Dive op recommendations

[sigourneya]

Hi,
Sometime this year a group of friends and I are planning a trip to either Maui or Oahu (wakkiki-spelled wrong I'm sure,) but I am looking for a good recommendation for a dive operation to use on either of those islands. There will only be 2 or 3 of us who dive and I am staying with friends, so won't have a hotel's recommendation to go on.
Thanks!

 

[kidspot]

Go to Maui

seriously there is a reason more return visitors go there than any other island, and the diving there IMO is better, both from shore and boat with the exception being wrecks (Oahu wins hands down in wreck diving)

For ops on Maui I always recommend B&B for boat and Shaka Doug for shore dives in the Kihei area. There are several other really great ops, but I like the family atmosphere of B&B and Doug's sense of humor and fun - the guy really enjoys diving. If you are staying in the Lahaina area and want to do some shore diving contact Pacific Dive and for trips to Lanai Extended Horizons does a good job with more experienced divers and Lahaina Divers is very accomidating for newer divers with their big dive boat (it's a very comfortable roomy boat)

Now someone that likes Oahu better can chime in

Aloha, Tim

P.S. You won't go wrong with either island, especially if it's your first trip to the state.

 

[Shaka Doug]

Thanks Tim! Hey, there's no way to leave a 'Thanks' for these posts in this section like the rest of SB so I'm doing it here.

Had to cancel the last few days due to high surf. Hope it goes away soon but the news just reported it shold build again tomorrow!! Arrgghhh!

 

[basketballdiver]

I would definately reccomend Maui, I have dove both islands and prefer Maui. Lahaina divers is the best shop, they have great people and great diving!

 

[justleesa]

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[MauiScubaSteve]

Lahaina divers is the best shop, they have great people and great diving!

Some divers think so, and some divers think not; that is the nature of everything in life.

The terms "best" and "great" are a couple of the most overused words in the English language.

For a decent recommendation we would need a few more details about the dive group; what kind of diving are you interested in, how much and what kind of experience does everybody have?

 

[DStack]

We were in Maui last Sept. Dove 2 days with B&B and 2 days with Shaka Doug. Couldn't have had a better dive trip. I highly recommend both. The only thing I wish I had done different is booked my condo AFTER booking my diving. The drive from Kannapali to Kihei every morning sucked.

 

[Queenofgeek]

I've only dove (dived?) in Oahu and only with Island Divers Hawaii. I'm a new diver, but I heart them, and I've heard experienced divers raving about them as well so they must be doing something right

Enjoy wherever you go and be sure to post pics!

 

[scubadada]

Hi sigourneya,

As a visitor, I've dived both Maui and Oahu, In balance, I would choose to dive Maui. I dived with Lahaina Divers and had a great time diving Lanai, Maui, Molokini Crater and Backwall. They now offer a trip to Molokai for experienced divers that sounds great. I've had several business trips to Oahu and enjoyed diving with Alex's Aquatic Adventures. The wrecks of the Sea Tiger and YO-257/San Pedro are a lot of fun. The fish endemic to Hawaii make the reef dives very interesting. The turtle cleaning stations at Turtle Reef are a treat.

Enjoy your trip

Good diving, Craig

 

[Adobo]

I asked Doug (ShakaDivers) to take me out on a few shore dives. Here were my impressions:
- very thorough on the site briefing and dive plan
- seemed to size me up pretty well - gave me as little (or as much) "hand holding" as needed
- overall, very mellow and easy going. I wish I had more time to dive with him. A night dive would have been especially fun.
- Doug took lots of great pics and vids for the dives. Even though I took my own pics and vids, it's nice to have all this content for remembering the once in a blue moon vacation diving.

Here is a link of the dives I did with Doug. Some disclaimers.. Sorry about the sound or lack thereof. Youtube, copyright, so on and so forth.

YouTube - Diving in Maui with ShakaDoug