Hi all. I'll be visiting Maui in a few weeks with my significant other. She's a new diver (OW), I have about 125 dives down, been diving for about two years. Neither of us have been diving on Maui before, and were wondering which dive shops you'd recommend for a single day of diving (hopefully with pricing for Hawaii residents).
Best dive shops on Maui?
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Bazzathemammoth
Contributor
I’m also interested in this, I’ll be staying on the west side of Maui in a few months for ten days. The main focus is family holiday going snorkelling and beach bumming with my wife and 2 kids, but I plan on getting 2-3 scuba dive trips in while I'm there as well.
We are already planning on snorkelling at Mala wharf and a family boat trip snorkel @ molokini crater. From what I hear both of those are amazing. I’ll probably do a scuba dive with my cousin who is a vacation diver and ow only, and the other dives with instabuddies. I’m aow and nitrox certified, possibly rescue as well by the time we get there. Thanks in advance for the recommendations!
We are already planning on snorkelling at Mala wharf and a family boat trip snorkel @ molokini crater. From what I hear both of those are amazing. I’ll probably do a scuba dive with my cousin who is a vacation diver and ow only, and the other dives with instabuddies. I’m aow and nitrox certified, possibly rescue as well by the time we get there. Thanks in advance for the recommendations!
The only boat I’ve gone out on is with Lahaina divers; I’ve made multiple trips with them over about a decade. 16ish divers per trip. They stay down around 45 minutes. I’ve taken their trips to molokini, mala, and the three tank dive to lanai. Never had a problem with them.
I’ve also used a couple of the shore diving companies to dive north of black rock, mala, and honolua bay. Also good times.
Honestly, mala and honolua can be easily dove from the shore with little experience of the area. Some of the other shores you have to watch the break or current, but honestly most of the west side of Maui (Lahaina area and north) can be dove from the beach fairly safely.
We’ll be on the island in July and plan of shore diving several times on our own.
I’ve also used a couple of the shore diving companies to dive north of black rock, mala, and honolua bay. Also good times.
Honestly, mala and honolua can be easily dove from the shore with little experience of the area. Some of the other shores you have to watch the break or current, but honestly most of the west side of Maui (Lahaina area and north) can be dove from the beach fairly safely.
We’ll be on the island in July and plan of shore diving several times on our own.
Join the Maui Mantas group on FB
KauaiScuba
Contributor
Island Style Diving in Kihei are a solid shop.
www.diveislandstyle.com
www.diveislandstyle.com
PACKRMAN
Contributor
+1 for Lahaina Divers.
Where will you be staying? Traffic can slow a person down traveling across the island.
Where will you be staying? Traffic can slow a person down traveling across the island.
DiverDanCa
Registered
+1 Lahaina Divers... Skip Molokini IMHO, reef is very sick :-(
DancinDiver
Registered
We just returned from a week of diving on Maui. We stay in Ka’anapali, just north of Black Rock. We’ve been at least half a dozen times, but I think this was the best diving we’ve had.
We use Maui Diving Scuba Center to rent tanks for shore diving. The price is very reasonable: 10 tanks for $60. The shop has a lot of equipment in stock if you realize you really need something. I don’t know anything about their rental gear.
All of our diving was from shore apart from a two-tank day with Island Style Diving. We miss Pauline and her Mike Severns dive op, but Warren now runs the boat with Island Style. We were very happy with the new op. Without Pauline, there is less emphasis on the marine biology of the ecosystem, but Christina and Javier clearly are very knowledgeable and passionate about the reef. Apart from some storm damage, I’d say Molokini looked healthier than it did at our last visit in January 2020. Perhaps COVID restrictions did it some good.
Shore diving on Maui generally requires a reasonably long carry to reach the entry point, so be prepared for that. Parking is always limited, so arrive early. Our only shore diving in South Maui was Ahihi Cove. The area is a marine preserve, and the fish were generally larger than we saw elsewhere on the island.
On West Maui we dove Old Airport / Kahekili, Black Rock, Mala Pier, Kapalua, and Honolua. With its turtle cleaning station and rest area, Mala was the highlight as always, but we were also treated to a long encounter with an octopus and an underwater flyby from a monk seal (!) who then hauled herself up onto the beach for some sun. Black Rock can be meh, but we had another long encounter with an octopus, turtles following us (strangely enough), and hundreds of goatfish resting in formation on the sand. Kapalua and Honolua require long surface swims or underwater kicks to reach the healthy reef and interesting topography. At Honolua there was an eagle ray lazily turning circles, another turtle resting area, and, in a first for us, a school of milkfish. They are fast!
Overall, fish populations were good, and while the inshore reefs showed lots of damage, we found long stretches of healthy coral.
We use Maui Diving Scuba Center to rent tanks for shore diving. The price is very reasonable: 10 tanks for $60. The shop has a lot of equipment in stock if you realize you really need something. I don’t know anything about their rental gear.
All of our diving was from shore apart from a two-tank day with Island Style Diving. We miss Pauline and her Mike Severns dive op, but Warren now runs the boat with Island Style. We were very happy with the new op. Without Pauline, there is less emphasis on the marine biology of the ecosystem, but Christina and Javier clearly are very knowledgeable and passionate about the reef. Apart from some storm damage, I’d say Molokini looked healthier than it did at our last visit in January 2020. Perhaps COVID restrictions did it some good.
Shore diving on Maui generally requires a reasonably long carry to reach the entry point, so be prepared for that. Parking is always limited, so arrive early. Our only shore diving in South Maui was Ahihi Cove. The area is a marine preserve, and the fish were generally larger than we saw elsewhere on the island.
On West Maui we dove Old Airport / Kahekili, Black Rock, Mala Pier, Kapalua, and Honolua. With its turtle cleaning station and rest area, Mala was the highlight as always, but we were also treated to a long encounter with an octopus and an underwater flyby from a monk seal (!) who then hauled herself up onto the beach for some sun. Black Rock can be meh, but we had another long encounter with an octopus, turtles following us (strangely enough), and hundreds of goatfish resting in formation on the sand. Kapalua and Honolua require long surface swims or underwater kicks to reach the healthy reef and interesting topography. At Honolua there was an eagle ray lazily turning circles, another turtle resting area, and, in a first for us, a school of milkfish. They are fast!
Overall, fish populations were good, and while the inshore reefs showed lots of damage, we found long stretches of healthy coral.
DiveMaven
Contributor
If you’re in Kihei, Maalaea, or Wailea, check out Maui Dreams. Excellent shop and the Maui Diamond II is an excellent boat and crew. Island Style divers is fantastic too, and I believe both give Kama’aina rates.
Land_Lubber
Registered
Is this group still active? I can't find it on Facebook, although a rogue offshoot (Maui mantas uncensored) shows up.
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