Scuba facility planned

Advertiser Staff

Aloha Tower Development Corp. yesterday authorized its board to enter into a formal agreement with New World Divers for an educational and retail complex at Aloha Tower that would include an underwater dive cage.

The agreement is subject to review by the attorney general and "incorporating some language that would address some concerns about submerged lands" mentioned by board members, said ATDC executive director Ron Hirano. Those concerns were discussed only in executive session.

New World Divers, which includes partner and longtime diver Paul Sheriff, plans to develop a full-service, land-based scuba diving facility with an educational and retail complex, as well as an underwater cage that would be built at Pier 6.

The facility would cost about $1.6 million, with a construction schedule of about six months, and would be aimed at elevating the industry in Hawai'i.