing craft wreck and the Corsair! Just great on both accounts, didn’t see any sharks but did see dolphins (first time diving), lots of turtles, octopus and a couple squid.
I would absolutely not hesitate to go with them again! If your considering it, JUST DO IT! I have been on over 40 dive charters around the world and these guys are at the top of the list.
I made a quick 2min video of the Corsair dive if your interested.

Reef pirates was awesome! Sean and Bud did a great job this was my first official dive after getting certified, best experience ever!!! Thanks to all the crew also. I will be back!!!

I’ve been to Oahu multiple times and have gone diving with different groups. I was very specific on the dives I wanted to do and both companies had recommended Reef Pirates to me. I think that already says a lot…
The first dive we did was Sea Caverns. Exactly that I wanted to do! They say it’s pretty rare to get the opportunity to do so because of the waves at the location. Lucky me! Such a cool dive and came across sharks /​turtles /​and just a cool site overall. Good way to start my trip.
We also dove at Corsair which everybody should do at least once. It’s a plane that that was naturally sank. My first plane underwater, with some fish and an eel that likes hanging out in the wreck. don’t try sitting in the cockpit or it may take a chunk of you out.
Third dive was Landing Craft. If you like sharks, definitely do this. I expressed a strong interest in sharks and there are a bunch hanging out on the bottom under the wreck. Also came across some eagle rays which is always a pleasure seeing.
They were very accommodating in making sure I didn’t dive the same sites more than once. This is extremely important to me and I can’t recommend them enough. The staff was also wonderful. Pete and Sean were great DMs and I was lucky to have Orvil diving. He takes pictures for Reef Pirates and posts them on FB for free. This guy has real talent and his pics are awesome. He’ll most likely get some shots of you, so check out the the page.
The morning dives start early (~6am pickup) which is no issue for me, and i noticed that everybody that dove had experience so it make the dives even better. no more than 6 divers on the boat… awesome!

Reef pirates were fantastic – no more than 6 divers, pick up at the hotel exactly as scheduled at the dive sites before other boats. Sean and the crew are highly professional, very safety conscious but very friendly. I did both morning and afternoon two tank dives couldn’t have asked for better treatment. Their location lends itself to relatively short boat trip to the sites. The team clearly knows the sites and where to find the interesting sea life. Saw lots of turtles, eels, urchins, etc.
I can’t imagine a better dive experience in Honolulu.

Just had my first visit to Hawaii and I went with Reef Pirates for my one day dive in Oahu. Sean and the crew were friendly and fantastic, making my experience even more memorable. Needless to say one day with them wasn’t enough and I’m itching to go back to get some more dives in! I will definitely use them if I return to the island. What I liked about them was (1) they started early so we never saw anyone else from another boat on the surface until the last dive when we were surfacing and heading back to town; (2) they provide pick-​up from Waikiki hotels and they were on-​time to pick me up; (3) boat is limited to 6 divers so it’s not crowded; (4) quick responses in email communications.

After looking at reviews on trip advisor, facebook and Unilocal I was deciding on either Oahu diving or Reef Pirates. Oahu diving seems to cater more to uncertified/​beginner or divers that would like a refresher course where as, Reef Pirates caters more to the intermediate or experienced diver. Pirates does go over basic hand signals and safety precautions before you get in the water but if you feel like you want a comprehensive review of diving precautions then Oahu Diving might be a more suitable option. I’m a certified diver, have been on several dives, and dove recently (within the year) so I decided to go with Pirates and I am very happy with my decision!
The crew was very friendly, experienced, knowledgeable, and fun. Capt Dan was very friendly and helpful setting up the gear and helping us on/​off the boat. Sean, our dive leader, knows SO much about the local dive spots and sea life (on the dives I would just follow him around and he would point out all kinds of cool stuff including coaxing a BIG octopus out of hiding! SO COOL!!!) Orvil took FANTASTIC underwater pictures of us diving and posted them online the same day, which I loved! We left about 7/7:30 and got back around 10:30. They only allow a max of 6 people per group so the whole experience feels very comfortable and personalized, and with gear being included, you can’t beat the price!
Our first dive was Craft Landings, a deeper wreck dive (max was about 90 ft) where we saw white tips, eels, and other sea life. The second dive was Coco Crater (~40 ft) with LOTS of sea life! There were SO many turtles I lost count, several large eels, octopus, scorpion fish, trumpet fish, shells, urchins… I had so much fun I decided to go a second day!
The second day was choppier with strong currents causing us to forgo our initial dive site, but Dan and Sean were not going to settle for mediocre diving conditions! They took great care to scope out the dive sites before giving us the green light and I am VERY thankful. It was clear to me that safety is their biggest concern as well as the best possible diving experience and I really appreciated that (even if it meant waiting on the boat a little longer which made me queasy. but hey! you can’t control the water!). Low and behold it was the best diving I’ve had in a long time!
I absolutely would recommend Reef Pirates Diving to any experienced divers coming to Oahu!!!

This was my first trip to the Hawaiian islands with about 50 dives and an Open Water certification under my belt. I was very pleased with their boat setup and staff. They really do limit the trips to 6 divers. Even though there were no ‘beginner’ type of divers, there was a vast range of dive experience between all of us. For the 6 divers, there was 2 instructors and 1 boat captain. Our first dive was to the Corsair wreck. At about 105′, the instructors made sure they were on top of everything without being overbearing — probably due to the experience level of divers. The second dive was to a reef (not sure which one) at about 40′. The number of turtles there was really cool. The crew really made this dive outfit worthwhile. We dove with a GoPro but the photographs taken by Reef Pirates and posted on FB were gorgeous.
The only less than stellar comments I have would be that I would have preferred a longer surface interval with more rest and a chance to chill just a bit before jumping right down into a 2^nd dive (surface interval was about 25 min.). Other than that, I had a great experience. Oh, and the dolphins swimming across in front of the boat was an unexpected plus!

They’re true to their promise when they say they don’t load their boat with lots of divers. They are fun, professional and safe. They care about your safety and the safety of the ocean. I would highly recommend this company. You will feel like you are in good hands, and like you are in the company of old friends. Thanks guys for an awesome couple days of diving!!!

I can’t say enough good things about Reef Pirates. It’s a small dive operation. They limit the boat to 6 divers so you get personal service. Long dives, as long as you have air in your tank you can keep in diving. Shaun showed us a ton of sea life. The rental gear was top notch including new dive computers. Skip the cattle boats and dive with Reef Pirates!

I just came back from my trip to Oahu and one thing sticks in my mind — I am sooooo glad that our dives were with Reef Pirates. We only had one day with Sean, but he was quite good at guiding the certified divers in our group while Will led an adventure dive for the uncertified.
We went on 4 more dives (2 days) with Will and it was great. Two of our group were more experienced in exotic diving, and they were quite satisfied with the dives, however dive companies have no control over the conditions. But, they can make the best of the situation, and when a southwestern gale came in and made our original site undiveable, they didn’t hem or haw, just hooked us up to a diveable site and we got in, unlike the two other dive boats that went out to similar areas and had to turn back because the water was too rough (the upclose we got of the passengers on one of the boats after we came up showed green faces all around).
The number one thing that makes me glad that we chose reef pirates was their attitude, relaxed but safety conscious. There is a thin line between being overzealous and controlling and slovenly and unsafe. They walk it to perfection. There is a relaxed atmosphere of quiet professionalism where any needed corrections are made politely and in a relaxed manner, but promptly and precisely.
Again, they can’t control the weather, fish or other sea-​life, but the things they can control, they do well.

Went back again for another scuba diving with them over Thanksgiving.
Sean has been responsive in answering my queries as usual. Will was the same dive master as last time. He is friendly, funny, but pays attention to details when providing safety instructions.
It was just 5 (+ Will) divers — I really love this max 6 diver setting so that getting in and out of water would not cause ‘chaos.’ I was very happy to see shark and frog fish on our first dive!
I would highly recommend this company to anyone who could appreciate quality diving experience in Oahu w/​o paying over-​priced charge.

Sean and his crew are excellent. Have dived with them on three separate trips to the islands over the past few years. My wife and I are experienced divers and the DMs alway do their best to accommodate our requests for dive sites.
Small boat ensures that you aren’t crowded and walking over each other getting in and out of the water. Everyone has access to the same moorings so it all comes down to customer service. Next time we are in oahu, we will definitely be doing a few days with Reef Pirates. Highly recommended.
Frank and Connie from SoCal.