Trip Report Best shore diving outfit in West Maui

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Donvinh

New
Messages
1
Reaction score
6
Location
Massachusetts
# of dives
500 - 999
Dive with Harmony is a small, woman-owned, highly personalized, shore-only diving operation. It is owned by Harmony (PADI MSDT and SSI DM Instructor) with her partner, Dillon (PADI and SSI instructor), and they have a couple of part time guides. They do not currently have a shop or a boat, but dive rentals and air fills are available. Not sure if Nitrox is available (but, at shore diving depths 10-40 ft, not needed). Discover diving (for non-certified) and full certifications are available.

Two things we love about Dive with Harmony: Total dedication to the health of the ocean, and total dedication to the clients. Most divers who dive in Maui get on a boat and go to Lana’i, Moloka’i, or Molokini. Harmony’s premise is that there are a lot to see shore diving in Maui, one just needs to slow down and pay attention to see cool things. Having dived Lana’i, Moloka’i, and Molokini in the past, I tend to agree. Being a shore-only operation with no retail store (translating to low overhead), limiting to a max of four divers in a group, they can provide maximum flexibility (e.g., no diving if conditions are less than ideal) and highest level of personalized attention (e.g., helping us with gear, entry/exit, pointing out sea life, describing fish and turtle behavior, attentive to client needs above and below). After the first dive my wife had problems with her own (not rental) BC, and Harmony brought two different female BC in subsequent dives for her to try on (no charge). They care about their clients having a good experience! In addition, they also care greatly about the ocean through conservation advocacy, turtle rescue, plastic and monofilament cleanup (which we observed first-hand during a dive), and awareness/education.

Our family of three stayed in Maui for two weeks and did a total of 8 dives with them. Four of the dives were morning, two twilights, one early night (right after sunset) and one late night (9:30PM). We dove at four locations around Ka’anapali: Black Rock, Mala Pier, Kahekili Beach Park, and Stampede. Winter conditions were not great further up north (e.g., Napili, Honolua) and we didn’t dive in South Maui. We drove our rental car loaded with our gear to the dive sites, and they provided tanks and weights. 10% discount if you bring your own gear.

The dives: The best thing about all the dives was that we could hear whale songs constantly underwater! Mid Jan-March is the peak of humpback whale season, with thousands of whales off Maui. We could not dive with the whales, but we could hear them loud and clear, all the time, every dive. Unfortunately, winter is also a time where the water can be surgy and high surf, resulting in decreased visibility (we got 30-60 ft visibility on our dives). The conditions can make shore entry and exit (sandy beach with rocky bottom) challenging, and there can be strong currents around Black Rock. However, Harmony and her team really helped us with getting in and out. With the exception of Mala Pier, there were outdoor showers and restrooms at all the sites. 5-10 min walk with full gear from car to dive site at Black Rock and Kahekili, 15-min at Mala and Stampede.

What we saw: lots of turtles, including a cleaning station at Mala, which reminded me of an airport, with turtles being cleaned, turtles taking off after being cleaned, turtles landing to be cleaned, and turtles circling around waiting to land; white tip sharks, octopi, 5 different species of eels, four different species of nudibranchs, plankton-eating sea cucumbers called Lion’s paw,, shrimps, and, at night, Decorator and Sponge crabs. The fish life was not as plentiful as in Molokini, but we could see all the different species of fish such as Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, Butterflyfish, Moorish Idols, Snappers, Yellow Tangs, Surgeonfish, Parrotfish, Triggerfish, Wrasses, Trumpetfish, and a school of 1000+ Goatfish swimming around us. In several instances the guides’ sharp eyes led us to the Leaf Frogfish, along with an elusive Red Pipefish. Coral was not as healthy, once again, as at Molokini, but recovering.​

All in all, we would highly recommend Harmony for certification and beginners, along with experienced divers diving Hawai’i for the first time, and anyone on a budget ($125 a dive with Harmony versus $200+ boat diving). They provide honest-to-goodness 3200 psi, 1-hour long dives, and they don’t short-fill you like other dive outfits. Just don’t expect tons of fish and coral life, 100+ ft visibility, or cattle boats with 1 divemaster for 6-8 divers. In any case, the whale songs make it TOTALLY worth it.​

 
Thanks for your detailed post. Just did 6 shore dives in West Maui with Dive With Harmony. Great experience. Stand by for trip report.
 
And here it is.

 
Great to know! I can post on Maui Mantas for a dive buddy but this would be great. I usually travel as the solo diver in my group and don't care to dive alone.

Where did you dive?
 
Great to know! I can post on Maui Mantas for a dive buddy but this would be great. I usually travel as the solo diver in my group and don't care to dive alone.

Where did you dive?
Me? See link above to detailed trip report. There are any number of shore dive sites on West Maui. Sea and weather conditions generally dictate which one(s) is/are chosen on a given day. You might dive twice at the same site, or dive, drive, and dive again.

DWH is very flexible and friendly. You will be well-treated as a solo diver. You might even get to buddy up with a great divemaster like Dillon, Dave or Harmony!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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