Diving in Maui this October

[sumfingwong]

Hello all,

I will be in Maui for my wedding in Oct. I was wondering how the diving is in Oct. The first week I will be in Lahaina, the second week Kihei.

So far, after reading other threads, I may check out Hawaiian Rafting Adventures, and then Scuba Shack.

A couple questions, I have been reading on yelp that Scuba shack offers used equipment. I also read a review (and on their website) where all divers use brand new equipment. Do they opt to buy the gear after the dives? If so, what is the quality of the equipment? Is it worth it?
I believe the gear sold is the seaquest QD pro, with aqua titan regs.

Gear in Canada is pretty expensive, if I can save money I will purchase gear from Scuba shack.

Thanks all.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Not sure which threads you have been reading (were they on ScubaBoard?), but welcome to ScubaBoard and the 'Ohana anyway.

With regards to Kihei dive shops; my interpretation of 'Ohana postings is that SB members rank Scuba Shack as 3rd or 4th best dive shop in a 4 dive shop town, and my personal opinion (as a Cressi fan) is that they rank 4th.

With regards to Lahaina dive shops, each is sooo different that there is not really a way to compare them, IMHO.

With regards to Maui diving, many return divers are not necessarily diving with a dive shop, because many of the best dive operators do not have a dive shop, per se.

For South Maui boat diving, I dive with ProDiver and Makena Coast, and if I had to "pay for my seat" I might also dive with Mike Severens.

For West Maui boat diving, I dive with Extended Horizons, and who my buddy is would perhaps move me to any of the other West Side boats if I had to "pay for my seat."

For South Maui shore diving I like what Maui Dreams Dive Company and Shaka Divers are doing. Also here, for visitors shopping for gear I think Maui Dreams has great package deals on new gear; not much more than other shops used gear.

For West Maui shore diving I think I am pretty fun...

 

[sumfingwong]

Not sure which threads you have been reading (were they on ScubaBoard?), but welcome to ScubaBoard and the 'Ohana anyway.

With regards to Kihei dive shops; my interpretation of 'Ohana postings is that SB members rank Scuba Shack as 3rd or 4th best dive shop in a 4 dive shop town, and my personal opinion (as a Cressi fan) is that they rank 4th.

With regards to Lahaina dive shops, each is sooo different that there is not really a way to compare them, IMHO.

With regards to Maui diving, many return divers are not necessarily diving with a dive shop, because many of the best dive operators do not have a dive shop, per se.

For South Maui boat diving, I dive with ProDiver and Makena Coast, and if I had to "pay for my seat" I might also dive with Mike Severens.

For West Maui boat diving, I dive with Extended Horizons, and who my buddy is would perhaps move me to any of the other West Side boats if I had to "pay for my seat."

For South Maui shore diving I like what Maui Dreams Dive Company and Shaka Divers are doing. Also here, for visitors shopping for gear I think Maui Dreams has great package deals on new gear; not much more than other shops used gear.

For West Maui shore diving I think I am pretty fun...

Awesome thanks, well on yelp scuba shack had 5 star ratings, a couple people mentioned in posts that scuba shack was good. I have also read some bad reviews. The only reason why I considered them is because of the gear they sell.

I will for sure check out Maui Dreams. Thanks! I will also check out the dive shops you mentioned. I called scuba shack today and spoke to Jim (i think) he was very nice over the phone.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

To be perfectly honest, Scuba Shack has been manipulating industry marketing BS better than any other dive shop in the world, for many years.

Even before Personal Computers and the Internet were popular, they had stacks of "paper forms" prominently mentioned by boat and shop staff upon returning from the dive trips, nearly "forcing" all customers to fill them out so Scuba Shack could "snail mail" the (positive) forms to "Rodale's" Scuba Diving magazine (now Scuba Diving magazine). This campaign resulted in many years of being listed as "Best Dive Shop in the Pacific" in Rodale's "Best Of" issue, even perhaps a few years as "Best Dive Shop in the World."

:shocked2:

Now, with an internet connected computer on the check out counter, they still maintain their Scuba Diving magazine ranking as Best Dive Shop in the Pacific (if not the World) and it is not surprising other internet travel sites have a high proportion of positive Scuba Shack posts.

Just because they are the best at legal ballot stuffing for a magazine they also buy significant advertising space in does not mean that they are not in fact the 4th best dive shop in a 4 dive shop town.

Also to be perfectly honest, the dive industry on Maui is soooo competitive there are virtually no bad dive operators. There are only dive operators with more or less fans than the other dive operators.

 

[DiveMaven]

I have to agree 100% with Halemano on his recommendations, though I would add that Ed Robinson's is a great choice in Kihei as well (my first choice).

Personally, I would book with Lahaina Divers or Maui Dive Shop before Scuba Shack. The owner's rants to customers and all over the internet have left a bad taste in my mouth, and with so many excellent choices in Kihei to dive with, it just isn't worth my time or money to go out with them. Just MHO.

 

[sumfingwong]

Thanks all for the recommendations. That's why forums like this exist

Ok, let's start from scratch.

There should be about 4 certified divers, and about 3 snorkellers. What dive op would you recommend for lahaina (where all of us will be staying)? The 2nd week, the only divers will be yours truly with 2 snorkelers. We will be moving our stuff to a vacation rental in kihei

Thanks so much for looking out

I would also like to add that we don't mind doing 30ft dives if it means both divers and snorkellers can enjoy lots of marine life

 

[DiveMaven]

The problem with having both divers and snorkelers on a dive boat is that the boat will go to dive sites, not snorkeling sites.

 

[sumfingwong]

How about Molokini? Is there a way where scuba divers do their thing, and snorkelers can head out to a shallow reef area?

 

[muddiver]

Thanks all for the recommendations. That's why forums like this exist

Ok, let's start from scratch.

There should be about 4 certified divers, and about 3 snorkellers. What dive op would you recommend for lahaina (where all of us will be staying)? The 2nd week, the only divers will be yours truly with 2 snorkelers. We will be moving our stuff to a vacation rental in kihei

Thanks so much for looking out

I would also like to add that we don't mind doing 30ft dives if it means both divers and snorkellers can enjoy lots of marine life

Look up Shaka Doug and he can take you ALL out at one of the local beaches. The reefs are right off the beach in all locations so paying to get on a boat, at a predetermined time, with twenty other people is not necessary.

Personnally I am going to just dive the reef off Ka'anapali beach while I am there in October (12 thru 26). The swim is about 20 or 30 yards to 25' to 30' of depth in the reef structure. Plenty of turtles because they don't hang out in deep water, and lots of reef fish. Well, more than around here anyway.

Molokini is DEEP, not real good snorkling. The area up near the atol is all clean rock. Not a lot to see. The scuba diving is fabulous because the visability is amazing, most of the time. And you can find reef sharks at depth. I recommend Mike Severn's Diving because a marine naturaist or marine bio major will brief you on the site, lead the dive and then answer questions about the marine life after the dive.

Lahina Divers has small steel 72 cylinders on their boats = short dive for a faster turnaround back to the dock. I see it as a money maker for the operator and a way to short change the customer.

There are a lot of other really good local guides to beach dive with and save some money while seeing the same thing as a boat charter, i.e. halemano and Tiny Bubbles SCUBA.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Lahina Divers has small steel 72 cylinders on their boats = short dive for a faster turnaround back to the dock. I see it as a money maker for the operator and a way to short change the customer.

LD does use 72's but I'm not sure they are steel.