I stepped in a pool with big pebble coating and did not like it at all. We got diamond brite and it has a slightly sandy feel but doesn't hurt my feet. Very happy w/ selection. agree w/ you that one color can look very different in diff pools depending on location, time of day, etc. I wouldn't consider a dark color b/c I wanted to see clearly all the way to the bottom, in case any stray snakes came to visit. Dark coatings will keep water warmer, so if that is your primary consideration vs. visibility, go for it. DB is like pebble sheen, maybe a bit smoother. Cost for our 20,000 gal pool was about $10K for coating. It was bundled with other work, so don't know for sure, but we think that was about it. I live in Houston metro area. I think plaster applicators have to be certified by plaster mfr, so you may want to verify that whoever you select is certified. Would be really sad to spend that kind of $ and be stuck w/ shoddy workmanship.

I've tried Diamondbrite, Pebbletec and NPT (Quartzscape, etc) websites and none have certified or even trained installers in Hawaii. One installed took me to some pools with Diamondbrite so I know they do it, but I guess nobody is certified. I have emails to the companies to find out if there are some not on the website.

No snakes in Hawaii :-) Is your Diamond Brite uniform in color? I guess if it's not a dark finish then that's not an problem. Since there's no pebbles in it I'm concerned it will show light and dark trowel areas just like all the dark gray plaster pools around here.

there are no trowel marks in our plaster but I will say there is mottling. Our crew (certified) did an excellent job of smoothing the surface. The process took practically all day. However, I truly think that concrete material with color pigment is going to have mottling and is no reflection on substandard application. This might be a good question to ask the companies, surely one of them will be courteous enough to return your call and address mottling issue, uniformity of color on dark applications and who is qualified/certified to do the work. With as many hotels and resorts as there are in HI, I'd think the demand for quality work would be high; and hopefully it would also extend to residential market.