Diving Maui February 2010 - Need Recommendations.

[DiveMaven]

As Divemaven said, if you are in ANY way independent, do not use LD.

I didn't exactly say that, I said they are geared toward the vacation and more beginning diver and that experienced divers tend to choose Extended Horizons for charters to Lanai. However, my husband and I ARE experienced, independent divers and WE choose Lahaina Divers for our Lanai charters because of the comfort of their big 46' Newtons. We haven't had a dive shorter than 50 minutes with them in the past 3 years (using AL72s), and get put in groups with more experienced divers.

Yes, if I have an experience similar to yours I will definitely complain to the owners/managers, but I'm honestly not anticipating it will happen.

 

[Cave Diver]

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[abies]

I'm heading to Maui in Early Jan, so please let me know the best dives.
Also I'm looking for a bit of the opposite, I'm a new diver any recommendations for the best Dives or Dive op (i'm in Kihei) for beginner divers, Shore or Boat. My wife and I will have 2 or 3 days to dive and I want the best experience possible.

Thanks

I look forward to hear how everyone's trips go.

Ben

 

[DiveMaven]

Check with Shaka Doug and/or Maui Dreams for shore diving and B&B for boat diving. B&B gets pretty consistently good reviews and is often praised for how great of a job they do with newer or less experienced divers. All are in Kihei.

 

[discdogs]

I'm heading to Maui in Early Jan, so please let me know the best dives.
Also I'm looking for a bit of the opposite, I'm a new diver any recommendations for the best Dives or Dive op (i'm in Kihei) for beginner divers, Shore or Boat. My wife and I will have 2 or 3 days to dive and I want the best experience possible.

Thanks

I look forward to hear how everyone's trips go.

Ben

Ben, Try any of the ones out of Kihei. B&B, Ed Robinson's, Mike Severns, etc. They are all good and deal w/ the beginner to advanced on a daily basis. I personally really like this link, I use is for all islands but it lists Maui dive operators and shore divers. Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures - Kauai SCUBA Links Scuba Shack has a nice map of dive locations (shore mainly, I think) on their website.

Enjoy your trip!!! Enjoy listening and seeing the whale!! Hope you get hooked on diving!

PS looked at my post, and the link says Kauai, but it goes to the Maui page...gotta love the internet! :0

 

[DiveMaven]

That's a great link to Ed's site that shows most of the operators on Maui. I forgot to mention in my previous post that whomever you choose to dive with, let the crew on the boat know about your experience level and they'll adjust accordingly to make you have a great dive experience.

 

[djmccarthy]

I ended up going with Ed Robinson's and it was hard choice. Kihea, from my research, has the best dive shops on Maui. There is Prodivers, Ed Severns, & B&B along with Ed Robinson's. I don't think you can go wrong with any of these. All highly rated. Let me know who and how it went when you get back. I'm going a month after you.

 

[abies]

Thanks for all of the input everyone, I guess it is a little easier handling beginners as I'm quite happy to be lead around, and I likely won't be pushing any bottom time limits, for now.

I will definately let the crew know we are new in case they don't guess, these will be dives 8-? so lots of work to do before I appear experieced.

Ben

 

[DiveMaven]

I probably should have clarified why I recommended you let the crew know of your experience level. It is more about them being able to pick sites that are more appropriate for your level of experience instead of the more advanced sites.

FYI, Ed Robinsons has different charters for different needs. For instance, they do a regular 2-tank charter daily which is appropriate for all skill levels. They also do two X-charters and a 3-tank charter each week which are geared toward the more experienced and independent diver. These charters will often do dive sites which are in the 90' - 130' range, as well as live boat dives, which aren't always appropriate for inexperienced divers. That said, sometimes they'll have a group of more experienced divers on a regular 2-tank charter and will choose a deeper site because of it.

By telling the crew of your experience level when you arrive at the boat ramp, it'll help them decide what sites to choose that day...and this is regardless of which operation you go with. I also recommend that divers who don't have a lot of ocean boat diving experience tell the crews that as well. It is always interesting to be on a boat with a diver who has over 100 dives in a QUARRY doing their first ocean boat dive!!

 

[spencer!]

a positive follow up to my negative report on Lahaina Divers:

I received an email inviting me to sign their online guestbook. I did, basically the same thing I posted. A few emails with LD management followed and I'm satisified that they are taking my comments seriously. The owner even offered me and my fiance a free trip if we ever return to Maui, so he takes customer service seriously.

good luck,
Spencer