A quick trip to Maui. Where to dive?

[bikefox]

I'll be on Maui for a long three day weekend in January. We'll be staying in Kihei and would like do some diving. I've looked at shorediving.com and just ordered "The Divers Guide to Maui", but I would love some local insight.

We would like to shore dive two days and do one boat dive. So, if you had two days to see the best shore diving in Maui, where would you go?

For the boat dive we are thinking Molokini or Lanai. Which would you chose?

Thanks

 

[Charlie99]

Since you will be in Kihei, my recommendation is to head on out to Molokini on a boat that departs from the Kihei boat ramp. Mike Severns, Ed Robinsons, and B&B Scuba are my favorite 3 dive ops there. If you are going diving for 3 days, I'd recommend that 2 of those be boat dive days. Boats leave early, and you will still have all afternoon for topside activities.

Ulua in Wailea (next town south of Kihei) is a good shore dive in that navigation is very obvious and it is easy to find lots of of critters even on your first dive there, once you have worked your way out to the outer reef. There are lots of other nice shore dives in S. Maui (Kihei, Wailea, Makena) but it isn't always as obvious as to where you should go to find interesting creatures. The biggest downside to Ulua is limited parking that often fills up by 9 or 10AM.

Another possibility is a guided shore dive from somebody like Shaka Divers , who is on this board as Shaka Doug. Since he dives these places almost daily, he has a pretty good idea where to find the neat critters.

One Diver's Opinions on Maui Dive Ops

 

[TSandM]

I'm with Charlie -- For the boat dive, do one of the Molokini charters. I've dived with all three operators, and liked Mike Severns the best, but they all do a good job.

Ulua Beach is a lovely shore dive, and I think the directions to the second reef are in the book. Peter and I have also done most of the other shore dives described in the Kihei area, and the directions have been good. If ocean conditions are favorable, none of the dives is difficult, although some involve long surface swims.

My absolute favorite Maui shore dive is the Mala ramp dive up in Lahaina. If you are interested in driving up there, PM kidspot and see if he's available to dive with you. He lives in Lahaina and knows the site well. It's a really fun dive, with lots of structure and swim-throughs and a ton of life.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I prefer Molokini to Lanai. I only go out with B&B these days.

Whenever I land on Maui I stop by the shop to get a couple of tanks before we go to the condo. I head for Ulua as it's simple and easy yet there is always something to see. After only a few minutes in the water dealing with TSA and worrying about luggage all seems worth it.

If you were to hire a guide you honestly can't beat Shaka Doug.

 

[kidspot]

Here's a bit more dive site info Aloha Shore Divers I've been collecting, though most of it is the Lahaina side... just starting to collect south Maui.

Aloha, Tim

 

[KrisB]

Just dove Ahihi Bay yesterday as I didn't have any concerns of being called "commercial".

Once you get out to 20', that is as nice a dive as much of Molokini, aside from 50-60' viz instead of 100+. The fish are plentiful, and the coral is in excellent shape.

If you only have one shore dive on Maui, I'd suggest Ahihi -- the navigation is going to be compass based, with the occasional surface orientation. You won't find any operator taking you there -- there are no commercial activities permitted.

 

[kidspot]

Did you enter at the bay, or from the cove? which route did you follow? Last time I dove ahihi bay it was in pretty bad shape (Entered at the right side, made a complete circle of the bay and exited on the left side of the beach), the cove was even worse when I dove it last. Just wondering if it's worth checking out again (maybe another part of it)f.

Aloha, Tim

 

[KrisB]

Did you enter at the bay, or from the cove? which route did you follow? Last time I dove ahihi bay it was in pretty bad shape (Entered at the right side, made a complete circle of the bay and exited on the left side of the beach), the cove was even worse when I dove it last. Just wondering if it's worth checking out again (maybe another part of it)f.

Aloha, Tim

IIRC, the bay is the smaller part of the cove.

By that definition, we started at the bay -- where the water meets the road and there's the concrete blocks that the onsite naturalist nazi's try and get you to use for putting fins on & off.

I must say -- enforcement down there is heavy. DLNR approached us both on entry and exit to make sure we had a flag. The naturalists approached us twice on gear up & entry to be aware of the no-touch rules. Apparently they're rather protective of the algae growing on some of those rocks, too.

Oh, and yeah, it wasn't in that good of shape until somewhere between 15' & 20' at the east end (left side if you're looking out to sea). But from there until 36', it was gorgeous!

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Ahihi is very hit or miss. I've been there with less than 10 foot of vis and days where it was amazing. Great spot to dive. Sometimes

 

[limeyx]

Since you will be in Kihei, my recommendation is to head on out to Molokini on a boat that departs from the Kihei boat ramp. Mike Severns, Ed Robinsons, and B&B Scuba are my favorite 3 dive ops there. If you are going diving for 3 days, I'd recommend that 2 of those be boat dive days. Boats leave early, and you will still have all afternoon for topside activities.
[/url]

Also, if the original poster likes wrecks/turtles, I really enjoyed the wreck of the St Anthony off of Kihei, which is a pretty big home for turtles. We followed it up with a dive on the 5 caves ? 5 something or others anyway just next to to the wreck.