Diving Maui In March

[Charlie99]

t, this will be my second trip to Maui without diving Lanai. Have heard many good things about the Cathedrals, etc.

So, all that said, here are my questions:

1. Think I should cancel one day with B&B and book Extended Horizons or Lahaina Divers or someone else for a trip to Lanai?

Yes, definitely get on over to Lahaina and take Extended Horizons over to Lanai. I recommend them over Lahaina Divers. Ed Robinson's also goes to Lanai a couple times a week, but it is a long trip over from the Kihei boat ramp, and an even longer trip back after the trade winds have kicked up the wind waves.

Egad, it has been awhile since I have dived Maui and it looks like Lahaina divers has gone south. I wonder if the Maui Dive Shop has gone the same route?

Lahaina Divers and Maui Dive Shop are corporations with multiple boats and lots of employees. I find a lot more trip-to-trip variation on how things are run, depending upon which crew is staffing the boat that particular day. The owner-operator boats like Mike Severns, Ed Robinson, B&B, Dive and Sea Maui, Prodiver, and Extended Horizons are much more consistent since the owners and/or very long term captains are there every day.

Things have changed since I last dove with ER, 3 years ago. Back then they used the "loose buddy" system

They still do. It is rare that my dives with either EDRA or Mike Severns is less than an hour. The only exceptions are flat bottomed dives like 85' pinnacles or 110' battleship rock on first dives, or the 65' deep St. Anthony's on 2nd dives.

My relatively few dives on B&B were usually 45 or 50 minutes.

Extended Horizons usually requests that you go up with the last divers of the 2nd group after the first dive. By going in before or with the first group, and then getting out with the last of the 2nd group you will usually have a pretty long dive.

 

[Charlie99]

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2003813&postcount=48

 

[Tax Dude]

Rather than starting a new thread I thought I'd tack onto the end of this one since we'll be in Maui in March as well and could use some advice.

We're a newly-certified scuba family: my two sons are 14&16 and my wife and I are, um, more 'mature'. We all just did our OW at the beginning of this month in Cozumel and have logged less than 10 dives. We're looking to do a few days of diving while we're in Maui for the kids' March school break. From reading the posts in this section, I think I've got a pretty good idea of what people think of the various dive operations in the area. Lots of great info - thanks!

We're staying near Lahaina from the 9th to the 16th. Right now we're planning on doing about 3 or 4 mornings of diving and going with a couple of different operators (B&B, Extended Horizons?) Would we be best renting equipment from a shop in town for the whole time we're there or from the operator we're with for the day? We've only got our own snorkel gear: fins, masks, boots, snorkels. If you think a shop in town is best, any recommendations?

Any other advice you can give to a bunch of real newbies would be appreciated!

 

[adjuster-jd]

Extended Horizons will definitely treat you well and you get very personal service on their boat. They have quality gear rental available for a reasonable price. I dove with them on my 6th dive after certification and they were great despite my horrendous air consumption (on second dive I was the first one up after 30 minutes - captain changed out my tank and got me back in to continue enjoying the dive - imagine the bewilderment of the DM when she saw me again after knowing she had sent me up not long before that....)..
Also, don't forget about shore diving - depending on where you are staying, there are likely some great shore diving locations right nearby. Make sure you have a compass so you can navigate back to shore without having to surface. Airport beach (next to the new Westin timeshare resort) is a nice easy dive, as is Black Rock which is where the Sheraton Hotel is located.

 

[DiveMaven]

Thanks Charlie99, you clarified things very well.....as did Kidspot!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

For what it's worth, my first Ed Robinson encounter of the year resulted in these unusual images:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/steveshalemano/album/576460762384646137

Not exactly what I or my divers went out there to see.

 

[KrisB]

Wow Steve... it seems we might see eye-to-eye on something.

All I would like to say publicly about Ed Robinson (aside from the fact that I won't be diving with them again) is that I would not recommend them to beginner-ish divers, nor to any diver that didn't know when to say "no" (or is not confident enough to say "no").

If you need details, PM me.

 

[joewr]

Wow Steve... it seems we might see eye-to-eye on something.

All I would like to say publicly about Ed Robinson (aside from the fact that I won't be diving with them again) is that I would not recommend them to beginner-ish divers, nor to any diver that didn't know when to say "no" (or is not confident enough to say "no").

If you need details, PM me.

For someone who dove with ER a fair amount in the past, I find this darn disturbing. ER used to be absolutely first rate EVERY dive. Yes, you had to be experienced and they did a good job of dividing the divers according to experience. The loose buddy system meant that we could use our tanks with maximum efficiency. Back then I would never hesitate recommending ER's op to divers who I thought knew how to say, "no," and knew how to make their air last. Now I do not know what to think....

I only dove with BandB (B&B) once and thought they were superb. I guess that is still true. However, I did not dive with them as much as with ER and, so, did not feel I knew then as well as ER.

At one time I felt very confident recommending MDS and LD to novice divers because they did a good job with mixed groups of divers. And, if you had good bottom times it was quite normal for the MDS DMs to get the less experienced divers back to the boat and do a little show-m-tell for the folks who sipped their air. I guess all that has changed.

Yes, I understand that DMs are people and can have bad days; and I understand capitalism; but, it seems, in the past these things were tempered with good management...at least I think so...

Maybe diving has just grown too fast...

joewr

 

[adjuster-jd]

This is a site I haven't seen. What is this? By the looks of the lighting, it looks somewhat deep, but what is this dive site?

For what it's worth, my first Ed Robinson encounter of the year resulted in these unusual images:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/steveshalemano/album/576460762384646137

Not exactly what I or my divers went out there to see.

 

[Shaka Doug]

This is a site I haven't seen. What is this? By the looks of the lighting, it looks somewhat deep, but what is this dive site?

That's the St. Anthony Ship Wreck. It's at about 65-70' deep, a half mile or so off of Keawakapu Beach, Wailea, Maui.

Nice anchor job!! What....the wreck isn't wrecked enough already???

To NESCUBASTEVE: Hey! See you and the boys soon!