Adobo
Contributor
Am on island right now and have been diving the past 4 days. If nothing else, I hope this thread reminds me on future visits who to go with and who to avoid.
For a variety of reasons, I haven't been in the water for a few years. Now that my daughter is certified, we took the opportunity to dive together while on vacation in Maui.
The first few days, we spent with "Dive with Harmony". Harmony is great. She is super friendly and is great at finding wildlife. We booked private dives with Harmony expecting to spend quite a bit of time sorting out weighting and trim. She got us sorted during the first dive. During our time with Harmony, we saw:
Diving with Harmony was extremely hassle free. Oh, and we got a ton of great pics to go with our diving, all courtesy of Harmony.
Everything was great. Then we dove with Lahaina Divers. 2 tank afternoon boat.
So to summarize, Dive with Harmony = excellent. Lahaina Divers = crap.
For a variety of reasons, I haven't been in the water for a few years. Now that my daughter is certified, we took the opportunity to dive together while on vacation in Maui.
The first few days, we spent with "Dive with Harmony". Harmony is great. She is super friendly and is great at finding wildlife. We booked private dives with Harmony expecting to spend quite a bit of time sorting out weighting and trim. She got us sorted during the first dive. During our time with Harmony, we saw:
- the usual turtles and sharks at Mala Wharf
- fairly big octopus at airport beach
- Monk seal at black rock
- beautiful reef and topography at Honolua Bay
Diving with Harmony was extremely hassle free. Oh, and we got a ton of great pics to go with our diving, all courtesy of Harmony.
Everything was great. Then we dove with Lahaina Divers. 2 tank afternoon boat.
- First complaint: They have aluminum 72s. I don't really much care that you get less gas with the marginally smaller tanks. Easy to get 1 hour dives even with 72s in the shallow water diving in Maui. However, most of us who have our own gear will have our tank straps adjusted to 7.25" diameter tanks. 72s are narrower so there is this minor hassle of having to adjust the tank straps to fit aluminum 72s
- Second complaint: Other than our DM (Kait), the rest of the crew was just crap. Unfriendly and condescending. One guy was walking around with spray defog. When my daughter declined - his comment was, "I guess you don't want to see anything during the dive."
- Finally: This is the first boat of any kind I have been on in Hawaii that has the guests set up their own gear. This is not really a big deal as certified divers are supposed to be able to set up their own gear. Except this was never briefed by the captain or crew. Combine this with the fact that they have "non-standard" tanks and an unfriendly crew who is rushing the divers into the water, you have a recipe for an unpleasant topside experience.
So to summarize, Dive with Harmony = excellent. Lahaina Divers = crap.