February is a whole 'nother story from summer. We are at Maui Kamaole in South Maui every February -- no crowds, or maybe a different crowd? (More snowbirds, fewer big kids/young adults.)

Whichever island you visit in February will have more rough water, wind, etc. on its north face. Last year Kauai and Oahu had bad flooding problems -- hope it was a freak one-time thing. Maui and Big Island had little rain while the other two were suffering.

If you love scuba diving, nothing beats the BI, so I'm told. Water is rougher everywhere in February compared to summer. Snorkeled in Kauai, north shore, in January and not too bad, but then again it was raining on the south shore so go figure.

We are also scuba divers but never dive while on Kauai because of the viz. Here's another vote for the BI in Feb. We always visit there either Jan or Feb and love it that time of year. Also, there's the world famous manta ray dive he should definitely try. It's like no other dive in the world.

Thanks for the input. Looks like we'll try the Big Island. Any thoughts on where to stay? We prefer condos over resorts. Something near his dives would be nice.

We nearly always stay at the Magic Sands because of it's proximity to the ocean (about 40 feet). The waves crash upon the shore so be aware for some that disrupts sleep. For us, it has the opposite effect. This is not a fancy property, but does have a pool and some units are a/c. Do research before booking because each unit is individually owned and maintained and some are very shoddy. Look on this forum for reviews. We've also stayed at the Kona Reef condos a little farther north nearer to Kona. They were also nice, but a little farther away from the ocean. In January, we will be renting a house, Hale Honu, I found on VRBO because we will be joined by some friends for 3 days and we needed some extra room for them. BTW, Jack's Dive Locker is the one we did our manta ray dive with. They were great! I have also had great recommendations for Dive Makai, but we have never dove with them. Jack's departed from the pier in Kona.

Travel and Leisure Magazine 2006 Awards:

Old favorites top this year’s lists for World’s Best Islands. Bali is ranked No. 1 for the fifth time and other classic choices also get top billing—Santorini and Kauai—as well as new more exotic, adventure-oriented locales such as Tasmania, Saba, and Borneo.

Top 10 Islands Overall

Rank Last Year Name 2006

Score

1 1 Bali 88.48

2 4 Kauai 86.47

3 3 Maui 86.21

4 n/a Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia 85.97

5 10 Mount Desert Island, Maine 84.90

6 n/a Tasmania 84.88

7 9 Hawaii 84.72

8 n/a Galápagos Islands 84.69

9 2 Santorini 84.17

10 n/a Phuket, Thailand 84.06

* "N/A" means that the property was not among the top-ranked in this category last year.

This does not answer your question regarding SCUBA but is good to know generally.

We went to the big island last summer because we couldn't get in to the condo we usually stay at on Kauai. For the record, we're not fancy-accomodations people, preferring a low-key condo environment to the resort atmosphere.I found an awesome deal online, $70 a night for a one-bedroom condo with a pool, a/c, and ocean view (but no swimming beach), so just do a little research. Good luck!

..just curious, we had to back out of our stay at hale honu in kauai due to personal reasons but we really wanted to go. it's been almost two years now since you wrote this original post - how did you like your stay in hale honu?

mahalo!

This is such an old thread that the person might not be on the boards any longer.

I would suggest you start a new thread or go to the search box and put in your question there.