Dive op rec for BI and Maui (no hand holding)

[raviepoo]

My new hubby and I will be in HI in December. It's a delayed honeymoon for us. This is my third trip to HI, and his first. I want to show him some of the things that make me love HI so much.

Maui Questions:

I've been calling dive operators in Maui and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I was hoping one of you locals could give me a recommendation.

We both have several hundred dives logged. We are looking for a dive op who will give us a thorough briefing, tell us what time to be back on the boat, and then throw us in the water to dive our own plan. I need to be able to sit still in the sand long enough to catch things crawling out of their holes. The follow-the-leader guided dive that so many operators have told me they always do will simply not work for me. Also, We don't want to be on a cattle boat. Do you all know of a boat that takes small groups of experienced divers and lets them control their own dives?

Also, do you know if anyone does a trip that includes both Molokini Crater and Reef's End? So many operators say they won't go to Reef's End or the back wall if there are any newbie divers on the boat, but they take anyone on thier boat who is willing to pay. I'm looking for someone who schedules a specific trip including the back wall of Molokini for experienced divers only.

Big Island Questions

1 - Does anyone (matching our no hand-holding criteria) operate dive charters out of Keauhou Bay?
2 - Is there parking at Honokohau Harbor?
3 - We're thinking about renting tanks and doing a shore dive while the mantas are feeding near the Sheraton hotel. Is there any reason why we shouldn't do this?
4 - There used to be a dive shop right at the King Kam that rented tanks. I understand they have closed. Is there another shop in their place now? I would really like to do the easy, rewarding shore dive on the north side of the pier and having a dive shop right there made it soooo easy in the past.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

With regard to Maui;

You may have to re-word your question because Molokini is a marine preserve so we do not catch things there. Also, no op with any experience and integrity will guarentee dive sites in advance due to possibly quick changing conditions and second or third day divers who might have already done those dives. Some days the currents and surface chop make certain sites un-divable.

If you want to control the dive, charter the whole boat. Prodiver is a 6-pack that would let you decide within the realm of safe diving for your trip, if you paid for a private charter.

 

[raviepoo]

I don't catch or kill things. I find 'em and count 'em and feed them into a database. I touch nothing. It's hard to identify a tiny goby as it's darting into it's hole. Hence - the waiting.

I understand that weather conditions can derail any dive. I'm looking for a dive op who will promise an attempt at the sites I want to do - conditions permitting

 

[bgillis]

B&B Maui

 

[Charlie99]

Besides ProDiver Maui, the other 6 packs you could try to book include the Aloha Kai (http://www.zerogravitymaui.com/top.htm) and Maui Dive and Sea. (http://www.diveandseamaui.com/).

Or since you don't want any handholding, you always have the option of just hiring a fishing charter boat to drop you off.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

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