Brief 6-5 Maui trip report

[kidspot]

Peterguy & TSandM were able to hang around and do a couple of dives on Monday (yesterday) with a friend and I which was a lot of fun. First a 60min dive at Mala warf, vis was the best I've seen it there (about 60ft) on the land side of the structure. Current was very minimal which is unusual there. We broke into 2 groups with Lynne and I getting to team up and Peter buddied up with a friend of mine that joined us. They went one way while Lynne and I went another. The best part was that it was one of those days where Lynne and I were just on the same page - made communication SOOO easy. The only downside was that my 10watt HID looked like a pen-light next to her 21watt "Portable sun"...

Next we moved up north and did a 95min modified drift dive from in front of Embassy Suites down to Airport beach ... just about 1 mile. I say it was a modified drift dive because the current made us kick most of the way (not much current after all) It was an interesting dive with an average depth of perhaps 8-10ft and max depth of 23ft. We all surfaced with a little over 500psi, (except Lynne who had probably only used 500psi... even with a leaking o-ring) not quite at our final destination (we had done a "modified drift" for about 3/4 mile and had 1/4 mile left to surface swim) but everyone was starting to get a bit tired getting "sloshed" around in the surge, so we had a nice surface swim chatting away for about 30 minutes. Who says diving isn't excercise - I'm glad I tried that once, but don't think that will be a sought after repeat dive for me.

Peter and Lynne - Don't wait too long for a return trip...

Aloha, Tim

P.S. Hey Leesa, do trip reports stay here, or do they go under the "trips" sub-forum now?

 

[justleesa]

Your trip reports stay here...only the planning of "gatherings" go in the sub forum

they told me all about it...sounds like you had a great time..I know that we had a great evening together!!

 

[kidspot]

Glad you were able to get together with them for a bit - Wish I had the time to get a dive in with everyone while over there... I leave Sunday night, working at a teen camp Monday morning and fly out two weeks later right after camp is done ... then back to work ... I guess this is my "vacation" time this year lol

Aloha, Tim

 

[justleesa]

give a hollar if you need a care package out there

 

[TSandM]

I love that Mala Ramp dive . . . it's the second time I've done it with Tim, and I think those may be my two favorite dives I've done on Maui. Of course, having a great teammate has something to do with it! I'll put up a couple of pictures I took, once I get them resized.

The "drift dive" set a personal record for continuous time underwater, and really impressed me with how little ground you cover on scuba. The funny part of that dive was during the loooonnnnggg surface swim, we're on our backs, kicking away, and a snorkeller comes past us and raises his head and says in disbelief, "You know there's a great big turtle right underneath you?"

 

[kidspot]

the "amazing" part was that was the only turtle I saw all day ... quite unusual in that area...

 

[sea nmf]

The only downside was that my 10watt HID looked like a pen-light next to her 21watt "Portable sun"... QUOTE]

Just curious, does a 21 watt light "blind" our critters, do you think? I know from diving the PNW that you need a bright light. What is the purpose of it on a day time dive here in shallow water (it wasn't a night dive was it?)? Couldn't you just turn it on if you needed it for something?

 

[kidspot]

Partly for communication - the 21watt is bright enough to actually see on the ground during the day.

Also it lets you see in all those areas covered in shadow, brings out the color in things. The dive we were on has lots of nooks and crannies which makes a light during the daytime really nice to have.

During the day I wouldn't worry about the critters eyes as I looked into it a couple of times and it was not overly bright. At night it might be too much though.

You can turn them on and off, but HID's take about 30 seconds to warm up and are suppossed to remain on for at least 2 minutes. Plus if they are going to "die" it will most likely be when you turn it on, so if you want to turn it off, you just point it toward yourself and hide the light.

Aloha, Tim

 

[Funland111]

Tim,
I will be at the Marriott Maui Ocean Club in February. Three certified divers are in our group, and would like to do some shore diving. I read a bad review concerning Island Scuba, who apparently operates out of the Marriott -- do you know anything about this operator? Do you take small groups on guided tours? I'm planning well in advance and can hardly wait to get there.

Thanks

Bill Henschke Funland111@comcast.net

 

[TSandM]

At night in the tropics, it's WAY too much light . . . found that out in the BVI. But by day in the tropics it's wonderful because you can actually SEE it, and it really brings out colors and relief. I found several nudibranchs on the dives this trip only because the light brought out the relief in a surface and allowed me to see something small. The guide on our Mike Severns dives was very impressed with my spotting ability, but it was largely the light.

In case you can't tell, I love my light . . .