Lauren Smith spoke to DeeperBlue.com at the DEMA Show 2019 about why divers should visit Hawaii.
The president of the Hawaiian Islands Recreational Scuba Association (HIRSA), Smith wanted to share that the Hawaiian Islands have been voted by the readers of Scuba Diver Magazine as the Reader’s Choice Award recipient for best Pacific Dive Destination for the last three years!
HIRSA actively promotes dive tourism in the islands, which contributes $500 million in revenue annually and pus almost 1 million “heads in beds,” making Dive Tourism one of the big economic drivers for the Hawaiian Islands. Unlike many overseas diving destinations, the State of Hawaii doesn’t spend any money promoting diving there, even though Hawaii has been long recognized as a fantastic location with unique marine life, tremendous coral reefs and amazing wall diving.
Hawaii enjoys enviable weather, no need for a passport for US Citizens, modern facilities and state of the art medical support, as well as over 150,000 hotel rooms at resorts and hotels only minutes from the ocean on any of the four most visited islands. Major airlines can deliver tourists from the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia to any of the modern international airports, and there are hundreds of dive operations and resorts that cater specifically to divers and water-sport enthusiasts.
Tourism is essentially centered around the Big Island of Hawaii plus Oahu, Maui and Kauai, while trips to the other four major islands and hundreds of small, uninhabited islands can be done. Divers can expect major large pelagic species such as Manta Rays, sharks and whales, as well as hundreds of species of fish and invertebrates native to the Hawaiian Islands.
For more information, please visit www.hawaiianscuba.org.
